If I were to teach a course a how to be a lobbyist, I would chunk it down into four areas to master.
- Skills
- Processes
- Operational
- Mindset
They are not the same for Public Affairs or Campaigners, but I think there is overlap.
Each area could be chunked down into granular steps that would benefit from a short checklist, a good practice example, and a short explanatory video.
What do you think is missing from this list?
The points in bold are what I personally think are the most important.
Skills
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Write a clear position paper.
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Write a clear policy memo.
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Write clear and concise debate summaries and action points.
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Write a good op-ed.
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Write a good road map consultation response.
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Write a good public consultation response.
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Write and deliver an elevator pitch.
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Write a good lobby plan.
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Write a good speech/remarks.
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Write a response for regulatory feedback.
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Write a good amendment and justification.
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Deliver your case to an official.
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Deliver your case to a politician.
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Deliver your case to a journalist.
- Deliver your case to a Regulatory Forum
- Speak clearly in public and private.
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Delivering your case back in the national capitals.
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Work constructively with an official, political adviser, MEP, or journalist (even when you disagree with them).
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Deliver a persuasive story.
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Deliver your case to a non-expert on the issue.
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Deliver your case to an expert on the issue.
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Deconstruct your client’s case into a case/language that lands with decision makers.
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Communicate your case to the different value groups: Settlers, Prospectors, and Pioneers.
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Communicate (speaking and writing ) in plain English
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Read a room.
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Keep and grow your network.
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Pick up the phone
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Feeding into delegated act process – working with the drafting team, expert group, and EP/Council, public consultation
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Feeding into implementing act process
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Learn to learn. You are going to spend your time having to learn new things. The faster and more effectively you can do that, the easier things will be.
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Hold your tongue.
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How to read. You’ll be reading a lot.
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How to listen.
- How to visualise information.
Processes
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Preparation of the Council’s Strategic Agenda.
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Preparation of Political Group Manifesto.
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Preparation of Political Guidelines and Mission Letters.
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Preparation of Work Programmes.
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Impact Assessment
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Inter-Service Steering Group
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Inter-Service Consultation.
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College adoption.
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Ordinary Legislative Procedure.
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Working with the EP – Group Advisers
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Working with the EP – Key MEPs – Group Co-ordinators, Shadows, Rapporteurs, political decision-makers
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Working with the Council – Working Party members, attaches, national experts, Ministers, and political advisers.
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Working with Commission – negotiating team, ISC team.
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Managing trilogues.
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Managing conciliation (if one happens again).
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REFIT submission.
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Commission Work Programme cycle.
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Get your issue financed – get the right budget lines in MFF.
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Delegated act mandate.
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Delegated acts drafting
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Delegated act adoption
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Delegated act public consultation
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Delegated act scrutiny by Council & EP
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RPS mandate.
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RPS drafting.
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RPS adoption.
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RPS Public Consultation.
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RPS Scrutiny by Council and EP.
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Implementing act mandate.
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Implementing act drafting.
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Implementing act adoption.
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Implementing act Public Consultation.
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Implementing act Scrutiny by Council and EP.
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Agency procedures (e.g. EFSA, ECHA) – for me see 35-44
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CLP classification
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REACH Restriction
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REACH Authorisation
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REACH Substance Evaluation
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OEL
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EU POP nomination
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POP adoption
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EU POP implementing
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TBT Notification Procedure
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TRIS Procedure
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Challenge a decision in Court.
Operational
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Knowing the voting rules for each step.
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Knowing the voting records and trends for your area.
- Keeping up to date on the Rules of Procedure for Commission, Council, EP, and Committees.
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Pitch to win clients.
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Keep your client informed in a language they understand.
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How to keep your client’s expectations realistic.
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Ensure you step in at the right time. Not too early or too late.
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Keep to a budget.
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Have some spare capacity in the system. You can’t sprint for long.
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Prepare SOPs and checklists to leverage your skills to the team. You can’t do it all.
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Write clear meeting summaries and action point
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Deliver on your agreed plan. Be flexible enough to adapt the plan.
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Do objective evaluations of your work.
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Pick up the phone and get information.
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Pitch a meeting request.
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Making sure the meeting deliver. Get the pre-reads sent ahead of time.
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Rehearse for meetings.
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Following up in time from meetings.
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Getting hold of draft EP Report and tabled amendments
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Getting hold of Council Working Party positions
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Getting hold of the 4-column document
Mind Set
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Keeping confidences.
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Adapt to the political Zeitgeist. Adapt your case to what works.
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Managing that you are not in control. You are working in an area where you are likely going to have little control over what happens.
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Managing uncertainty. It goes with the territory. You are in a game of three-dimensional chess, playing it blindfolded. The unexpected is normal.
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Dealing with post-legislative depression. After you have spent a year of your life focused on one legislative file, it gets agreed to, and you find your calendar empty.
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Dealing with loss. You need to manage to deal with not-winning. It is going to happen a lot.
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Deal with rejection/being ignored. Yes, your advice and ideas, even the good ones, will be ignored and laughed at. You need to deal with it.
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Your ego is the enemy. If you make your work about you, it will be tough.
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Keep Learning. Spend an hour a day learning.
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Step back and look at the issue from the perspective of different value groups.
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Don’t work yourself into exhaustion.
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Know when to walk away. Sometimes you can’t win. Work out when you cut your losses, and don’t burn the bridge.
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Say no to work. You can only do much good work in a week.
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Be comfortable with change.
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Don’t think most people see the world as you do.
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Work well with people.
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Act ethically and with integrity.
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Understand what drives someone, even when you disagree with them.