GovComms: The Future of Government Communication

As we come up to the end of the year, host of the GovComms podcast, David Pembroke, reflects on the year that was.Taking the guest chair for a change, David chats with old time friend Andrew Bell about all things 2022. With the help of some of the key interviews from the GovComms podcast, the pair discuss the highs and lows that the communications space has experienced this year."I think with the benefit of hindsight, we are going to look back on this last 12-month period as a bit of a tipping point.... As a comms person, you should be nosy. You should be getting out there and talking to people, not sitting behind your desk. You need to discover and know what's going on, and be able to invite yourself to meetings that perhaps you're not being invited to at the moment. And when you are there, able to explain to your policy and programme colleagues about this wonderful capability that you are going to be able to have, and the benefit that it can bring to the people that you're seeking to serve.." - David Pembroke Discussed in this episode: OECD Conference for Public Sector CommunicationsThe emphasis on discoverable contentImpacts of the approval process Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"In 2019, this department of customer service [was] created. And I think the mission at the time that we were set was to make New South Wales the world's most customer-centric government. And that's the mission that we're on." - William MurphyWe are wrapping up our interviews on a high note with a jam-packed episode of inspiration featuring William Murphy, NSW Government's Deputy Secretary for Customer Delivery and Transformation.Host, David Pembroke, chats with William about some of the key changes that have occurred since switching to a customer service mindset."Well, I speak to a lot of public servants to talk to them about this. And what we've got in New South Wales government, we've got a set of things we call the New South Wales customer commitments. These are things that we've pulled out of our research over years that are the things that customers expect from us. And they are things like they expect our services to be easy to access. They expect us to respect their time when dealing with us. They expect us to make clear to them what might be the outcome of their interaction with government." - William MurphyMentioned at the most recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) conference for Public sector communications, NSW Government has set a precedent for how Communications should be."The story of New South Wales digital transformation is being shared with governments around the world. Because I think where you are at... I think you're leading the way and you've carved this path." - David Pembroke In addition, the pair discuss the importance of having one touchpoint for critical life events like marriages, births, and deaths. Discussed in this episode:Becoming customer-centricThe importance of research and innovationWhy you should "just get started""The only advice I'd have for people is really just get started. It's not rocket science and it's not huge stuff. Some of the things that we started in now, we have a programme of work called Government Made Easy. Sounds pretty simple. " - William Murphy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Our collective governance has evolved over time... based on what we've learned and what the opportunity is and who's involved. So, it's never a static thing... We're always open to going, "Oh, this is how we should pivot," or, "This is how we should reframe what we're about," ... we're looking at ... bringing new people to the table to help us think about how we can get more impact." - Tiffany Petre In the latest episode of the Collective Engagement for Social Purpose podcast series, we chat with Tiffany Petre, Director of The Obesity Collective as well as Dr.Taylor Willmott. The Obesity Collective is a national platform for committed individuals and organisations from across the community who are taking on the obesity challenge together from a whole-of-society and systems perspective. "[People] don't understand the many environmental drivers [of obesity]...For example, many healthcare professionals or the everyday person in Australia wouldn't know that when you lose a lot of weight, your hunger hormones increase and your metabolism decreases, and that fights people's ability to maintain weight loss or lose weight." - Tiffany With host, CEO of contentgroup, David Pembroke, Jodie and Tiffany discuss how to impact change through shared purpose."The complexity of some of the issues that are being faced, particularly in public health, are characteristic of problems that do not have one solution ... Everyone has their only invested interest in the problem, and that just makes solving a problem so much more difficult.... we've seen ... [that] understanding how you can bring diverse groups of people together to focus on a shared purpose and a common vision [is so important]. " - Dr. Taylor WillmottImportant Links for this episode: The Obesity Collective website: https://theobesitycollective.org.au/The Weight Issues Network website: https://weightissuesnetwork.org/The Obesity Evidence Hub: https://www.obesityevidencehub.org.au/A Public Health Research and Practice series on obesity and the narrative: https://www.phrp.com.au/issues/october-2022-volume-32-issue-3/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the GovComms chair this week is the Director of Communication with Cushman & Wakefield, Ben Roberts. Ben is an experienced strategic communication expert with comprehensive experience in the Australian Public Service and in the Australian Defence Industry.A Navy veteran, Ben has spent the last several years in senior communication roles in the Defence industry and prior to that he was a senior speechwriter in the public service where he wrote for Ministers, agency heads, the Senior Executive Service, ambassadors, and more. He was also a political adviser many years ago.Ben talks about how he began his career in communications with host, CEO, and founder of contentgroup, David Pembroke."What I really cut my teeth on was speech writing, especially. Lots of speeches, lots of constituent correspondence and things like representations to ministers. That's where somebody will come in and say, "I need your help with this matter. Can you please write a letter to the minister on my behalf and kind of flag this issue with them?" Doing lots of that kind of work. Also, things like op-eds, media releases with the Cumberland Newspapers and all that kind of stuff. It was really great"The pair also discuss how best to communicate with ministers offices. Who to befriend, and how best to leave your mark. "Always make friends with your EAs and your EOs, they're the gatekeepers to your senior executives and they're a very important person for you to be friendly with because they can be influential and they can also give you more information when you need it. And you don't necessarily want to bother, you don't want to bother your DepSec, but you can talk to the EO and get the information that you need out of them. That's really important."The two discuss some of the best advice to help government communicators engage effectively with citizens, to help build community, and to help restore trust in government. Some of this advice includes your communication being frequent and sincere, clear and concise and understanding context. "Firstly, you need to be clear, and that's a point in really all communication and something that I'll return to time and time again when discussing this with people, which is don't ever try and sound clever. Go for clarity instead. Clarity over cleverness every day, all the time. "Discussed in this episode: The importance of contextThe future of communications Why you should utilise your LinkedIn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"When you're in a meeting... you've got the opportunity to observe, [so] take the minutes of the unspoken. The unspoken in where people sit, what the body language is like, who's talking the most, who's chairing and why, who are they listening to? There are power dynamics in every relationship, especially where we come together as strangers to get things done." - Melinda MaddockIn this episodes of GovComms we are lucky to be joined by the author of the book How to Train Your Political Animal; A Power Handbook for Changing Yourself and Your World.Melinda Maddock is a Tasmanian based Author and Strategist whos involvement in political discussions and social justice cases stem from her primary school days where she first organised a sit - in on the playground.Following the bombing of Libya by the US, Melinda generated a petition that garnered more than 75,000 signatures and presented it to former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke."when I was in year nine, it was international year of peace, and I was watching the news and the US bombed Libya. I was pretty horrified at the time and anxious as kids were in the '80s. Also, you know, afraid of the cold war that was going on.So, I was just sitting there getting upset about it. I remember my mom was ironing at the time and she said, "Well, what, what do you wanna do about it? What can you do about it?". And then, we talked about it and came up with the idea of having a petition which started off being with Tasmanian school students, a petition for nuclear disarmament."To see image: https://blog.govcommsinstitute.com/podcast/ep138-how-to-train-your-political-animalWithin this episode, David also discusses with Melinda her newly released novel "How to Train Your Political Animal; A power handbook for changing yourself and your world". The pair break down what motivated Melinda to write the book as well as some of the books key takeaways:"Politics is not a dirty word. Some people are afraid of it. They think other people are better at it than they are. They think they don't wanna be involved in it. So, the message is when you don't participate, you're leaving the decisions to people who may be more self-interested than you. ""The best way to influence change is to listen." "The other lesson is don't sleep walk. So, stay awake, pay attention, especially to the power dynamics that are going on around you"Practise curiosity over judgement  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of GovComms we discuss all things Change 2022. Change is an annual event that is tailored to individuals who are focused on achieving measurable change that benefits people, communities, and the planet. During the 2-day conference, you will learn from people with a track record of delivering positive health, environment and social change. You will network, collaborate with and learn from a wide range of people offering their own experience in delivering policy, practice and behaviour change.Date: 20th and 21st OctoberVenue details: Building S05, 2.04, South Bank campus, Griffith University, 226 Grey Street, South Bank QLD 4101Ticket pricing: General registration ($499)Student, Griffith Staff, AASM Member registration ($399) Livestream registration ($100)(All pricing (excluding livestream package) is inclusive of access to two workshops, catering and access to the networking event)Change 2022 features:A line-up of over 20 speakers who will be sharing their change stories in TED-style talksOpen mic sessions for up to 20 delegates to share their stories and/or get any questions answeredYour choice of 2 workshops to take an even deeper dive into the world of changeA Network Evening event to connect with fellow change agents from around the globeWho should attend? Directors, Founders, Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Officers that are dedicated to pursuing behaviour change in:Government (Federal, State and Local)Not-for-profit, Non-profit, NGO, CharitySocial enterprise, Social businessAcademiaCommercial industryTo register for this event: https://www.griffith.edu.au/griffith-business-school/social-marketing-griffith/change-conference Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a new series for GovComms we will be going along for the ride to follow the journey of the University of Adelaide's latest multi-year, multi-phase research project, which is called Collective Engagement for Social Purpose.For this new series, we will regularly be joined by Dr. Taylor Willmott and Professor Jodie Conduit, who are from the university's business school.In this weeks episode, we catch up with Jodie and Taylor to discuss some their key findings so far.As a recap, the project emerged as a culmination of several projects and research across several sectors. However, all projects and research had in common one thing... how organisations could better engage with their stakeholders to drive improvements in both their products and the service offering's. This latest research comes from the position that stakeholders aren't passive recipients, that they are people that you want to engage with to make change, to work better with them, and to really drive that enhancement in everything that you do."In the interviews, respondents have discussed shared purpose and a sense of social purpose in slightly different but related ways. I think ultimately it's our why. It's your reason for existing and for being. They spoke about things like, "It's our DNA. It's actually our North Star and the things that we're striving to achieve, but ultimately it's something that we all align on and can connect with in some way." - Dr. Taylor WillmottDavid, Jodie and Taylor discuss factors that can help create that sense of sharedness ("if that's a word" - David). Alignment for all parties is one aspect the others being transparency and clarity."Getting people all on board and getting aligned in their understanding with a shared purpose is actually a concept that has challenged us a little bit in understanding it because in our interviews, people talk about the need to have alignment and a shared purpose, but they also talk about the need to have diversity and different opinions and different roles and different people at the table" - Professor Jodie ConduitFor the NHS paper mentioned in this episode head to: https://blog.govcommsinstitute.com/podcast/what-we-found-collective-engagement-for-a-social-purpose For more information about this research: https://business.adelaide.edu.au/collective-engagement-for-social-purposeIf you have any questions about this episode or would like to get involved in this research please reach out to Dr. Taylor Willmott via: taylor.willmott@adelaide.edu.au Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Reputation management is not just communication, but for our team, it means not over promising and under delivering." - Evan Ekin-SmythThe final four principles are discussed in part two of our conversation with Evan Ekin - Smyth, Director of Media and Digital Engagement at the AEC. Evan also discusses some of the strategies the AEC uses to stay ahead and on top of the narrative in this episode. "A lot of the operation of the command centre was about operational delivery, but we have a little media hub within our command centre and it allows us to be right there, knowing what's going on, getting the information. So it allows us to get ahead of things, but it also allows us to respond if there's an issue going." - Evan Ekin-SmythAlso discussed by Evan and David is the Social Media Operation's Group or SMOG, the labour hire staff that provided assistance to the core team during the election in responding to social media inquiries. He then explains more about the operation, which has three tiers: SMOG Queens, SMOG Kings, and as David labels it, the SMOG Emperor. Evan Ekin-Smyth: "So we always had roistered on both a Social Media Operations Group Operator, who we called a SMOGGLE, and a SMOG Queen to enable those things to happen. And then if a SMOG Queen was finding content that they thought was particularly sensitive, it would come either to me or a colleague to..."David Pembroke: "Kind of SMOG Emperor, if you like."Evan Ekin-Smyth: "And it's all a little bit jovial, but it worked really well. We were having a look at the structure seeing on what we can improve there, but it served us very, very well to get through what was a ridiculous amount of content."Finally, The pair discuss why it was so vital that the AEC meet regularly with social media organisation's. Discussed in this episode: Reputation Management The inner operations of the AECMedia and Communications Training Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) played an important role in keeping the recent Federal Election in Australia on track.Our latest two-part series features Evan Ekin-Smyth, director of media and digital engagement at the AEC. Starting at the beginning, host David Pembroke, CEO of contentgroup, walks with Evan through the early stages of his career."I think you spend, I don't know how much it is, but half of your waking time at work. If you're not doing something that you enjoy, you're probably doing it wrong. I had a look at the field of media and journalism. I thought it looked interesting, that we could do interesting things like having chats to your good self David, and that's a good place to be."The AEC's Twitter account during the election became a major talking point. The account fought hard against misinformation and disinformation online and the team behind the witty tone were responsible for responding to 150,000 tags on social media through that six week period."I started the AEC's Twitter account. I remember writing the document to our executive who probably picked it up with a bemused look on their face and thought, "Do we really want do this?" Luckily they said, yes, because I think it's been a good thing for us."Both episodes in the series cover the 6 key principles Evan and his team used to keep on top of the narrative. Some of the topics covered in part one include:The need for speedHow the AEC produced content in real-time and whyThe importance of being open and regular onlinePart two of our conversation with Evan comes out on the 7th of September. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"If you did something that wasn't risky and no one even looked at it, what was the point? I don't think it's successful communication. It might be good internally...but if you're actually thinking about who you're communicating with and what you did no one saw and no one interacted with, I don't think that's worth it.' - Tim PriceOn this weeks episode of GovComms, host and CEO of contentgroup, David Pembroke, is joined by Tim Price the new digital content and social media manager at the Federal Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. David begins by exploring where Tim's career began - working for Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff. Tim explains "when I look back on my career, I was like, "Well, that's really where it all started." Back then, there was no such thing as a digital career. There was no such thing as a career in social media. So I travelled the wave of the constantly changing nature of digital and social media and into government as well."The pair discuss the challenges of a new narrow cast world and the importance of building a sense of community no matter the type of communications you are executing.On top of this, the one key takeaway from this episode is the importance of building connections. Tim explains that making connections with individuals throughout your organisation can greatly benefit you when it comes to having a seat at the table from the get-go."For people who work across various government departments, you really need to get in on the conversation very early. I think if you are sitting in a space where you just get things at the end and they're all approved and all you're doing is putting that message out, it's very hard to change things at that point. Whereas, if you're brought in early or you worked to build up those relationships where you get brought in early on a project, you can work on those things at the very start. "In this episode, we also break down: Why evidence is so important in strengthening the argument for your strategy.The importance of building connectionsWhat tactics you can use to better grab the attention of your audience. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.