Public affairs relies on good information. It can come from a variety of sources and you should seek out as much as you can. The critical ability you need is to learn how to use that information in your public affairs campaign.
When receiving feedback there is always the danger of being too thin-skinned. If details fail to fit with your version of the world and how well you think you are doing then it is easy to ignore feedback. This happens not just in public affairs but across the work environment.
Instead, the information should be considered through a number of lenses. For instance, does it come from:
- A key stakeholder?
- Someone you have already engaged with?
- A known opponent?
- Someone you need to convince?
- Someone you’ve never heard of before?
The answer to these types of questions dictates whether action is needed and what form it should take. You may be able to treat the information as interesting and good to note but not necessarily something that requires further steps. Alternatively, it could need some immediate follow-up maybe before other audiences take away any incorrect assumptions.
But listen to where this information comes from:
- Foundation information – a good starting point is always a survey of your key stakeholders, most notably politicians to establish a baseline. A number of the leading polling companies provide services to help you do this and it means that, for instance, reputation can be tracked over time.
- Informal channels – often the best information comes from friends and contacts who feedback to you. This should be encouraged at all times! In that way you can hear what people are saying about you and your organisations at events that you are not even at! This is very often the best feedback because when you are not in the room people often tend to be a bit more open and honest!
- Parliament – there is always a lot going on Parliament from questions through to debates through to inquiries, all of which need monitoring and paying attention to. Most of the time the art is in knowing what can be ignored and what should be paid attention to. Parliamentary monitoring is, however, the fundamental cornerstone of public affairs.
- The media – in all its forms, the media is always an excellent source. Social media, in particular, allows more to be discovered about the views of key stakeholders. They may not appreciate that you are paying attention but you should be! The media extends beyond the written word into all forms of broadcasting as well. Podcasts, in particular, often being more conversational in nature can be very revealing.
- Internal information – never forget the power of colleagues from other departments as well. They have their own networks, potentially in specialised and expert areas – the type of people that are listened to! So not all networks have to be your networks.
Views do not stay still so this information-gathering should be an ongoing process. Even those who you think you know and understand may shift over time in light of new views they receive. That network of friends and allies needs to be updated and kept informed. There is nothing as powerful as an ally scorned (or if they think they have been scorned).
So do not put the blinkers on and instead be ready to listen and consider. Without this raw data your plans for engagement might just go badly awry.