Working with politicians
Political Awareness for Officers.
A day for officers on the political world they work in: how councils work, member and officer roles, and influencing with integrity.
- Level
- Immerse
- Learning time
- 8 hours
- Where
- Serving the public
- Price
- £249
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Read the full terms
Certificate of Completion, or Certificate of Completion and Assessment with a short assessment
Overview and Outcomes.
Who It's For
Officers who work with elected members
Overview
Officers who understand the political world around them have an easier, more effective working life. Working with politicians builds that understanding. It begins with what local government is, how it has evolved and the different types and models of authority, then turns to political leadership, member and officer relationships and the machinery of leader and cabinet, committee and mayoral models. Political communication, drawing on Drew Westen's research, sits alongside reading the room, principled negotiation and everyday coalition building. A capstone on applied political acumen brings together Mendelow's matrix, Baddeley and James's owl, fox, donkey and sheep, and transactional analysis.
Aims
The aim is to help officers work confidently and constructively with elected members, understanding the political environment without becoming partisan. It develops the political awareness, relationships and influencing skills that allow officers to give sound advice, serve the council well and influence outcomes with integrity.
In summary, you will be able to:
- Explain how councils are governed and the distinct but shared roles of members and officers in political and managerial leadership.
- Read the political system and the people in it using stakeholder mapping, political acumen models and an understanding of political communication.
- Influence and negotiate with members and colleagues with integrity, building trusted working relationships that support good decisions.
What you'll develop
By the end of this Immerse, you will be able to:
- Explain the scale and breadth of what English councils deliver, using the four service categories of caring, educating and housing, shaping places and everyday essentials.
- Distinguish two tier, unitary, combined authority and parish arrangements and identify which council delivers a given service in each.
- Distinguish political from managerial leadership and explain where the two legitimately overlap.
- Explain how your council's governance model shapes how and when you engage members on a decision.
- Select and combine the right tools from the programme to read a live political situation.
- Explain what Mehrabian's research actually found, and identify the four sides of a message using Schulz von Thun's model.
- Distinguish the distributive and integrative elements of a deal, and create value by trading issues that each side values differently.
- Map stakeholders on a power and interest grid and plan how to engage each quadrant.
Built from 6 parts.
8 hours of learning.
- 01How councils came to beTypes of local authority and council structuresBitesize · Foundations of Local Government2 modules
- 02Two roles, one purposeMember-officer relations and leadershipBitesize · Working in a Political Environment2 modules
- 03Earning councillors' trustWorking with elected membersBitesize · Working in a Political Environment1 module
- 04Reading the room politicallyPolitical communications and political acumenBitesize · Working in a Political Environment2 modules
- 05Reading the roomNegotiation skills: the foundationsBitesize · Influence, Persuasion and Negotiation2 modules
- 06Alliances and corridorsCoalition building and office politicsBitesize · Influence, Persuasion and Negotiation2 modules