Control the story...or it will control you

Like everyone else, I've been riveted to the row over MPs' expenses. Day by day, the respect that the public holds for our system of democracy is being eroded away. No question. 

How to stop the salami-slicing of democracy: manage the story or it will manage you. 

1. Look at the worst. If there was a disc that The Telegraph now has then the information will be available inside the Palace of Westminster, one assumes. I don't work there so I don't know. Get the information and look at how bad it is. One doesn't doubt that it will be bad, if the last 9 days are anything to go by. 

2. Decide what action you will take against those who may be working "within the rules" but who may not look good in the bright lights of the public gaze. Remember, the public think in common sense not in legal frameworks. 

3. Set up a press conference - get a live feed onto the web and seek to persuade one of the networks to carry it as it happens. 

4. Apologise. Tell everyone watching that those in the system have demonstrated errors of judgement, that actions will be taken against those who have transgressed the law and reprimands, warnings and harder actions will be set out for the rest. 

5. Make all of the information available on the web. 

6. Take action. 

7. Restore confidence. 

8. Move on. 

Do what it says on the tin

Disturbing that despite millions and millions of pounds spent on council comms the "brand" is suffering. It's not the lack of communications people or the lack of investment in services. 

It's time to be smarter about how the message is sold. Here's a starter for ten. 

1. Tell them what you will do for them - not just once a year in the A-Z but every time they come into contact. Front line staff should "know the product" (as they say in the commercial world) and be able to talk to customers about "the other things we do". 

2. Tell them what you don't do. There are people out there who think that you run buses, the electricity companies, the rail network - even the weather. Disabuse them. Otherwise you will get the blame. 

3. Be clear about your service standards. Keep them simple. Understate if possible and ALWAYS deliver. If you don't, deal with it. Don't ignore failure. It's not just what you do - it's how you do it. 

4. Apologise when you get it wrong. Don't make people wrench the words from your clenched jaws. Do it at the start - when people expect it and when they are listening.  

5. Keep your staff in the loop on everything. Don't force them to read the bad news in the local press. Trust them and build advocacy. 

6. Simplify your language. There are way too many "strategies" and "portfolios" out there. Add in all that enabling, empowering, partnering, scoping and you quickly see eyes glaze. If they don't understand you, it's harder for people to trust you. 

7. Deal with the negative stories early. Councils are getting maligned over the misuse of extra surveillance powers. If you don't do it, don't take the blame for what others do. If you do, explain why.

8. Sell the benefits of your services. Describe what you do in terms of the difference you make to people's lives.

 

9. Involve people. Listen to what they say, look for better ideas, tell them what you will do as a result of what they have said. 

10. Do an annual report. Every year show people what you gave them for their cash, what went well, what could have gone better and what you will do to fix the things that matter to them. 

...food for thought anyway.  

Get them to expect less but deliver more

I'm always struck by how easily people are disappointed by things. We all are. I fear that public policy is at times driven by announcementism: we're keen to tell everyone now what we're going to be doing for them. This is a bit like hire purchase - people want the product now but invariably get disappointed in it as the monthly payments leave the bank account. Everything loses its lustre over time. 

We need to cut back on our "we wills" and up our quota of "we haves". We need to train ourselves in not allowing the hype to overtake us. Enjoying life is so much about the relationship between what we expect and what we actually get rather than just what we get.

The trouble is that we all expect more and more. We expect our public sector experience to feel as good as it might in the private sector. It won't always. That's because the private sector differentiates at the point of consumption (or experience) in order to win market share and new customers. (It often goes downhill pretty quickly after that). 

The sad truth is that if we try to live up to expectations, then people will always be disappointed. Anyone with children will know that we all learn to want more very early on. We need to promise less and deliver more. If waited until we had delivered before we promised, local authority stock would probably be rocketing. 

Unfortunately, whilst there are news columns to fill and profiles to raise, there's a tendency to go for the sugar rush now. 

More for an exceptional candidate

The Leader wants to advertise for a new head of strategic programmes. "Go all out" he said. "There'll be more for an exceptional candidate." Cash he means - not work (that's standard). 

I'm worried. It's not a message I want to send out. Either we get the right person or we don't, in which case we don't appoint. If we signal we're prepared to put up with someone who is not quite right, not the full shilling, then we're sending out some pretty strange messages about our standards. 

And what about the poor candidates? They can't really settle for anything less than the "exceptional" salary. If they do, they'll always be second best. They'll always know - as will everyone else (people have a habit of finding such details out) - that there was someone better out there but we settled for them. They'd be on the back foot before they got out of their car on day one. 

Add into the mix that nobody else in the building gets anything other than their agreed terms and conditions - no matter how hard they work (and some do) - and it feels to me like the wrong message altogether to send out. 

So I will be advising that we play it straight. Situation vacant: apply within.