If it’s a solution for “government”, it might not work…

GOVERNMENT SOLUTIONS.

It’s a common mistake and seemingly Twitter in particular is full of people’s solutions for Government communications. Must be something to do with the limitation of 140 characters.

But any solution that seeks to solve a “government” problem is likely to be flawed. Possibly the most important issue to consider when working with Government is that realistically there’s no such thing. While the Departments of Health, Transport, Commerce, Finance and the multitude of other organisations under the Government umbrella might have the same source of funds and technically the same clients, the reality of government under what they call the Westminster system is that actually each department has its own objectives, its own focus, even its own client base.

And at its most rudimentary, people who work as doctors, nurses and ancillary staff in the Department of Health for example don’t consider they work in the same organisation as, say the Department of Fair Trading or the Historic Houses Trust. The same applies for each. On a day to day basis, there are few reasons for departments to talk to one another and few goals that are shared. In general terms, one size fits all approaches are no more applicable in Government than they are across the many brands of a company like Unilever.

So the best advice we can give to anyone wishing to work with Government is to start again. From the beginning. There’s no doubt that a great application for a social media listening tool or tracking survey can work across all departments, but its highly unlikely that the need will be identical. And our experience is that the departments themselves are more focused on the differences than the similarities.

The best way to connect with “Government” is to build a great relationship by assisting a Government department to meet its needs. The opportunity to then branch out and share that relationship across other departments is significantly aided by a strong proven case study. Beneficial outcomes may well result for all parties. But start with selling your idea to one actual department not to the abstract notion of “government”.

To find out more on how to do this, give us a call.