Fit for the Future
Selvin Brown MBE
Programme Director,
GCS Improvement Programme
November 2015
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Context: Comms Futures; Modern Comms Team & SR 15
• Challenge: Social, Economic & Technological.
• Aim & Mission: Here to deliver world-class communications that support the Government’s priorities and
helps deliver its programmes. Will achieve our mission by providing relevant information to people in the
way they choose, to enable them to improve their lives.
• Key Findings:
o Future communications about science not art.
o Technology will only quicken. We’ll become obsolete if we don’t change.
o Communications built around the citizen.
o Build networks of third parties to amplify our messages.
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Comms Futures
• The Government Communications Service (GCS) should support people through this change, up-skilling our
teams to meet the changing environment and to respond in real-time to what customers want.
• Part of the wider leadership challenge for the Civil Service – supported by the new Civil Service leadership
statement.
• Three themes:
– Inspiring: about our work and its future;
– Confident: in our engagement; and
– Empowering: our teams to deliver.
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Modern Comms Team # 1
Leadership:
• There is a renewed focus on leadership: communications leadership should be capable of setting the
highest professional standards, inspiring and empowering teams to give their organisation the
confidence to translate business objectives into communications activity and behavioural outcomes.
Four Functions:
1.
Strategic Communications: undertakes horizon scans for the whole department and provides
the plotline for the core narrative and gathers insight and evaluation.
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Modern Comms Team # 2
2.
Media & Campaigns: Produces publishable content rather than simply distributing press releases; can flex
according to latest needs of a department or ALB, for example moving from a media bias to a marketing
bias as policy creation shifts to operational implementation.
3.
Strategic Engagement: Builds alliances with partners and third parties to disseminate messages and share
content.
4.
Internal Communications: Works in partnership with leaders to engage staff in delivering government and
departmental priorities and supporting organsational and cultural change.
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Embedded Communications Staff
• Define professional communications. This is how we ensure we are a profession!
• Communications staff should be part of the central communications team, whether directly managed or via
a dotted line. All communications staff should have a line into the Head of Profession – the Group Director
of Communications (GDC).
• Any new roles, grades must be approved by the GDC, particularly G7 and above.
• All communications professionals should participate in training and development.
• All communications programmes must be developed using the OASIS planning model.
• All communications campaigns should be actively evaluated against agreed KPIs.
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ALBs (Efficiency, Effectiveness & Education)
• Efficiency: Identify opportunities to reduce operating costs, reduce waste and avoid duplication of effort
across the Communications Group (core department and arm’s length bodies).
• Effectiveness: Improve the quality and consistency of communications for the organisation, including
Ministers, Chief Executives, external audiences and stakeholders.
• Deliver better communications outcomes in support of policy or service delivery objectives.
• Create flexible structures that are capable of responding to changing or competing communications
pressures.
• Education: Promote best practice and GCS standards.
• Building capability, and encouraging the pooling of knowledge, resources, and expertise.
• Improving career opportunities by providing development and progression across Communications Group.
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Take Away & Actions of Comms Leaders/You
• Three asks of you:
1. Engage with the challenges set out in the Comms Futures paper – specifically social, economic
and technological.
2. Consider your role as leaders - specifically are you setting the highest professional standards,
inspiring and empowering your teams, and giving your organisation the confidence to translate
business objectives into communications activity and behavioural outcomes?
3. Adopt the MCOM principles - including the core communication team structure – within your
organisation in response to both the Comms Futures challenges and the SR15.
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