Micro practices for public affairs
Small changes that you make each day can have a hugely beneficial impact on your workplace performance…
Micro practices are small and simple habits or actions that can be incorporated into anyone's daily life. These often focus on how to improve personal wellbeing. The practices are normally easy to implement, do not require a huge amount of time, and can be customised to fit the individual.
But there are also micro practices that can focus on the way that we do our jobs that help deliver benefits as well. They can help deliver personal benefits but also enhance our performance in the workplace. By constantly including such small habits, we can be better at doing public affairs. This won't happen straight away, but there should be a cumulative effect. The small changes build momentum.
What are some of the micro practices that I would suggest?
- Start your day with a range of political news, not just your favoured sources. I have found having access to Apple News extremely valuable to bring in a wider range of sources, especially internationally.
- Talk to a client each day – that could be internal or external. It will help to improve relationships.
- Take a moment to engage meaningfully with colleagues – especially in a largely virtual setting. We often do not take the time to check-in on colleagues and make the effort to learn more about them.
- Put time aside to research – think about researching issues that are relevant to your organisation or clients. It helps keep you informed, and always remember that public affairs is never just about politics.
- Social media – rather than scrolling aimlessly, think about setting up alerts and lists.
- Event attendance – check regularly for events that you can attend (virtually or in-person). If there is an issue or sector that you want to know more about, then research some specific events.
- Do not be afraid to keep learning – put time aside for training, reading, online courses, or similar.
- Stay organised – there are more organisational tools and apps available to help us maintain to-do lists, deal with project management, stay on top of emails, etc. Get a system in place that works for you, as it will help maintain focus and ensure that you meet your goals.
By adopting such practices into our everyday working lives, we can establish a cycle of continuous improvement. That can only be a good thing for us, colleagues, and clients (internal or external).
Sometimes a little challenge to our existing practices can be a good thing. It can prompt us to consider what we do well and what we could change to increase our effectiveness.
The effort to introduce new micro practices can be relatively low but can make a significant impact.
Dr Stuart Thomson is a public affairs and communications consultant.