This article is written by Fida Slayman, Fida Slayman is a government communications adviser based in Dubai and Australia and Apolitical Insider Fellow. This article is edited by Hannah Brown, Head of Content, e-Residency of Estonia and Apolitical Insider Fellow.

In one of her best-known quotes, the writer Maya Angelou said: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” It speaks to the heart of how we connect with each other as humans.

The beauty of this quote is in its truth, and in its use of the word “you.” It refers to “you” as a person, but has just as much relevance when applied to “you” as a company, or “you” as a public sector organisation.

Our heart is in the right place, but we’re not always convinced that work is the right place for our heart

As humans, most of us connect with others every day — with our partners, our children, our friends, our colleagues. We can feel it when we’ve connected well, and when we haven’t.

We don’t refer to our family and friends as “personal stakeholders,” and we don’t worry if our conversations don’t include “talking points.” If we don’t know the answer to something we say, “I don’t know.” If we are wrong or say something that makes someone else upset, we say “I’m sorry.”

As “public sector communicators” we do our best to communicate and connect well with the people we serve. Our heart is in the right place, but we’re not always convinced that work is the right place for our heart.

Instead, we focus on “engaging with stakeholders” and creating “data-driven content strategies.” We control the type and tone of language we use to “minimise reputational risk.”

There is a way through — it requires us to put the needs of our community ahead of the fears of our organisation

All of this would be no problem if we, as public sector communicators, knew the answer to everything all the time. But we do not. And now, in this time of upheaval and uncertainty and change, it’s dangerous to even pretend that we do.

The other approach to public sector communication

A quick flick through the news in recent weeks will bring up many examples of communication “misfires.”

Politicians’ attempts at empathy come across as insensitive. They speak with conviction, but we hear confusion. Many are wary — even fearful — of revealing the very human heart at the centre of the body politic.

Fortunately, there is a way through. It’s a simple concept, but a difficult practice.

It requires us, as public sector communicators to sit with our line managers, and their line managers, to put away our strategic plans, to lean back, be quiet, and listen. It requires us to put the needs of our community ahead of the fears of our organisation. It requires us to listen with our human heart to the human hearts of the people we serve.

We may find ourselves using words like “We don’t know” or “We hope you’re ok” or even “We’re sorry you’re going through this.” These are words that most of us use in our capacity as human beings, and they should be the words we use in our capacity as public sector communicators.

As public servants, we have long focused on what we do, and what we say. It’s now time to pay more attention to how we make people feel

We may then find that the people we serve regard us not as a “Government Department,” but as fellow humans. They might start using words like “We’ll get through this’ or “We know you’re doing your best” or even “We trust you.”

We’ve seen how effective this can be in practice — no one doubts the sincerity of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. It’s people, not politics, at the heart of her communications.

This model, this approach, this way of being doesn’t replace content strategy plans or engagement metrics; it becomes the heart of content strategy plans and engagement metrics.

It requires no “consultants”, no “continuous professional development” and no “departmental restructuring.” It does require us to look within our hearts, to put ourselves in the place of the people we serve, and most importantly, to be brave.

People want to feel connected. As public servants, we have long focused on what we do, and what we say. It’s now time to pay more attention to how we make people feel. — Fida Slayman

(Picture credit: Death to the stock photo)