3 Easy Rules for Winning Every Time
Meetings with government representatives happen every day across the country. Stakeholders – be they private sector, academia, non-profit or Indigenous – have audiences with officials of the public service to seek partnerships with and the support of governments. These meetings can be a powerful tool to ensure the momentum to move projects, initiatives and policy files forward.
In my two decades as a public servant and Executive in the federal government, I have seen successful meetings where both stakeholders and government officials were satisfied with the outcome. In a successful meeting, each participant walks away with a sense of having gained something – some insight, an expanded network or a new collaboration.
Unfortunately, I have also witnessed many meetings that were not as productive as either party would have liked. These were wasted opportunities where stakeholders walked away with less than what they were expecting to get out of the discussion. Time and again, these disappointing outcomes highlighted that a few simple targeted actions could have set meeting participants on a more successful path forward.
As a general rule, public servants want to be helpful and they look forward to sharing their knowledge and experience with stakeholders. The key for stakeholders is to understand how to access that information within the limits imposed by the format and time allotted for a specific discussion. As a result, having successful meetings with government officials requires a strategic set-up and a clear game plan for the meeting.
Based on my experience, I present three rules for an effective meeting with government officials. Although these rules were crafted from my time in the federal government, I believe that they can be applied to meetings with governments at all levels – including municipal, provincial and territorial.
Rule 1 – Know Who You Want to Meet
It is important to choose the appropriate level of official for your meeting. Depending on what you want to discuss, it is important to target the right public servant who will help you in advancing your issue. If you are looking to understand a program and its implementation, then program-level officials will be able to provide you with the most accurate information. If you are looking to discuss the higher-level policy direction on an issue, then perhaps meeting with a Director General or an Assistant Deputy Minister could be helpful.
Many people assume that targeting the highest level of authority in a government organisation will yield the best results. This is not always the case and can actually be counterproductive. In the federal government, for example, a Deputy Minister will look to their staff when asked by a stakeholder to meet. If you have not laid the groundwork within the Department, it makes it difficult for the Deputy Minister to provide you with concrete direction or make commitments on a file if Departmental staff have not been engaged in your work. In addition, federal Departmental staff are often invited to meetings of the Deputy Minister to provide technical support, so showing that you already have a rapport with their staff provides a positive context for the conversation.
Here is an insider’s scoop: engaging directly with political staff without looping in public servants will rarely lead to the positive outcomes that you are looking for. Doing this tends to put public servants in a defensive position as they prepare to work with you, as opposed to being in a creative and solutions-oriented mindset which will be more productive for your discussion.
In short, it is often beneficial to understand whom is working on your files within an organization and to establish a trusting relationship with them before requesting meeting with a higher-level official. Working with them may also organically lead to opportunities where your government contacts will proactively suggest that a meeting of the organizations’ respective leadership take place to move the file forward which would set the prefect stage for a productive conversation at the senior level.
Rule 2 – Be Specific About Why You are Requesting a Meeting
When you request a meeting with a government official, be explicit about the reason for the request. Let me let you in on a little secret: public servants hate surprises. Don’t put them in a position to try to guess why you want to meet. Make it easy for them: be as clear and as specific as possible in describing the reason for the meeting. Remember that governments are big and busy places and that your meeting request is one of many elements on a public servant’s radar. Being clear and informative allows them to target their preparation in a more efficient manner. In the case where a senior official is attending the meeting, pubic servants will prepare a briefing package for that senior official and they will use all of the information that you provide to prepare that package.
Here is what should be included in your meeting request. First, describe your organisation and the reason that you want to meet: Is it to seek funding? Is it to lobby for an issue? Is it to showcase an innovative project? Is it to establish partnerships? All of these are valid reasons to meet with a government official, but they need to be made explicit so that government representatives can prepare their approach to the meeting.
Second, list the names and titles of who will attend the meeting from your organisation. Keep your delegation tight by inviting those most likely to contribute to an engaging conversation with government officials, depending on your topic of discussion.
Finally, send an agenda and background material well in advance of the meeting - you can even include these documents with the meeting request to demonstrate that you are prepared for a serious conversation.
With this information, government staff will know exactly who should attend the meeting and what kind of material should be prepared for senior officials. This will help in ensuring that they arrive to your meeting ready to have a substantive conversation.
Rule 3 – Have an Honest and Engaging Conversation
Once you successfully obtain a meeting, the next thing to focus on is the nature and tone of the conversation to have with government officials. For best results, aim to have an engaging and honest conversation with your counterparts.
An engaging discussion will position your file within the landscape of government priorities so that officials can quickly identify where it fits within their agenda. Be aware of recent government announcements and reference them in your meeting. For example, if you are working with Indigenous partners in a genuine attempt to support Indigenous objectives, you may flag this to federal officials by referencing a specific Truth and Reconciliation Commission Call to Action which your work is supporting. This will help government representatives to understand where your project fits in the overall scheme of their own work and it will make it all the more pertinent for them to move the file forward.
Make sure that you are forthcoming about your work and share information about other conversations which you are having and which may be of interest to the person you are meeting with. For example, in a meeting with the federal government on a topic related to the electricity sector, you would want to inform federal officials of any conversations which you had with provincial representatives because both levels of government often work together on issues related to energy. Transparency will help to establish trust with your counterparts and it will avoid any misunderstandings that could come up.
Finally, in terms of the mechanics of your meeting, a productive conversation means ensuring that the topic for the meeting is not too ambitious. Assuming that you will have a 30 or 45 minute meeting window, it will not be possible to cover all of the elements of any given topic. Instead, aim for a targeted discussion on a few key points. Don’t spend 35 minutes of a 45-minute meeting doing a presentation. If you sent in your presentation with the meeting request, meeting participants will have read it. Introduce your topic and allow for a Q and A session because government representatives may have questions on the material that was sent in. Then, direct the conversation towards the two or three main points that need to be addressed to advance your objective.
Three rules: - know who you want to meet; - be specific about what you want to discuss; and - have an honest and engaging conversation.
With these guideposts, you are now positioned to have effective meetings with government representatives. You can go into the meeting with the confidence that the official that you are meeting – whether a Manager or a Deputy Minister - will be well prepared to have a productive conversation. In the end, time is our most precious asset and using it wisely allows everyone to win.