Demystifying the dark art of senior engagement

From my relatively short experience working in government, one of the most common things I hear colleagues talk about is the importance of ‘senior engagement’ or ‘upwards management’.

Getting this senior ‘buy-in’ is seen as an essential part of getting your agenda taken seriously or freeing up money for projects. You’re probably thinking ‘so what, isn’t this true for any type of organisation?’.

Well, yes of course it is. However for me, the problem is that departments like the Home Office are big. Like, really big. There are so many moving parts, differing priorities and people in a myriad of roles with similar sounding titles. It’s difficult to understand where you need to start from and who to approach.

There’s also a tendency, particularly in gov, for senior civil servants to be perceived as hard to get hold of and difficult to persuade around to digital ways of thinking.

In short, I’ve found it incredibly daunting and paralysing. Fortunately, I recently sought help.

A few months ago, I signed up to a leadership course where we get to explore problems like engaging senior leaders with peers from different parts of the organisation. I’ve found this incredibly helpful in demystifying some of the barriers around this and some of my own assumptions. I also had the opportunity to grill a senior civil servant at a recent Home Office event about how they like to be approached and engaged, which has really helped it ‘click’ in my head. It’s one thing to logically understand the mechanics of engagement (which I think I did), it’s another to make it resonate with you and the way you work (which it didn’t).

So, in the spirit of working in the open I thought I’d share what I’ve learned so far. None of it is particularly new or innovative but it’s helped me turn what I always felt was a rather vague, dark art into something practical and tangible that makes sense to me.

Finding who to talk to

Build networks outside your bubble

It’s important to network outside of your immediate profession and colleagues. The more connections you have, the more likely you’ll learn about the key people to speak to. Sometimes you will need ‘grade clout’ to unblock problems and by spreading your network you’re more likely to know someone who can introduce you to someone senior who can help.

Be deliberate in making connections

I like chatting to people — but I don’t think I’ve ever really perceived networking as real work. I’ve recently come to understand that I need to make this part of my job. Embrace opportunities to connect with people. Try signing up for mentoring schemes. Go on training courses or lunch and learns — especially ones outside your profession. Remember that you’re also building long-term connections — you might not need a contact today but they might be useful next year.

Ask someone to take you along to senior meetings

You probably know someone, like your line manager or head of department, who is already doing the kind of engagement you’re trying to do. Ask them to take you along to some of their meetings to observe and learn. This will also help you get known.

Ask for help

Don’t be afraid to ask for help on ways to get started from peers or people immediately senior to you. Ask for candid feedback from people on how you’re perceived — this is tough, but will help you understand what you need to work on to ensure you come across as you intend.

Speak at events with the right audience

I’ve done lots of talks and presentations over the years, but it’s often tended to be for an audience that, basically, understands where I’m coming from. Whilst there’s nothing wrong with this, it’s important to find opportunities to get yourself in front of people from different levels of the organisation—especially if you think they disagree with you.

Events like the Home Office away day I mentioned have a much more diverse audience and there are opportunities to get known. For example, the away day features a section of three-minute lightening talks that anyone can pitch. Next time, I’m going to make sure I sign up.

Follow up on contacts

The senior civil servant I spoke to emphasised the importance of following up after making contact with someone. Whether it’s to ask their help or to make sure you’re fresh in their mind, make sure that you at least send a brief email soon after the introduction.

Consider your method of contact.

Face to face is probably best but don’t assume that it’s right for everyone — speak with people who know the person you want to connect with and find out how they like to deal with enquiries. Do the ground work and understand your audience. Find out what the best touch-points are.

What to do once you get in front of them

Do your research

Find out from your contacts the kind of things your audience is interested in or what their current priorities are. You need to come across credible, so aside from knowing your area well you need to prep so that you understand what this person cares about. Do you understand what this persons job is? Talk to your contacts, find out what they think of this person and how they like to work.

Frame your conversation via things they care about

The senior civil servant I spoke to gave me a list of things he felt were quite common priorities at his level. Some of the things he highlighted were:

• they care that everyone is able to do their job effectively
• that want to ensure things are being done efficiency and that we have the right capability
• they want to minimise costs, of course, but quality is also very important
• they want to know that we adding value — if not, why are we doing it?
• what are the risks they should know about

The last point about risk was emphasised. Senior leaders, generally, would rather hear about risks early before they turn into problems. Sometimes people are reticent to highlight risks early as they’re worried about getting the blame but its much better to raise these things in plenty of time before they turn into a real issue.

Be seen as helpful, not preachy

Your mindset needs to be that you are there to help, not tell them what they should be doing. Ask lots of questions. You should be learning about their work and problems so that you can position yourself in the most helpful way. You need to come across as working with them. Rhetoric that may work within your immediate circle may not be effective here.

Remember you’re building a relationship

You need to build relationships before bringing up problems.

I had a bad experience in a meeting last year that somewhat knocked my confidence. I wanted to discuss some issues around how design was working on several projects with a senior manager. This was actually the first time I’d met him and instead of using it as an opportunity to get to know them or talk about things in a more general way (for example, how did he feel design was going) I launched into a list of rather vague problems. He did not agree that there were any problems and the meeting became quite tense after, as he became defensive. I failed to understand what his goals and drivers were. I also didn’t get across how I could help with this, not just point out problems.

Write down the main points of your argument beforehand

I find it useful when approaching potentially difficult conversations to write down my argument and the points I want to make.

As well as helping me craft a clearer, simpler message it helps me consider how other people may challenge me on my points. If possible, run through your points with a colleague and ask them for critique. You don’t need to recite this verbatim in the meeting, but it helps embed it in your head.

Have evidence ready

Have some specific examples to back up your points. This could be statistics or case studies but you should have a few in the bag to lend credibility to your argument.

Remember they are human too

I asked the senior civil servant I met, ‘What do you find hard to do?’. He told my about how even at his level and with over 20 years of experience in the civil service, he finds the Home Office a very complex organisation. The structures, financing models and drivers can be quite different between the different directorates. It can be really hard to bring things together because of this. You may need to sell the same solution in several different ways to these separate audiences.

It was good to hear that the kinds of things I was feeling were also problems at all levels. Remember that whilst senior leaders hold lots of power, they’re people at the end of the day and have their own problems that might not be obvious. I believe people in general want the best for everyone and like helping others.

Persevere

This is my number one lesson from working in government. It can take time to get things going and you’ll probably have many false starts and frustrations along to way, but keep going.

Also, try not to take things personally if you hit setbacks, it may not be because of obvious reasons.

My next step is to make a plan to put the above into practice.

Let me know if you have any top tips or better ways to do this. I’m still learning what works for me and would love to hear more from others experiences.