Photo by Michael Fousert on Unsplash
So, your approach to the new ministerial team has worked, and you’ve been invited to meet with the Minister. This is a rare opportunity, and it’s important that you make the very best of it. But how do you go about preparing? And how will you make sure that the meeting helps you to achieve your policy influencing objectives? In this post, I take a look at what ministerial meetings are, how you can prepare for them, some things to think about, and ways to make sure that the meeting is a success.
For the purposes of this post, I’ll be concentrating on one-on-one meetings, rather than broader roundtables or policy forums which you might on occasion be invited to. I’ll return to those in a future post.
Over the years, I’ve lost count of the number of ministerial meetings that I have been invited to for governments of all political colours and complexions. Some have been good, and some have been, well, let’s just say ‘not so good’! What that has given me is a perspective on some of the key things to look out for. While every meeting is going to be different, there are some common themes and principles that apply universally, and that’s what I’ll take a look at in this post.
You can, of course, be invited to a meeting for a variety of different reasons. It might be in direct response to a proactive approach that you have made to the Minister, such as a letter. It might also be because one of your parliamentary champions has gone out of their way to open the door for you by persuading the Minister that you really are someone worth meeting and talking to. You might also be invited to a meeting if the ministerial team think that you might be able to help the government with a particular problem or challenge that they are grappling with. Whatever the reason, it’s really important that you make the very best of the opportunity, and I hope that these tips and tricks will be useful to you.
Tip 1: Preparation is key
Preparing properly for the meeting is absolutely vital. On a practical level, you’ll need to work out who you are going to field for the meeting, and what their roles will be at the meeting. If you’re able to send more than one person, it’s a good idea to have one person who will be your lead, and to be accompanied by someone who might have, for example, the technical and more detailed knowledge that might be needed in the conversation. Do your research about the minister and their background and interests, and think about what their current political priorities might be. And, of course, think carefully about the key messages that you want to land with the minister and their team. A reasonably detailed briefing note for those attending the meeting is usually a good idea.
Tip 2: Try to push for an in-person meeting
In this post-COVID world that we’re all living in, you might find that you are offered a virtual meeting with the minister. If you can, it’s well worth pushing for a face-to-face meeting if it is at all possible. It allows for a more free-flowing and natural conversation, as well as allowing you and the minister to get to know one another better than you can ever do online. If a virtual meeting is the only option available, it’s not the end of the world, but you’ll need to work that bit harder to build a working relationship with the minister and their team.
Tip 3: Plan the meeting with the officials
If you can, it’s a really good idea to reach out to the relevant officials to talk about the content of the meeting. Afterall, they will be preparing a briefing for the minister ahead of the meeting, so if you can agree on the overall shape of the meeting, you’re all going to get a lot more out of it. It’s a good way to outline what you are looking for from the meeting, and to understand what the minister might be looking for too. If you’re not sure which officials will be involved, you can ask the minister’s diary office for advice, as they’ll know who else is going to be attending.
Tip 4: Events might scupper things
When you’re dealing with ministerial diaries, there is a reasonable chance that external events might pull the rug from under your best laid plans. It might be an urgent political issue that government needs to resolve, a question in Parliament that the minister needs to respond to, or other diary pressures that mean that your meeting gets postponed, or worse, cancelled altogether. Don’t be disheartened if that does happen – it happens to everyone at one time or another. The minister’s diary office will probably try to be quite accommodating in finding a new slot. To avoid the risk of making a long trip to Westminster only for the meeting to be cancelled at the last minute, it’s a good idea to check in with the minister’s office the day before the meeting in case they can see any potential problems on the horizon (and to check on the location of the meeting in case it might have changed).
Tip 5: Don’t be late
Ministerial diaries are tightly managed things, so if you are even a few minutes late, it can get you off to a really bad start. Arrive in plenty of time. If you can, it’s a good idea to agree to meet with those you are bringing to the meeting somewhere close by for a final briefing before you all go in to the meeting together.
Tip 6: Come with solutions, not just problems
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, politicians generally get quite irritated by people who just bring problems without any potential solutions. If the meeting is on a particular topic, it’s worth spending time thinking about the politics of that issue, and what you might want the minister, or the wider government, to do. And don’t forget that not all of the solutions are likely to be within the ministers direct control, so think about what the minister could do to encourage action by other bodies and organisations that are not necessarily under direct government control.
Tip 7: Get to the point
In most instances, you’re likely to only have 30 to 45 minutes for the meeting, so you’ll need to make sure that you can get to the meat of the conversation as quickly as possible. Niceties are, of course, important, but if you spend 15 minutes explaining who you are and what you’re trying to achieve, you could well have used half of the time available before you even get to the issue at hand. This is particularly challenging if you’re meeting with the minister as part of a small coalition or collaboration of organisations – everyone might want their 5 minutes in the sun, but time is precious, so you’ll need to be prepared to be quite strict.
Tip 8: Don’t overpromise
It’s really tempting to offer more than you can actually deliver, but this can be really damaging to your relationship with the minister, and to your reputation. Make sure that whatever you offer you can actually deliver. It might be more information, some good data, some other evidence, or your help and support to make something happen.
Tip 9: Follow up with the officials
The minister will almost certainly be accompanied in the meeting by the relevant officials – usually someone from the minister’s private office plus the relevant ministerial policy lead. Ministerial meetings are a great way to open a channel with the officials, if you’ve not already got one, and to strengthen that channel if you do. It’s a perfect reason to follow up with the officials after the meeting to emphasise any points that you want to underline, to provide any further information, and to pick up any other actions that might have arisen from the conversation.
Tip 10: Update your stakeholders
If it goes well, the meeting will have moved your relationship with the minister and the officials forward, so it’s important to update your key stakeholders on the outcomes of the meeting so that they’re aware of what was discussed, what the minister’s priorities are, and what you might have agreed. That’s even more important if your key stakeholders might have their own interaction with ministers and officials.
What would your top tips be for preparing to meet a minister? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
If you or your organisation are looking to do more policy influencing work, and would like some advice, I’d be happy to have a chat. Just drop me a line via the ‘Contact’ link above, or email me at hello@thepolicycoach.co.uk
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