The Chevener’s guide to shaping policy

Policy is created and shaped by a variety of people, including political parties, civil servants, industry leaders, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Think Tanks, academics, and citizens.

Influence plays a crucial role in helping these groups to create, impact, and implement policy. Here are six steps to help you to influence policy in your career after Chevening – whether as a politician, advisor, or other actor in the policy making process.

1. Identify stakeholders

Recognise who is important. These will be people who can affect or are affected by your objectives. There could be a huge range of people who can influence or be affected by your policy, so consider them carefully.

2. Learn the “rules of the game”

Every sector your engage with will have its own way of working. Spend time considering potential obstacles and how you intend to navigate them.

3. Tailor evidence to fit the policy context and stakeholder preferences

Make sure that you have enough quality evidence to support your aims and objectives. Tailor your evidence to your audience – you should not mislead anyone, but do make sure that you are using what you have to your best advantage.

4. Understand the path to success

If you understand how decisions are made, you’ll know who you need to influence and what you need to do before you can action change.

5. Build coalitions with influential partners

You cannot achieve impact alone. How you choose your partners is critical to your success – they must want the same outcomes as you, even if their perspectives and priorities are different.

6. Stay engaged to leverage “policy windows”

Staying engaged means you’ll be ready to take advantage of “policy windows” – unpredictable openings in the policy process that provide opportunities for you to advance your policy vision.

Good luck on the remainder of your policy influencing journey! And don’t forget to share your impact and achievements with us.