There are many different attributes that a public affairs team should have. But what does a successful team look like and what should you be thinking about when building a team?
There is no one correct model for building any team, let alone a public affairs one. The aims of the team are paramount and these could be focused around the delivery of organisational objectives or could, in a consultancy setting, focus more on winning work from key targets.
Some teams may choose to build themselves around being close to certain political parties and / or may think that direct media or government experience is required. Others may be built around understanding a particular sector. Whatever the approach, the team still needs to deliver on its public affairs work.
The team needs to be able to:
- Identify potential political risk – keeping abreast of politics and policy development but crucially being able to advise on helping to manage that risk. An effective public affairs team uses their political knowledge and understanding to inform an organisation’s assessment and management of risk.
- Identify the opportunities that will be available to plug an organisation into the work of government – having a clear understanding of how government works and what its course of action is likely to be.
- Identify the opportunities that may exist to pursue ‘market’ opportunities that may exist. That could be through procurement but equally may be about potential funds, work streams or service delivery opportunities.
- Demonstrate diversity of thinking and that is best done when the team reflects society. Sadly, too often, everyone in a public affairs team looks and sounds the same. There is some fantastic work being done to address this but we all have a role to play.
- Think internally as well as externally, so the team knows where the intelligence they gather will be of most use and understands how that should be conveyed internally and to who.
- Recognise the role that the team plays in an organisation’s reputation management strategy. It does not think in isolation but invests time and effort in building relationships across as organisation, such as with the legal team, HR, marketing, media and social media teams.
- Remember that it is in place to influence public policy outcomes – rather than getting side-tracked by the politics.
- Focus on the needs of the organisation and not their own personal political objectives or networking. This can sometimes be a little difficult to disentangle but the focus must be right.
- Be organised. Keep good records of interactions so that the whole organisation appreciates and can access the work being undertaken.
- Suggest KPIs – rather than being ‘forced’ to think about measurement, the team is pro-active and makes suggestions. These can always be qualitative as well as quantitative. Such an approach shows that the public affairs team does not think it is above others in any organisation.
Critically an effective public affairs team needs to balance its range of skills and knowledge. That means always challenging ourselves during any recruitment phase to recognise the weaknesses in any existing team.
That reflection helps build a more effective team.