A Lobby Work Factory

by

From Checklists to …

I learned a lot from Atwul Gawande’s Checklist Manifesto.

There is a simple tool that surgeons, lawyers, and airline pilots use a lot.

They use checklists and standard operating procedures. Checklists and SOPs improve performance and reduce cognitive overload.

It is helpful to have as few issues floating around in your brain at any one moment. It allows you to focus your mental efforts on deep thinking and find solutions to challenging questions.

Here are some good examples

[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.aaronmcloughlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/WHO-Surgical-Safety-Checklist.pdf” title=”WHO Surgical Safety Checklist”]

 

[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.aaronmcloughlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/UKV-PRD-A320-CHECKLIST-V4.pdf”]

 

Source: https://flyuk.aero/assets/downloads/resources/checklists/UKV-PRD-A320-CHECKLIST-V4.pdf

205167861-Litigation-Checklist-2014

 

I have accumulated a pile of checklists, process charts and case studies on the few areas I work on.  I turn to them when I face familiar and new issues.  I have them on paper because I can’t remember every step and best practice on every legislative or policy procedure I work on.  My memory is not reliable enough. I have the impression that most lobbyists have perfect memory and can keep things in their heads. I envy them.

The next step – a Knowledge Work Factory

Recently I came across the Knowledge Work Factory by William Heitman.  This was an ah-ha moment.

William Heitman makes the case that any knowledge worker can become more productive by using:

  1. Standardization
  2. Specialization,  and the
  3. Division of labour, including the division of work, division of job positions, division of work management

Fortunately, I’m far gone down this process.

[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.aaronmcloughlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Knowledge-Work.pdf” title=”Knowledge Work”]

 

Applying A Knowledge Work Factory to Lobbying

A quiet house gave me time to consider whether my job as a lobbyist could fall into this knowledge-work factory framework.

 

What to do I do in a week

Heitman contends that our work likely falls into six categories and 20 universal activities.

Universal Activity View

Source: The Knowledge Work Factory, p.265
Number
Category
Activity
1.
Receive
Electronic File
2.
Email
3.
Phone Call
4.
Physical Copy
5.
Review
Prepare
6.
Preview
7.
Validate
8.
Decide
9.
Terminate
10.
Perform
Update
11.
Correct
12.
Create
13.
Enter
14.
Move
15.
Attend
Meeting
16.
Communication
17.
Send
Electronic File
18.
Email
19.
Phone Call
20
Physical Copy
I looked at my working week last week, and it looks like this:
My Activity View for a Few Weeks
Number
Category
Activity
Example
1.
Receive
Electronic File
Client deck for meeting with an  official
2.
Email
Request for assistance from client; issue update
3.
Phone Call
Client asking for advice
4.
Physical Copy
5.
Review
Prepare
Advisory note
6.
Preview
Draft presentation for a client
7.
Validate
Assumptions and key dates on a strategy
8.
Decide
On next steps
9.
Terminate
 Activity on a work stream. No longer relevant.
10. Perform Update Update an issue tracker.
11.
Correct
A presentation for a client
12.
Create
An advisory note
13.
Enter
Hours
14.
Move
A meeting
15
Research
Deep dive into how a concept has been mainstreamed in regulatory decision
16
Attend
Client Meeting F2F
Review and advise on the next steps
17.
Client meeting online
Advise on the next steps
18
Team client meeting
Brief client team call
19
Coaching meeting
Advice for a colleague
20.
Meeting with Decision-maker
Meet civil servant
21.
Political Debate
Watch an exchange of views in EP
22
New Business Opportunity
Speak at Conference
23.
Communication
Listen to a company update
24.
Send
Electronic File
Pre-read sent to client
25.
Email
Advice to the client on a procedural issue
26.
Phone Call
Call MEP’s office on the state of play
27
Physical Copy
This is likely a pretty standard week for any lobbyist.
There are some differences in the Universal Activity. I don’t receive or send physical copies.  My meetings are subdivided.
What is happening in any given week
Looking at a month of work, my work can be split into:
  1. Processes
  2. Products
  3. Activities
I focus my work around some processes: REACH, CLP, Secondary, OLP, and policy adoption.  I have tried and tested process charts and SOPs for these.
The output is products. The products contain advice and solutions. The product is given in notes and in meetings.  I have a template, examples, and process (the Minto Pyramid Principle) for most of these notes.
The activities fall into one of the six activities. I have Checklists and SOPs for most of these. For example, for an internal meeting, a basic SOP would be:
  1. Review the material a day or so before
  2. Read the pre-read
  3. Provide any feedback requested
  4. Clarify any gaps in thinking
  5. Send points a day before
  6. Review notes before the meeting
  7. Note actions and agreements made during the meeting
  8. Confirm actions and agreements at the end of the meeting
  9. Allocate time in my schedule to follow up
  10. Set aside 15 minutes after the meeting to review
If I don’t get the material in advance, I find the meeting less productive. Steps 1-6 allow insight to be developed and through the power of sleep and the mental sparks that find answers to tough questions overnight. If you come to a meeting without benefiting from steps 1-6, the meeting will be far less productive.
Why not adopt?
The idea of systemising your work – by standardisation, specialisation, and the division of labour –  may affront some lobbyists.   I won’t try my hand at PowerPoint, web design, or data visualisation.
I sense the biggest reluctance to adopt this approach is the idea that lobbyists possess a unique skill set that can’t be standardised. Somehow, only this self-anointed group can read the tea leaves of the political voting gods, have walked the journey to Hades and back on an obscure regulatory or legislative process, and only they can intercede with the demi-gods in the EP, Perm Reps, Commission or Agencies.
The upsides to doing it, alone or as part of a team, are three. First, your cognitive overload will disappear. Second, you can train colleagues up to do parts (or all) of your job. This allows you to put your feet up to focus on really hard things. Third, your and your team’s efficiency will improve by a few hundred per cent.