Government Relations: How to build and maintain relationship with government officials

Government Relations is defined as?the process of influencing public policy at all levels of governance: local, regional, national, and even global. Government relations aims to persuade government officials to change or maintain policy to more effectively fit the needs of a particular group. Lobbying or certain practices that share commonalities with lobbying are sometimes referred to as government relations, or?government affairs?and sometimes legislative relations, or legislative affairs.

Government Affairs Professionals rely on their ability to build a network of stakeholders they can influence —?to persuade to sponsor, support, or kill specific legislation or regulations, or to build a coalition.

The first step in this process is to identify the offices and officials that will be most involved in the implementation decisions in your state. Identify the contacts in those offices that you need to know in order to have a voice in the implementation processes.

Important lessons in identifying key state officials:

1.????? Request a meeting - You should write to the agency head asking for a meeting, rather request for an appointment. When you meet, thank the official for their time and stress your interest in working with them.

2.????? Come prepared - When you meet with the government official, be prepared to introduce yourself, your organization and your organization’s priorities. Ask about their willingness to make an introduction to others in government for you to follow up. Do your research before the meeting to find out what motivates and influences the concerned official – know about their prior jobs and interests and use any connections to build your credibility.

3.????? Don’t overlook staff -Most state government departments are headed by a political appointee or government staff to support the Minister / Bureaucrat like OSD, Principal Advisor, PS etc. ?You should also try to develop a relationship with him or her. Please keep this in mind that he or she will play key roles in convincing the Head / Decision Maker in implementation. These individuals will remain at the departments in important positions regardless of who is the Minister / Bureaucrat, and they will provide continuity during implementation.

Best practices in developing and cultivating relationships with state officials -

After you have identified with whom you should work and have made the necessary contacts, it is critical that you take the time and effort necessary to build and maintain those relationships. These contacts will be crucial to your work throughout the multi-year implementation process, and, in many cases, you will be beneficial to their work as well.

1.????? Become a trusted resource - An important way to cultivate relationships with key officials is to provide them with helpful information so they view you as a resource. When you meet with them, ask how you can help them do their job.

2.????? Practice good communication and negotiation skills

3.????? Stay in contact and be strategic - Ask if you can set up regularly scheduled meetings to discuss developing issues. If you are working with other concerned external stakeholders, make sure to pre-meet before each meeting to go over your agenda, so the meeting is efficient and productive.

4.????? Invite them to events - Invite the concerned official and other office staff in a very cordial manner, so they can learn more about your organization. You may want to schedule a tour to demonstrate the best practices of a community organization. Ask if the official would like you to do a press release for local papers highlighting the visit.

5.????? Be patient - Recognize that staffers have significant responsibilities and may be doing more work with less resources given the tough budgets most states are facing; don’t be offended if they don’t immediately respond to calls or emails. Gently follow up if emails are unanswered, but again, don’t badger. Even at their offices for meetings, you have to wait for a longer period. The Minister / Bureaucrat might be busy with some other important assignments or sudden meetings.

6.????? Be visible - Determine what public forums the official might be participating in and attend. Tell them in advance if you plan to attend – they will appreciate the courtesy, and you might be able to get five minutes with them before or after the meeting.

7.????? Be coordinated - If you are working as part of a coalition, make sure you coordinate your contacts. Bombarding an official from different angles is counterproductive.

8.????? Establish ground rules for your coalition - In addition to coordinating contacts, it may also be helpful to establish ground rules with your coalition, such as no side deals and consensus as the default decision-making method. This will help officials to be confident the coalition representative they are talking to is working collaboratively with the larger coalition.

9.????? Promote accountability - It’s important to establish transparent accountability for the administration. Even the friendliest administration needs to be politely held accountable.

10.? Write a Thank You note - Always write a follow up note to thank the Minister / Bureaucrat for his or her time (email is usually best) and to review the issues you discussed and any follow up.

?