Land Records Leadership Series: How to Talk to Elected Officials

It can be intimidating to communicate with elected officials if you are a new employee for a city government, have a lead role in a state agency, or are in a consulting role meeting with a county committee.  Here are some words of wisdom to help improve your communication with elected officials from Eric Damkot, Director of GIS/Land Information Officer for Washington County:

I’ve found regular and open communication is key. That may sound obvious and an oversimplification, but it takes effort and planning. Involve your elected officials in the entire lifecycle of a project. They shouldn’t only see you when there is a problem, or you need additional funds.

Not long after I moved to a leadership role, we had a process where division managers would provide bimonthly reports to their standing committee. There wasn’t a lot of structure to it, but it was regularly scheduled. Some managers would get into the weeds and report on the number of widgets they produced in the previous month or two whereas others kept it at a higher level. What I found most valuable was the opportunity to not only highlight our successes, but also the risks associated with our current projects. Then, if things did go south, the elected officials already had much of the background and, hopefully, didn’t feel blindsided when you came to them with a solution.

More recently the county implemented an Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). Unlike the monthly reports, EOS provides a common framework for all departments to report to their standing committee. I know that once per quarter I will present an EOS report describing our major initiatives and the goals associated with those initiatives. It is an opportunity to celebrate the successes and discuss the challenges. The tool is designed to focus on policy and stay out of the daily minutia.

Between the monthly reporting system and newer EOS, there was a time when regular appearances at committees started to slip. I definitely felt that void. The disconnect that was forming made the uncomfortable conversations more difficult.

If you attain every goal you set, you are not setting your goals high enough. Developing a relationship with the elected leaders is key so that when difficult situations occur, everyone can pull in the same direction.

We, as land information professionals, are hired to be the technical and subj

ect matter experts. Elected officials are elected to set policy. The real question to ask is, “what information do our elected leaders need from us to set effective policies?” Remembering these roles can sometimes help determine what and how to present. Try focusing on what the problem is, why it is a problem for county government to solve and what we are going to need and do to solve the problem. Often a conversation regarding resources is needed, but the technical detail is usually not. Where I often get into trouble is that the technical detail is what I personally find most exciting and why I love the profession. Although it is hard and I’m always prepared to go into as much detail as needed when questions are asked, I try to save the technical ‘how’ for the next conference presentation.

The words we use are also important. Avoiding acronyms and jargon sounds like an easy enough rule to follow, but is it? I was recently called out for using “lidar” in a report but is Light Detecting and Ranging really any better? Some might argue it is worse. Elevation data, surface model or invoking a derivative product like contours are probably all better choices for many audiences.

Lastly, people process information and learn differently. I’m a visual learner and I gravitate to maps, charts and graphs. My audience, however, might be better reading or auditory learners. When I can present the same information in multiple formats, I know I’m increasing the chances of my communication being effective.

Image credits:

budget meeting by monibag  (CC BY 3.0)

committee by Krisada  (CC BY 3.0)