Building effective relationships with Ministers: a timely ANZSOG Masterclass for Queensland public sector leaders
16 October 2024
● News and media
By Charlene Fle-Danijelovic
Many jurisdictions in Australia and around the world are going to the polls in 2024, so it is an opportune time to think about what that means for relationships between public servants and elected politicians. Many public servants will be either starting relationships with new ministers or refreshing their relationships with re-elected ones. Both scenarios offer an opportunity to get off on the right foot.
Queensland’s election will be held on 26 October, and earlier this month, the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) partnered with the Queensland Public Sector Commission to deliver an invaluable masterclass for senior leaders on Building Effective Relationships between Ministers and Officials. The masterclass offered public sector leaders’ the opportunity to share practical strategies for navigating the crucial interface between politics and public administration.
ANZSOG’s Practice Fellow and policy capability expert, Sally Washington, led the masterclass. She was joined by Queensland’s Jasmina Joldić PSM, Director-General of the Department of Justice and Attorney General, and ANZSOG Board member, who shared frank insights from her career and experience working with ministers.
Understanding the ‘demand side’ of advising ministers
The masterclass was framed in terms of the wider ‘policy infrastructure’ for delivering evidence-informed impactful advice to ministers. A previous ANZSOG/QPSC masterclass, focused on the ‘supply side’ of the good policy equation. This session focused on the ‘demand side’ of good advice.
As the political landscape becomes more complex, public sector leaders find themselves under greater pressure to manage the delicate balance between meeting ministerial demands to deliver immediate results while at the same time focusing on longer-term priorities, or stewardship. The masterclass addressed this challenge head-on, focusing on fostering trust and building effective relationships with ministers. It centered on four key questions:
- How can we build better relationships with decision-makers/ministers?
- How can we help them to be ‘intelligent customers’ of advice?
- How can we shape the demand for advice and not just react or respond to demands?
- How can we better understand the demands on ministers to ensure we deliver advice that helps them achieve their policy goals?
Participants were offered a framework for thinking about the key components of the relationship between ministers and officials (Figure 1). Sally Washington calls this the ‘demand-side’ framework or ‘policy pre-nup’, noting that the relationship between ministers and senior officials was akin to a marriage, albeit an ‘arranged marriage’ as Jasmina Joldić quipped. Participants were given some tools to support discussions about the barriers and enablers to developing good working relationships with ministers and their offices, including thinking about ‘what, or who, gets in the way’.
Figure 1. Source: S.Washington: Fixing the demand side.
Key insights
Some of the highlights and key insights from the session included the need for:
- Effective communication with Ministers: Officials should advise freely, frankly and fearlessly. The session stressed the need for clear, honest, and timely advice. Public servants were encouraged to ‘take a walk in the Minister’s shoes’ to be able understand their key drivers. While public servants need to be politically neutral, that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be interested in politics. Politics is a fact of life and shapes the context into which officials deliver policy and other advice.
- Balancing short-term and long-term goals: While it is essential to respond to ministerial requests for advice, officials don’t need to wait for ‘permission’ to offer advice. They can be proactive in articulating current, emerging or future challenges or opportunities. They should flex their stewardship responsibilities.
- Political nous to be seen as vital skill for officials – being politically neutral or non-partisan doesn’t mean being apolitical. Public servants need to understand the politics – and the many pressures on ministers – without getting involved in the politics. What political nous looks like in practice and how it can be developed as a skill was part of the masterclass discussion.
Through the real-world examples shared in conversation between Sally and Jasmina the masterclass helped attendees hold a mirror up to their own practice to identify ways to navigate complex political environments while maintaining integrity and impartiality.
A perfectly timed intervention
Attendees noted that as the Queensland public sector prepares for an upcoming election, this masterclass couldn’t have been more timely.
Participant feedback
The opportunity to hear directly from senior leaders such as Sally Washington and Jasmina Joldić brought a wealth of practical knowledge to the session. Their experiences navigating the political-administrative interface enriched the conversation, allowing participants to reflect on real-world scenarios that they might face in their own roles.
“Listening to experienced public servants providing great advice and sharing their experience in the public service. Such a great Masterclass”.
“Actually, the whole discussion was fantastic and some great take always. Lots to think about and consider.”
“This was by far one of the best sessions I have attended in recent times”
“This was by far the best session I’ve been to. I hope the rest are up to the benchmark this has set.”
“This should be made compulsory for all Director to DG level public sector employees”
Attendees left the session equipped with some new tools to navigate potential transitions in government, refresh their relationships with current ministers, and/or build new ones if required.
Interested in ANZSOG masterclasses?
ANZSOG, known for its expertise in leadership and public governance, worked closely with Queensland Public Sector Commission to ensure the content of this masterclass was tailored for Queensland’s Leadership cohort. This collaboration resulted in a session that was not only relevant but also actionable, providing tools and frameworks that attendees could immediately integrate into their daily work.
The collaboration between ANZSOG and the Queensland Public Sector Commission is part of a masterclass series which could be replicated for other ANZSOG partner organisations or jurisdictions. The series brings together theory and practical experience on how to build public service capability and enhance public governance.
Other agencies or jurisdictions interested in hosting a masterclass like this, can contact engage@anzsog.edu.au
Want to learn more about working at the political administrative interface?
Here are some useful references from the masterclass: