Many organisations believe that lobbying has a single-issue focus. But this is a very short-term view: engaging with the government (lobbying) should be about relationship building and recognising that governments can actually benefit in a myriad of ways.

Organisations – businesses, charities, NGOs – should recognise that engagement offers a number of benefits. It helps manage risk, the identification of potential opportunities (sometimes market opportunities) and can help develop a network of friends, allies and potential advocates which can be useful, especially in times of crisis.

You can read my article for Mace Magazine here.