How do I learn what it takes to do health policy?
May 24, 2010 2:12 PM Subscribe
I fell into a job as a policy analyst. What can I do to show that I'm good fit over the next few months, when my position will be posted as a permanent one?
I started out as a temp at a government health agency. My managers seemed to think I was pretty quick to learn and could write reasonably well, so here I am as a policy analyst on contract, waiting to apply to an internal permanent posting. However, I worry that if they later find I'm not cut out for the job, they may decide for whatever reason not to post the position and let the contract run its course. They've given themselves another six months to post, since there are a number of other pressing things at the moment.
I really like the work and am happy to finally be out of the temping rut. I have two masters degrees, neither of which are in the areas of health or policy. During my graduate studies, I had middling feedback. It also took me a long time to finish my papers, though they were always handed in on time.
Any suggestions on how to develop my skills as a health policy analyst? I seem to struggle with the big picture of the issues I'm asked to write about, or relating them to different contextual factors. My manager has also provided feedback that I should make my voice heard at meetings more, which came as a bit of surprise, since I was taking the approach that since I'm new I should do more listening than talking. However, it is an accurate assessment - I do have trouble speaking in group settings.
I started out as a temp at a government health agency. My managers seemed to think I was pretty quick to learn and could write reasonably well, so here I am as a policy analyst on contract, waiting to apply to an internal permanent posting. However, I worry that if they later find I'm not cut out for the job, they may decide for whatever reason not to post the position and let the contract run its course. They've given themselves another six months to post, since there are a number of other pressing things at the moment.
I really like the work and am happy to finally be out of the temping rut. I have two masters degrees, neither of which are in the areas of health or policy. During my graduate studies, I had middling feedback. It also took me a long time to finish my papers, though they were always handed in on time.
Any suggestions on how to develop my skills as a health policy analyst? I seem to struggle with the big picture of the issues I'm asked to write about, or relating them to different contextual factors. My manager has also provided feedback that I should make my voice heard at meetings more, which came as a bit of surprise, since I was taking the approach that since I'm new I should do more listening than talking. However, it is an accurate assessment - I do have trouble speaking in group settings.
I'm a policy advisor in the Ontario (Canada) government, though not in health.
Policy work is about providing several options to tackle a problem. For example, how should substance abuse addicts be treated? Should they be locked up and thrown in jail? Should the government spend more money on in-patient treatment centres? Should the government build safe-injection sites? So you work up the pros and cons of each. You do research to support/refute each, and recommend an option and state why. Your superiors may not always agree with your recommendation, and just because they don't, it doesn't mean you did bad work. Your values will come into the work that you do. You may have to do work that goes against your values; that is the nature of policy work. You may also do a ton of work on something and have to shelve it because someone somewhere up the line decided not to pursue this issue anymore; it has nothing to do with you. Everything has to go through lots of approvals, so whenever you have to plan a project, you have to build in time for approvals.
When you write your briefing notes and do presentations, think of it as telling a story. What is the background? Why is this an issue now? What are the positions of the stakeholders? What are some key stats and figures? Policy work is about synthesis as well, being able to draw out the most important points from different pieces of information and put it together to tell that story. There is a ton of information out there (or not enough when you need it) and you need to be able to decide what information you don't need, which can be challenging for me at times because I think, everything's important! So you have to stay focused on the question to help you weed out what's less important. You have to write things as if the person reading knows nothing of the topic; your notes/reports are the way that they learn about the topic (this was a weird feeling for me too at first), so everything has to be clear and easy to understand. None of that academic mumbo-jumbo will fly in the government policy world. (I have only one master's. :D ) Writing papers in school is very, very different from writing within government. In school, you theorize, argue your own position, it's very abstract. In government, it's very practical, you already have a position you're working from (it's not your own), and everything has to be written with a certain political interest in mind. In school, the longer the better. In government, a briefing note is 3 pages max, slide decks are about 10 slides, and everything is written in bullet points. In school you might have 3 weeks to write a paper; in policy, you may have an hour or a day or 3 days to write up a briefing note or slide deck; it can be very reactionary and last-minute. In school you're always producing original work, in policy, you're always drawing material from previously written material (lots of cut and pasting, but it's because that material is still relevant, not because you want to copy someone else's work).
Speaking up in meetings: speak up!! If you are reasonably intelligent (and of course you are) most likely everything you say will have some value. I was also worried about saying the wrong thing, but if you're thinking at all, most likely you won't. This is why I admire one of my co-workers: she's not afraid to ask questions. She just asks them. She's not aggressive, not trying to make a point, doesn't ask for the sake of asking, she's honest! You are absolutely allowed to ask questions and speak up; this is how people get to know you as well, and how you learn. Don't think you can't say stuff just because you're new. Just be honest and you can't go wrong (but don't be blunt, like, "I think this is a horrible horrible idea" - even if it is! - just be honest about your concerns. You may be bringing up a point no one else has thought of, or people in the room are already thinking the same thing. You can't go wrong).
Also talk to your manager about how you can improve. This is impressive to him/her because it shows that you're conscientious and you want to contribute to your branch. When you approach him/her, be specific about some of the challenges you're facing as a newly minted policy analyst: you can say, "I had some challenges with this particular aspect of the report/analysis; I was thinking this, but I wasn't sure if that was an appropriate connection to make" or whatever. Don't go in with, "How can I think more big picture?" That's too nebulous.
Don't be afraid to say that you're interested in staying on because you like the work. If they like you, they'll find a way to keep you on. If they don't like you, I think you'll know it. But most likely they'll want you stay on if you're doing a good job. So don't be worried that they think you're not cut out for the job, I bet they want you to succeed and do well.
Well there's a lot more I can say. :) If you have further questions, I'm at foxjacketATyahooDOTca.
posted by foxjacket at 3:30 PM on May 24, 2010 [15 favorites]
Policy work is about providing several options to tackle a problem. For example, how should substance abuse addicts be treated? Should they be locked up and thrown in jail? Should the government spend more money on in-patient treatment centres? Should the government build safe-injection sites? So you work up the pros and cons of each. You do research to support/refute each, and recommend an option and state why. Your superiors may not always agree with your recommendation, and just because they don't, it doesn't mean you did bad work. Your values will come into the work that you do. You may have to do work that goes against your values; that is the nature of policy work. You may also do a ton of work on something and have to shelve it because someone somewhere up the line decided not to pursue this issue anymore; it has nothing to do with you. Everything has to go through lots of approvals, so whenever you have to plan a project, you have to build in time for approvals.
When you write your briefing notes and do presentations, think of it as telling a story. What is the background? Why is this an issue now? What are the positions of the stakeholders? What are some key stats and figures? Policy work is about synthesis as well, being able to draw out the most important points from different pieces of information and put it together to tell that story. There is a ton of information out there (or not enough when you need it) and you need to be able to decide what information you don't need, which can be challenging for me at times because I think, everything's important! So you have to stay focused on the question to help you weed out what's less important. You have to write things as if the person reading knows nothing of the topic; your notes/reports are the way that they learn about the topic (this was a weird feeling for me too at first), so everything has to be clear and easy to understand. None of that academic mumbo-jumbo will fly in the government policy world. (I have only one master's. :D ) Writing papers in school is very, very different from writing within government. In school, you theorize, argue your own position, it's very abstract. In government, it's very practical, you already have a position you're working from (it's not your own), and everything has to be written with a certain political interest in mind. In school, the longer the better. In government, a briefing note is 3 pages max, slide decks are about 10 slides, and everything is written in bullet points. In school you might have 3 weeks to write a paper; in policy, you may have an hour or a day or 3 days to write up a briefing note or slide deck; it can be very reactionary and last-minute. In school you're always producing original work, in policy, you're always drawing material from previously written material (lots of cut and pasting, but it's because that material is still relevant, not because you want to copy someone else's work).
Speaking up in meetings: speak up!! If you are reasonably intelligent (and of course you are) most likely everything you say will have some value. I was also worried about saying the wrong thing, but if you're thinking at all, most likely you won't. This is why I admire one of my co-workers: she's not afraid to ask questions. She just asks them. She's not aggressive, not trying to make a point, doesn't ask for the sake of asking, she's honest! You are absolutely allowed to ask questions and speak up; this is how people get to know you as well, and how you learn. Don't think you can't say stuff just because you're new. Just be honest and you can't go wrong (but don't be blunt, like, "I think this is a horrible horrible idea" - even if it is! - just be honest about your concerns. You may be bringing up a point no one else has thought of, or people in the room are already thinking the same thing. You can't go wrong).
Also talk to your manager about how you can improve. This is impressive to him/her because it shows that you're conscientious and you want to contribute to your branch. When you approach him/her, be specific about some of the challenges you're facing as a newly minted policy analyst: you can say, "I had some challenges with this particular aspect of the report/analysis; I was thinking this, but I wasn't sure if that was an appropriate connection to make" or whatever. Don't go in with, "How can I think more big picture?" That's too nebulous.
Don't be afraid to say that you're interested in staying on because you like the work. If they like you, they'll find a way to keep you on. If they don't like you, I think you'll know it. But most likely they'll want you stay on if you're doing a good job. So don't be worried that they think you're not cut out for the job, I bet they want you to succeed and do well.
Well there's a lot more I can say. :) If you have further questions, I'm at foxjacketATyahooDOTca.
posted by foxjacket at 3:30 PM on May 24, 2010 [15 favorites]
I'm also a policy adviser, in the Australian government, not in health.
Don't worry too much about the whole big picture - you only need the relevant parts. Making friends with other branches is a good way to get across the bigger picture. Get to know other people at your level; and get in the habit of checking in with them before you finalise your work, to see if there are any cross-overs or factors in that area you should be aware of. Silo-ing is a big problem in government agencies, and its been my experience that higher-ups are VERY impressed with people who mange to work across silos.
Another part of developing that over-arching view point is to get your head around your agency's narrative. Look in the annual report or budget papers for your agency - this will tell you what the agency sees as the big picture, and once you can link your work directly to that narrative, you're on your way.
Doing more preparation for meetings might help you raise your voice. If a meeting's about a particular issue, do some background research first and have some questions that you'd like answered before the meeting starts. This gives you an entry-point to discussion as well as some grounding.
One thing that helped me a lot when I was new to this work was being taken to meetings as an observer. If your supervisor is willing, ask if you can tag along to meetings (especially external ones) as an observer or note-taker. Debrief with your supervisor afterwards, you'll learn a lot.
Another thing that helped me was developing an understanding of politics as well as policy. Often policy analysts see themselves as being neutral and outside politics. Unfortunately, our clients are politicians. If you don't understand politics, and the politics of your policy area, you won't make good policy. Have a good idea of what will be palatable to the public, and what will be easily understood by the public. The easiest way to do this is to see how your policy area is being reported in the media.
Don't underestimate how important it is to be able to write clearly and concisely. Never be afraid to put up a paper that looks too short - people will always add to it, they'll seldom take away.
And finally, read George Orwell's Politics and the English Language. Good luck!
posted by girlgenius at 4:35 PM on May 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Don't worry too much about the whole big picture - you only need the relevant parts. Making friends with other branches is a good way to get across the bigger picture. Get to know other people at your level; and get in the habit of checking in with them before you finalise your work, to see if there are any cross-overs or factors in that area you should be aware of. Silo-ing is a big problem in government agencies, and its been my experience that higher-ups are VERY impressed with people who mange to work across silos.
Another part of developing that over-arching view point is to get your head around your agency's narrative. Look in the annual report or budget papers for your agency - this will tell you what the agency sees as the big picture, and once you can link your work directly to that narrative, you're on your way.
Doing more preparation for meetings might help you raise your voice. If a meeting's about a particular issue, do some background research first and have some questions that you'd like answered before the meeting starts. This gives you an entry-point to discussion as well as some grounding.
One thing that helped me a lot when I was new to this work was being taken to meetings as an observer. If your supervisor is willing, ask if you can tag along to meetings (especially external ones) as an observer or note-taker. Debrief with your supervisor afterwards, you'll learn a lot.
Another thing that helped me was developing an understanding of politics as well as policy. Often policy analysts see themselves as being neutral and outside politics. Unfortunately, our clients are politicians. If you don't understand politics, and the politics of your policy area, you won't make good policy. Have a good idea of what will be palatable to the public, and what will be easily understood by the public. The easiest way to do this is to see how your policy area is being reported in the media.
Don't underestimate how important it is to be able to write clearly and concisely. Never be afraid to put up a paper that looks too short - people will always add to it, they'll seldom take away.
And finally, read George Orwell's Politics and the English Language. Good luck!
posted by girlgenius at 4:35 PM on May 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Girlgenius has just said everything I was going to say.
Especially the getting to know people in other departments and even more importantly, other units within your department. At least my name - you don't need to know them personally. It takes a while, but you've got a few months.
Skim-reading everything that comes your way to see where the links / inconsistencies are, and make a note of the authors. Invite yourself to meetings, call people you've never met but have written something relevant to your area of work, to see if your unit can help in any way. Nothing worse than producing a briefing paper that gets slated because it's out of step with what others are doing - conversely, there's nothing better than a paper that shows how your suggestion links in with other work that is going on.
Aim to become the "go to" person - both for people wanting to contact your department, but also for "we might need to consult department X, I know, I'll ask Anonymous, they usually seem know who to get in touch with". That doesn't mean knowing everyone personally, just being able to say "oh, I read a paper the other day about that issue, Bob Jones would be a good starting point, I'll call him" - then you get to speak to Bob Jones and also Jane Smith who Bob tells you is the lead on your particular issue.
Don't be afraid to ask questions in meetings - sometimes that can be easier than offering an opinion, but has the same result, of showing that you're thinking about the wider issues.
posted by finding.perdita at 6:07 PM on May 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Especially the getting to know people in other departments and even more importantly, other units within your department. At least my name - you don't need to know them personally. It takes a while, but you've got a few months.
Skim-reading everything that comes your way to see where the links / inconsistencies are, and make a note of the authors. Invite yourself to meetings, call people you've never met but have written something relevant to your area of work, to see if your unit can help in any way. Nothing worse than producing a briefing paper that gets slated because it's out of step with what others are doing - conversely, there's nothing better than a paper that shows how your suggestion links in with other work that is going on.
Aim to become the "go to" person - both for people wanting to contact your department, but also for "we might need to consult department X, I know, I'll ask Anonymous, they usually seem know who to get in touch with". That doesn't mean knowing everyone personally, just being able to say "oh, I read a paper the other day about that issue, Bob Jones would be a good starting point, I'll call him" - then you get to speak to Bob Jones and also Jane Smith who Bob tells you is the lead on your particular issue.
Don't be afraid to ask questions in meetings - sometimes that can be easier than offering an opinion, but has the same result, of showing that you're thinking about the wider issues.
posted by finding.perdita at 6:07 PM on May 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
I'm a policy officer for a political party. There's great advice here already. Don't think I have anything major to add.
In political party policy work it can be frustrating to deal with elected representatives, the hierarchy issues can be draining, but they'll normally get to respect you if you provide clear and concise briefings at short notice. I'm sure there are parallels here to your sector.
Make good use of think tanks and pressure groups, they'll often do some really valuable work. Exploit it.
posted by knapah at 2:38 AM on May 25, 2010
In political party policy work it can be frustrating to deal with elected representatives, the hierarchy issues can be draining, but they'll normally get to respect you if you provide clear and concise briefings at short notice. I'm sure there are parallels here to your sector.
Make good use of think tanks and pressure groups, they'll often do some really valuable work. Exploit it.
posted by knapah at 2:38 AM on May 25, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
* I work for this place, but not on the policy side, and I don't do writing or research, so I can't give you more specifics about what policy analysts do.
posted by rtha at 2:57 PM on May 24, 2010