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The art of policy briefs
1. Creating messages for policy: The art
of the policy brief
Andrew Clappison and Zeinab Sabet
June 6-8, 2014 Accra, Ghana
2. Objectives of this session
What is a
policy
brief?
Planning
for policy
influence
Messaging
Structure
and
design
Wrap-up Surgery
3. Policy briefs are short documents that present the findings and
recommendations of a research project to a non-specialist
readership. They are often recommended as a key tool for
communicating research findings to policy actors [who often do
not have the time to read long technical research documents]
(Young and Quinn, 2007)
In simple terms…
A policy brief is a clear message tailored for a policy audience.
1.1 What is a policy brief?
7. 2.1 Planning: Thinking about your audience
• Who are your readers?
• How knowledgeable are they about the subject?
• How open are they to the message?
• What are their interests & concerns?
8. 2.2 Planning: Thinking about context
• Policy makers are not
a homogenous group
• Needs differ by sector, ministry etc.
• Level of position (national vs sub-national)
• Role in policy-making process (level of power)
• Political and media context: opportunities?
9. 2.3 Planning: The evidence
• How legitimate and credible are my
findings?”
• Building credibility
– Make sure your figures are correct
and verifiable
– Present your research clearly and convincingly
– Look for stakeholder/local involvement
– Collaborate with other researchers
10. 2.4 Planning: Your links and engagement
Be pro-active…
• “Effective policy entrepreneurs – or champions – will make
the most of networks but will also use
• connections or negotiating skills, be persistent, develop
ideas, proposals and expertise well in
• advance of policy ‘windows’”.
• – Neilson, S. (2001), IDRC
12. Good research merits good
communication
Qualityofresearch
Quality of communication
Source: Communicating Food Policy Research, IFPRI (March
2005)
13. Developing effective messages
When communicating your research, you need to respond
to the following questions:
• Who?
• Why?
• How?
• What?
But what does “key messages” stand for?
14. How to best craft your messages?
• List your key findings and policy recommendations
• Think about the following questions:
– What is the objective of your message?
– Why is this important?
– Who are your target audiences?
– What do you want them to do?
– How exactly should they do it?
15. What does it take to make a message
memorable?
• What do you want to say, how and to whom?
Messages should be designed with audiences in mind and
tailored to fit their needs – identify your audience
Messages should be memorable, engaging and limited in
number – KISS!!
Messages should be simple – avoid jargon and scientific
terminologies
Messages may need to answer the question: ‘why do I care?’
17. What does an effective message look
like?
The 4Cs model:
1. Comprehension
2. Connection
3. Credibility
4. Contagiousness
Make your messages pass the ‘Grandma
Test’
“The 4Cs model is a
useful tool for objectively
evaluating the
effectiveness of many
forms of communication:
what’s working, what
isn’t working, and why.”
18. Top tips for effective messaging
• A Attract the attention of the audience
• I Raise the interest in the message or
evidence
• D Encourage a desire to act or to know
more
• A Prompt action and present a solution
19. The power of words is also very impressively reflected in this
short video which shows the power words have to change
radically your message, and their effect on the world.
21. Group work (based on the 4C’s)
1. Did you instantly understand what the brief is about?
2. Did it evoke an emotional response?
3. Was it or the messenger credible?
4. Did you feel the message “stuck” and made you want to
react in some way?
Apply each of these questions to the policy brief handed to your
group and report back during plenary. Also try to rate how well
each of the briefs does against these questions on a scale of 1-10
(i.e. On a scale of 1-10 say how well the policy brief was able to
convey the messenger as credible).
24. 4.1 Executive statement:
Top tip: Try to complete this paragraph…
‘The objective of this policy brief is to ______ (action verb –
like convince, inform) ______ (target audience(s) – e.g.
Ministry of Agriculture) that ______ (what should happen –
e.g. they should invest in road infrastructure) (ODI Rapid)
25. Executive statements examples
Copper price and exchange rate dynamics in Zambia re-examined
Executive statement:
“ The objective of this policy brief is to inform the central bank and the
Ministry of Finance that changes in copper price have a significant bearing on
the stability of the kwacha exchange rate. Changes in copper price affect
income and revenue from the mining sector, and through spending, inflation
and consequently the exchange rate. Thus, an appropriate policy response is
required to limit vulnerabilities to adverse copper price movements and
ensure maximum benefits are derived from copper price booms.”
26. 4.2 Introduction
• Top Tip:
• To frame this think about how:
• (1)The recommendations you are suggesting could have a
positive effect on people’s lives, their environment and
wellbeing.
• (2) Add context to your work by relating it to news and
events that are prevalent within the media.
28. 4.4 Results and findings
4. Results/findings
• Details of your findings/evidence
• ‘Meat’ of argument
• Don’t include findings not relevant
to your core message
29. 4.5 Implications and Recommendations
5. Implications and
Recommendations
• Recommendations: What
specifically do you think should
change? (Max 3)
• Implications: What general policy
changes/actions do the results
point to?
30. Implication and Recommendation examples
The objective for this policy brief is to convince policymakers at the State Ministries
of Health of the need to increase adolescents and young people ’s (AY P) access to
youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services.
• Implication:
• “Current limited access to youth-friendly sexual and reproductive services could
lead to an increase in the number of sexually transmitted infections among youth”
Recommendation:
“Policymakers at the State Ministries of Health should create an enabling environment
to increase AYP’s access to youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health (SRH)
services by increasing the number of youth friendly SRH service points available to
youth in their states, training existing health care providers to be able to deliver youth
friendly SRH services and by increasing the awareness of AYPs about the availability
and location of youth friendly services”
33. Wrap-up: What we have covered
What is
a policy
brief?
Planning
for
policy
influence
Messaging
Structure
and
design
Wrap-up Surgery
34. 5. Common policy brief pitfalls to beware of
• Complicated tables and graphs (that no one
understands)
• No visuals – pictures can add context and interest
• Recommendations not included
• Text heavy and too much jargon – keep it simple
• Lacks clear message from the beginning
• Too much focus on methodology
• Policy brief not seen as an opportunity to engage
with policy audiences
35. Creating messages for policy: The art
of the policy brief
Andrew Clappison and Zeinab Sabet
June 6-8, 2014 Accra, Ghana
Notas del editor
By the end of this session we hope that you will understand
What a policy brief is and why are they useful in bridging research to policy divide
How to plan for policy influence
That creating policy messages is an art that requires careful consideration of context, evidence, links
What the structure of a policy brief should look like
Wrap-up (and examples of policy brief pitfalls)
Policy brief surgery
A policy brief is a tailored message
Research findings have been responsible for many improvements in quality of life. Better use of research evidence in development policy-making can save lives through more effective policies that respond to scientific and technological advances, use resources more efficiently and better meet citizens’ needs (WHO, 2004).
However, too often the linkages between research and policy-making are viewed as a linear process. In reality, the integration of evidence into policy decision-making is a complex process of multiple, frequently competing and / or intertwined sets of influences in which evidence plays just one of many roles (
You must think about your audience…
Is your evidence credible and ready to be shared at the policy level?
The way you articulate your message also shapes the way people perceive it’s quality - Don’t waist your hard work by presenting your research poorly.
Think about how you can demonstrate the legitimacy of your findings.
Route to market
How are you going to get your message heard – 6 degrees of separation.
Effective policy entrepreneurs – or champions – will make the most of networks but will also use
connections or negotiating skills, be persistent, develop ideas, proposals and expertise well in
advance of policy ‘windows’. – Neilson, S. (2001) Knowledge Utilization and Public Policy Processes: A Literature Review,
Canada: Evaluation Unit, IDRC
So engage with policymakers early on! (as we saw this morning)
Can you position yourself on this graph?
Think we all agree here that good research alone is insufficient, to have impact it must be communicated to the right people and effectively!
A useful way to frame your core message is to start by listing your key findings and the actions that you would like your audience to take. Once you are clear about theses, ask yourself the following 5 questions
BUT what does it take to make a message memorable?:/
It is all about messaging, when a piece of communication is relevant, compelling, appealing, meaningful and straight to the point it moves the listener/reader to action.
[Original link available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU]
BUT what does it take to make a message memorable?:/
It is all about messaging, when a piece of communication is relevant, compelling, appealing, meaningful and straight to the point it moves the listener/reader to action.
Executive statement [220 words max]
Introduction [330 words max]
Methodology [110-220 words max]
Results: what did we learn? [660 words max]
Conclusions: what does it mean? [660 words max]
Implications and Recommendations
References [220 words max]
Executive summary: The core message you outlined above can form the basis for your executive summary. It’s also important, at this stage, to make your brief as policy focused as possible. This can be achieved by stating why the current approach/policy option needs to be changed; and what your recommendations for action are. If you have not thought about your research in this way before, then you need to think clearly about what change your research might be able to bring about, and 2-3 key recommendations that might help achieve this.
…______ (when it should happen) ______ (Why it’s important now) (adapted from ODI Rapid)
Highlight why the recommendation(s) you described in your executive summary is important, and why people should care.
It provides a means to convince your audience from the start why your recommendations are worth exploring, and an opportunity to add more weight to the message outlined in the executive summary.
An opportunity to add a little more context to your message – contextualise your message
Policy briefs fall down at the methodology by going into far too much detail
Don’t lose your audience in jargon.
Methodology can help highlight the suitability of your recommendations and the rigorous nature of your research but it is not always necessary to include all the details.
- More detail of your findings and the issue that needs addressing.
- This is essentially the meat of your argument, and an opportunity to highlight the quality of your evidence.
- If some of the findings of your research are not relevant to the overall message do not include them. Only include the details the reader needs to know.
Often confusion between implications and recommendations…
Implications refers to the generic changes or actions that are required (not the specific recommendations) – Which area of policy needs to change?
Recommendations refer to the specific changes that need to be made to policy
Do not be tempted to produce a long list of these – if you have more than three then you have too many!
Recommendations must relate directly to your research and your message, be actionable and specific.
Often confusion between implications and recommendations…
Implications refers to the generic changes or actions that are required (not the specific recommendations) – Which area of policy needs to change?
Recommendations refer to the specific changes that need to be made to policy
Do not be tempted to produce a long list of these – if you have more than three then you have too many!
Recommendations must relate directly to your research and your message, be actionable and specific.
You are producing a brief, and will not be able to include all the relevant information from which policies and decisions can be made. Your brief is a ‘shop window’ to more in-depth information. Try and define the 5 most important pieces of work that support your recommendations. These resources should be robust and from well-respected sources.
Don’t forget stand-firsts, headings and pull-out quotes
Common policy brief pitfalls to beware of AND AVOID