3 keys to influence a decision-maker in the public sector effectively

By Sandra Naranjo Bautista

Imagine you’ve worked so hard with your team on a project, and finally all those days and long nights pay off. You have something valuable to share, BUT you’re not the decision-maker. How do you get their attention?

This blog gives you three keys to help you sell your ideas to decision-makers effectively and achieve results. You can also download the cheatsheet with the key points.

Three questions to ask yourself about your proposal before putting it in front of a minister

There are three questions civil servants should live by when seeking to influence a minister, or any decision-maker really. This applies to presentations, briefs, meetings, any mechanism you could use to present your ideas.

1. What for? That’s the purpose and intention of what you’re doing. Be clear in your goal. It could be that you want an increase in budget, or the approval to move your project to the next phase, etc.

2. Why now? In other words, why should your boss care NOW? What’s the urgency? As you can imagine a minister has many things on her agenda, why should she pay attention to this topic now. For example, it might be that’s relevant for a future meeting or event, or that it needs approval according to the budget cycle.

3. What next? You need to have a clear call to action. Once the minister reads the brief, for example, what do you want her to do. Schedule a meeting to present the proposal? Or perhaps assign someone in her team to move this forward? Whatever that action is, state it clearly and strongly to avoid confusion.

There are three questions civil servants should live by when seeking to influence a decision-maker: What for? Why now? What next? Click To Tweet

Try to anticipate and address objections to your proposal

To be effective at influencing someone, you need to facilitate their decision-making process. In other words, do the heavy lifting for them and prepare well beforehand.

Make sure to give decision-makers all the information they need and try to anticipate and address some of their objections. Make sure you show why this issue is important for them, not you. How is your proposal helping them solve a problem?

For example, if you want to persuade a decision-maker to implement a technological solution and you know they think it’s ‘too costly’, your proposal needs to address that. You could estimate the cost of not taking action, like the time lost with the current solution and people underutilized that could be engaged in other projects. Alternatively, you could think about payment alternatives, or adopting the solution in phases.

"To be effective at influencing someone, you need to facilitate their decision-making process. In other words, do the heavy lifting for them and prepare well beforehand" Click To Tweet

Give the right amount of information, at the right time, in the right place

A question you might have is how to know what information ministers need, how much detail is best. Unfortunately, there’s no straight answer. But these tips can help.

Don’t assume a decision-maker knows it all. Always provide context.
Keep complex ideas simple. Give information considering you have someone knowledgeable but not an expert in the topic.
Avoid being ambiguous, particularly when you get to the point where you want them to take action. Tell them why you are writing, why it matters and what do you want them to do.
Keep things brief. Make it as short as possible and start with the bottom line. A good rule of thumb is when you have nothing left to remove because everything there is important. It helps me to think of it like an accordion. You say the main ideas, and you can expand as much as needed (in the annexes if it’s a policy brief, hidden slides in a presentation, or extra information you have ready for a meeting).

Time and place matter too. I’m not a huge fan of people telling things to ministers in the hallways or on the way to a meeting because they feel that’s their chance.

There are two problems with that. One, chances are you don’t have all the information you need, so you lose focus. Therefore, you get the opposite effect of what you want, to influence someone. Two, the minister has her own things going on, probably rushing to the next meeting with a thousand ideas in her head. While it might seem like that’s your chance, you might interrupt her work and flow, and generate a negative reaction.

Consider alternatives. A decision-makers team is an excellent place to start. Try to identify who covers the topic of your interest and try to find ways to present your ideas to them first.

Final thoughts and extra resources

If you’re thinking, but how do I make sure I’m heard and not brushed away because I’m at a lower level of government, or too young, or a woman, etc. The truth is, if you don’t believe you should express your ideas, why should they?

The best way to influence a decision-maker is to start with a purpose. Always ask yourself what for, why now, and what next. Prepare beforehand, don’t improvise. Try to anticipate and address objections to your proposal. It’s important to give the right amount of information (think of an accordion), at the right time, in the right place. Finally, don’t doubt yourself. You have something valuable to say, find a way to get your ideas to the right person.

"The best way to influence a decision-maker is to start with a purpose. Always ask yourself what for, why now, and what next." 3 keys to influence a decision-maker in the public sector effectively Click To Tweet

A few resources that can help: