The policy cycle, stakeholder mapping, and horizon scanning
Jamie Wilkinson
European and global health, pharmaceuticals, & biotechnology policy strategy. Ensuring clients can demonstrate the effectiveness of their advocacy activities to leadership, investors, sponsors, members, and stakeholders.
What is 'the policy cycle'?
What is the policy cycle, and why is it relevant?
The policy cycle is a useful conceptualisation that helps us understand when, where, and how we should be intervening in the different stages making policy - as well as with whom. It is especially relevant in the context of limited resource environments, as it helps us to prioritise where and how to engage – i.e., at the point where an intervention is most likely to succeed at that specific time - rather than spreading ourselves too thinly over ‘the whole cycle’. It also helps us appreciate the medium to long-term timescales we work with when influencing policy (something which many actors neglect, ignore, or do not plan for).?
When is ‘the best’ time to intervene in the policy cycle? (And a beer-related analogy ??)?
In a recent poll , I asked peers “when is the ‘best’ time to intervene or provide your organisation’s input into the policy cycle?”
The options were:
The results ?? (shown below) were striking. Not a single respondent answered: ‘during the public consultation’.
On first glance, this may appear strange – as, wouldn’t most people assume the ‘official window of opportunity’ would be by default, the most suitable time to provide input? ?? Of course, we do provide our input during the public consultation phase, but for me, this is a wonderful example that demonstrates how important it is for public affairs practitioners to engage ‘throughout the process, at the right time, and at right place’ (not just during the official window). Why?
Well, (beer analogy alert?) some of you may know that I’m studying to be a microbrewer ?? in my spare time (see link above) – and I’ll use the process of making a Belgian Tripel to illustrate the point above.?
To brew a beer you need water, malted grains, hops, a recipe, know-how, equipment, and time to brew, ferment, bottle, and condition in the bottle. ?? These steps are the ‘before issue is on the agenda’ and ‘before public consultation’ phases. During these steps, a significant amount of work goes into making the beer, and these steps determine the colour, strength, mouthfeel, bitterness, aroma, and overall taste of the beer. If this Tripel is going to be good, these are the steps that will determine it.
Whilst the final steps (labelling, distribution, and marketing) are important for getting the beer out to consumers, actually, they do little to change the fundamental characteristics of the beer. Fancy labels, swish marketing campaigns, and paid advertising may increase sales, but won’t make a fundamentally bad tasting beer taste good.
Likewise, if you don’t like strong blond beers, putting a label on it and marketing it now as an IPA or pale ale won’t help. These final steps are the public consultation phase – the proposal has been brewed in its final form, and actually, if you prefer an IPA or pale ale, well, you’re going to be disappointed. ?? You should have intervened whilst the recipe was being agreed.
?? That’s why, as a microbrewer, public affairs practitioner, or other policy influencing stakeholder, we must always be conscious of where we are, (and where we intervene) in the policy [brewing] cycle!?
Implement regular monitoring and evaluation
So how do you keep track of where we are in the brewing policy cycle?
Well, I have been privileged enough to work with a range of diverse clients with different backgrounds, demographics, and policy objectives over the years. However, a recurring feature I experience is the scarcity of effective monitoring and evaluation frameworks / systems in place. Developing and implementing such a system would do wonders for helping organisations to see ‘the bigger picture’ and allocate resources effectively.
“A basic characteristic of policy evaluation is that changes generally take place throughout the policy process: the object of evaluation is a moving target.” ??
Source: Hanberger, 2001
My key message here is that a one-time planning activity will never remain effective, (or relevant) for a process as dynamic as policy influencing. Therefore, we should be regularly monitoring and evaluating - pitching and pivoting our activities - to keep pace with reality. ??
As mentioned above, having a good overview of the policy cycle also includes understanding ‘who’ you should be engaging with. This is where stakeholder mapping comes into its own.?
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Map your stakeholders
Stakeholder mapping is a technique (or more accurately, a range of techniques), that we can use to understand who has an interest or influence (or both, or neither), on your topic of focus. Below is a selection of these tools – have you used any of them?
What has your experience been of using them? Have you adapted or tweaked any of them for specific purposes? Please share your experiences in the comments section below!?
These tools ?? help us make sense ? of the external environment, and prioritise who we need to engage with - especially when resources ?? are limited. In a recent post (click image above for link) I shared the ‘stakeholder salience model’.
In case you were wondering - like I was when I first came across it - 'salience', is just a fancy word for 'importance', or 'how something stands out'.
I promise – the stakeholder salience model is not just another piece of academic masturbation, but is actually a useful diagnostic tool to help practitioners categorise ??? the seven different types of stakeholders:
Some other stakeholder mapping tools include….
The power-interest matrix:
Position-importance matrix:
And the influence-resistance matrix:
Stakeholder mapping can take a bit of practice to perfect, but as it is best done on a regular basis (to keep up with changes in people and positions), doing it several times a year will soon bring you up to speed. Also, stakeholder mapping is best done in a team to help achieve consensus.
Of course, once we have mapped our stakeholders, it’s time to move to the engagement plan (but more on that in a future newsletter!)?
A short note on horizon scanning
As part of their monitoring and evaluation activities, and to complement a stakeholder mapping exercise, many organisations also perform regular horizon scanning exercises. This is neither gazing into a crystal ball ??, nor should it be exclusively relied upon – as, with so many facets of public affairs, we must put the pieces of the puzzle together to build an overall picture.
That said, breaking down the process into short term (up to a year), medium-term (two to five years) and longer-term (more than five years), can help organisations gain a competitive advantage, or deliver better services to their audiences, members, and stakeholders, as they can anticipate policymakers’ next moves, and take appropriate action in good time. ?
So what is ‘horizon scanning’? ?? Why should we do it? And how do we do it? Watch this 1 min video ?? to learn more!?