A lobbyist will get questions from clients and future clients about new issues.
I’ve found it helpful to document a thinking process to create better advice. You’ll find the checklist below.
A popular option
I think a common approach is along the following lines:
1. Guarantee that the issue can be resolved (for a fee, of course)
2. Denounce whatever legislative/ regulatory measure that is being raised as a great injustice/shock to everyone/ ignoring Better Regulation rules
3. Drop everything and start writing a proposal
4. Believe everything you are told at face value
5. Claim that only you can make a phone call, and when you do, it will go away
My Checklist
This is my operational checklist. Most of it I do in my head. But someone asked me what I do, so I am writing it out.
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I ask what the proposal is, what type of procedure (ordinary, secondary – Implementing act, RPS measure, delegated act), agency, and where it is. What’s driving the issue?
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Have some first impressions. I write them down. It is helpful to compare and contrast later on.
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Triage. Conduct a preliminary assessment of the potential client’s need to determine the urgency of their need for treatment and the nature of treatment required. Sometimes, there is nothing that can be done. Tell them.
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Discovery – dig deeper. Look at what you have been told and check. Look at previous votes on similar issues. Call officials and advisers who are working on the issue to get their take. Look at what’s been written and see what evidence has been presented by the client and others. I draw on large files covering process charts, voting records, and case studies on similar issues. Does your client’s perception of reality match reality? Are there gaps?
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Prepare a series of questions that you need the answer for, ask them, and review the answers.
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In steps 4 and 5, you may come across some discrepancies. Things don’t add up; questions remain unanswered. Here you get to reconcile those discrepancies. This is one of the most valuable steps. I’ve found that anything here people don’t want to answer always comes up later on at the worst possible moment. If the answers are unclear, it is a good sign that the objective facts and evidence don’t exist.
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Discern fresh insight into the situation you are dealing with.
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Come to a conclusion. You have to move on from the research and bring about closure.
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Generate a response to the issue. What is the plan that can deliver a solution? If the preferred solution can’t be delivered, say so. Make sure that your response is based on reality, both procedural, political or evidence. Create a plan of action and sketch out the political story. This is the most challenging part.
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Act – choose to act or not to act. Not acting is an option. Then focus on execution.
I use mental models, process charts, and checklists, especially for steps 4 and 9.