It is the responsibility of the communicator to be understood. But beyond that, it is the responsibility of the communicator to communicate in such a way as to evoke the desired response.
Do acronyms and council-ism’s help us to be understood? Do they encourage a positive response?
Do you refer to ‘members’ rather than ‘councillors’ – or to the ‘AQAR’ rather than the Air Quality Assessment report? Many officers, leaders, chief executives and directors throughout local government believe that writing to our residents and customers needs to resemble a version of a 1970s formal letter (‘Dear resident, I am writing on behalf of the council regarding your application for…’).
I am pleading with you to stop this approach.
Our communications to our residents need to show we are human. We need to use ‘normal’ language, demonstrate understanding, show we care in finding a solution or listening to the problem – ultimately, we need to show empathy. It is only when we communicate on a human level that guards are dropped, anger and frustrations fade away to be replaced by acceptance and perhaps even understanding and appreciation.
We need our residents to feel they have been listened to and understood (when they contact us in a constructive way). We don’t want them to think they are merely a number or an annoyance. After all, isn’t this why we work in local government, to help people?
It is just not practical for your communications team to manage every interaction with your customers, which is why you may want to consider having ‘empathy champions’ around your organisation. These are colleagues who can help their teams appreciate the difference between statements such as ‘No, we don’t offer that service’ and ‘Sorry, that’s not something we can help with but let me see who may be able to help you’.
As a communicator I spend much of my time trying to explain the benefits of writing with empathy. I rewrite emails, web copy, speeches, responses and press releases, all in a crusade to present the hard working and committed people of local government-land as human beings, who understand what it’s like to not have their bin emptied or to have a planning application denied.
In support of my quest, I offer my tips on writing with empathy.
- Think about how you like people to talk you. How do you feel when you receive an overly formal email? Instantly tense? Defensive? Inclined to close the email or put the letter away to read another time? Chances are your customers will have the same reaction. Stop, think and write as you would like to be spoken to – open, honest and not overloaded with information and council-speak
- It is also worth saying that your seniority should not correspond with your use of complex language; keeping it simple and authentic is always more effective.
- Throw out that template email/letter: How old is that thing? How many iterations from different people has it had? Of course, we don’t need to add to our already never-ending work list, but let’s not create work for ourselves. At the very least the beginning of an email should refer to the specific correspondence you have received. Not ‘I refer to your letter of 6 November 2021...’ but rather ‘I can appreciate your frustration and I would like to help you. Let me start by recapping on the situation’.
- Treat people as important. You may have received the same query/complaint from numerous other people, but individual circumstances differ, and we should take the time to acknowledge that. Ensuring your writing includes ‘you’ and ‘us’ rather than references to ‘the council’ helps with that human connection. You are a person responding, not a building or a crest.
- Show your personality in your writing. That doesn’t mean writing as if you were replying to a WhatsApp message of course, but the reader should be able to get a sense of you from your writing; to get a sense of a human who understands and will try to help.
Why should you bother? In a world where people are bombarded by written communications each day, it is those written with empathy and thought that will stand out and support us in our work with our communities, as well as help us feel good about ourselves and the work we do. You might even receive customer feedback like this response we received from an Elmbridge resident: ‘From the bottom of my heart thank you so much for helping me and my little boy – I have never known such dedication and empathy.’
Catherine Malloy is communications manager at Elmbridge BC
@ElmbridgeBC
