SOLACE East of England
Regional Seminar
Adrian Pritchard
Colchester Borough Council
7 November 2014
Dealing with change:
political astuteness
Democratic Mandate
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Public finance
Public service
Political mandate
Political decision making
Reasons for becoming elected
members
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Political beliefs/values/principles
Community interest
Single issue
Making a difference
Being asked
Getting upset or involved
Further political advancement
Power and power base
“I am an officer
(s)he is a politician –
we inhabit each
other’s worlds”
One person’s idea of
collaboration is
another person’s
idea of impropriety
Political Sensitivity
Political Space
Politicians
Political Sensitivity
Management
Space
Officers
Political Sensitivity
Political
Space
Politicians
Political and
Management
Shared
Space
Management
Space
Officers
Why political skills for Managers?
• Vital for:
– Survival in an organisation
– Becoming a great manager
– Getting the best from people
– Ensuring success
– Delivering achievements
– Making sense of non-managerial (political)
decisions
Political Skills for Managers
• Trust
– By the leadership
– By the organisation
– By partners
– By stakeholders
– By the community
– In the work of government
Politically Skilled Managers
• Respond in certain ways
• Display certain characteristics
Political Skills – A Model
Two dimensions
Knowledge dimension
• Understanding the organisation
• Making sense of the external world
Skills dimension
• Management of your internal world
• Navigation of the issues (problems) to solve
Knowledge Dimension
Political
Awareness
Reads the organisation
Understands the decision making
processes
Aware of overt and covert agendas
Identifies bases of power
Interprets organisational culture
Clarifies political purpose/direction
Gets small and large ‘P’ politics
Politically
Unaware
Unable or unwilling to
recognise most or all of the
politically aware knowledge
Knowledge Dimension
Political awareness = Clever Behaviour
• Understands how the system works
• Achieves outcomes without expert or
positional power
• Sets up situations to meet their own needs
• Opportunistic
Knowledge Dimension
Politically Unaware =
Innocent Behaviour
• No understanding of organisational issues
• Belief in expert or positional power
• Blindness to any other forms of power
• Contempt for political skill
• Disillusioned by ‘politicking’
Skills Dimension
Acting with
Integrity
Psychological
game-playing
Uses written rules
Self orientated
Knows the unwritten rules
Superficially plausible
Undertakes lobbying
Concealed motivation
Times proposals
Someone ends up feeling bad
Speaks to the right people
Politically aware
CLEVER
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Politically unaware
INNOCENT
Politically aware
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L
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G
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CLEVER
Psychological
game-playing
INEPT
WISE
DIMENSION
Acting with
integrity
SKILLS
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Politically unaware
INNOCENT
Owl, Fox, Donkey or Sheep?
Politically aware
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N
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W
L
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D
G
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CLEVER
Psychological
game-playing
INEPT
SKILLS
WISE
DIMENSION
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N
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N
Politically unaware
INNOCENT
Acting with
integrity
Working with a coalition administration
Working Together
• Policies they can agree on
• Actions/policies they want achieved
• Relationship with government/ministers/
opposition
• Relationship with the opposition groups(s)
• Relationship with other agencies/organisations/
business
• Red lines not to be crossed
Working with a coalition administration
Ways of Working
• Portfolio Holder boundaries/autonomy/decision
making
• Communication between Cabinet
• Relationship with the Chief Executive
• Involvement of the Executive (Senior)
Management Team
• Communication with the media/press/public
• Decisions in private (can split – majority rules)
• Decisions in public (abstain at worst)
Working with a coalition administration
Decision Making and Influence
• Weekly Leader and Chief Executive meetings
• Quarterly Leader and Director meetings
• Monthly Chief Executive and individual group
Leader meetings
• Leadership Team – Big policy items (monthly)
• Executive Board – Small policy/political items
(fortnightly)
• Pre-Cabinet Co-ordinating meeting (3 weeks
before Cabinet
Practical tips for working with
members
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Know your Councillors
Regular contact/create contact
View through their lens
Challenge when appropriate
Treat with respect
Deliver on priorities
Be aware of political influences
Former Labour Cabinet Minister,
Liam Byrne….
“Dear chief
secretary, I'm
afraid there is
no money.
Kind regards and good luck!
Liam."
Sharon Shoesmith, former Head of
Children’s Services, Haringey Council…
“Sharon
Shoesmith
sacked as
Director of
Children's
Services after
the death of 17month-old Peter
Connelly”
Christopher Galley – Home
Office Civil Servant…
“Christopher
Galley dismissed
as junior Home
Office civil
servant for
passing
information to
Tory Damian
Green”
Bob Quick – Assistant
Commissioner….
“Bob Quick
resigns
over terror
blunder”