Introduction
Proper communication of a public policy is very important if the policy is to be successful. Many politicians tend to forget that delivering the message of their policies properly to the public is as important as the policy itself (Woll, 1974, p. 4). In our case, the governor should be careful not only about the designing and implementation of the plan but also about the presentation of it to the general public. An inadequate presentation of the plan could result in a negative reaction from the community and thus, ultimately will increase the chances of failure for that policy. The governor has to carefully choose her members of the task force and then gradually display her initiative to the public.
To whom should the governor seek advice?
The plan of the governor is an ambitious plan but it implies two distinct fields: crime prevention and fighting along with effective management. The first phase of the project is an ‘education-related’ phase. By education-related is meant a message should be sent to the society that any sort of deviation will be punished and is better for the community that itself engages in crime prevention efforts. The second phase, which begins after phase one is completed, would be a financial re-administration task.
So, one category the governor should seek advice from is public relations, communications, experts. She would also need the advice of experts on community relations, on the group and individual level. Of course, she would need the advice of criminology experts and crime-fighting experts, the police force. Of course, she would need the advice and constant help of a good administration expert. A final round of advice should be done with community leaders that can be helpful for the positive transmitting of the messages to the communities.
Who should be involved in the task force?
From the above mentioned we can understand that she would need a coordinator in her task force. He, or she, is the administrative expert who would be in charge of the administration of the implementation of the plan. He would be in contact with all the other members and coordinate their work. A public relations officer, communication officer, should be also included in the task force.
This person would be in charge of the design and deliverance of the public communications to be made during this campaign. This is an important aspect as he will be responsible for the creation of a positive perception of the plan by part of the community. Without this positive perception from the public, the plan and work of the task force will certainly not be completed adequately. The chief of police should be another member. His experience will be necessary for crime prevention techniques and the effectiveness of police work. In order that the message of crime-fighting be strong, the police force should be as effective as it can. A social psychologist and a sociologist would be the next members of the task force. These people’s experience is needed in creating a plan that is adequate to the communities norms and values and to the common psycho-social relations formed within the society. These specialists also can deal with the re-education process of the detainees and give good advice regarding the issue. One should not forget that if you want that your message to the public has a positive impact you have to play according to society’s norms and values, both material and spiritual (Rice & Atkins, 2001, p. 5).
As mentioned above a general coordinator should be appointed to coordinate the implementation of the plan. And finally, other community leaders, like religious institutions leaders, sport and cultural leaders, or other poverty-related or human rights NGOs, must be included as part of the task force. These people are in direct contact with people’s daily problems and can serve as a ‘connection’ between the task force and society.
The language she should address members of the task force
Another advice would be that the governor takes individual contacts with the people she intends to include in the task force. In these private meetings she would give them a general outline of her plan and then she should focus on the requirements she has from each of these task force members. She should ask for their thoughts and ideas of the specific part of the plan that these people will have to deal with. This way she would make them feel individually included in a big societal project and invite them personally, privately, to give their contribute. This will not just be a different language for each of the individuals to be involved into the task force. It will be a mix of rational explanation of what is expected from them along with an expression of both, the governor and task force member, of their thoughts, ideas and beliefs regarding the present situation of the society and what should be done.
This different mixed language of rationality and willingness of what should be done will not make the members confuse about the project but get them more involved in it. They will have a clear picture of what is expected from them along with a general picture of what is indented to be done and how should all the parts involved in it proceed in order to succeed. But it should be noted that after meeting them personally the governor should make a meeting with all the members of the task force. Here the language used should be less rational as possible and an exchange of thoughts, ideas and beliefs for the situation of the community along with a presentation again of what this plan’s intentions are.
Announcement to the public
The announcement of the project to the public should be carefully prepared involving not just the presence of the governor herself but of all the members of the task force. By presenting herself along with all the members of the task force she gives a message to the public that his would be an all-inclusive plan involving some of the most prominent figures known to the community. It will be an effort for the community in order to reach at the very heart of its problems, not just some political effort for campaign. The general ideas and thoughts of what is expected from this plan and the purpose of it should be communicated to the public demonstrating that the government, experts of different fields and community leaders are all joint to benefit the society by fighting together the problems affecting it.
This communication will create an atmosphere is something new coming that will be seen as the beginning of the end for the problems of the community. Of course the governor would expect to receive tough questions from the journalists regarding the plan. Most of them can accuse her of trying to use this plan as a sort of ‘camouflage’ and distract the attention from the real problems of society. Other questions could be related to the effectiveness of the plan.
Barriers of communication between members of the task force
Since all the members of the task force come from different background this will enact as a barrier of communication between them. As mentioned above it will be the duty of a coordinator to coordinate the work between the members of the task force and the other structures implementing the plan afterwards. The main concern here is the barrier of communication between the ‘community leaders group’ within the task force and the ‘specialist-expert group’ of it. Since the community leaders deal every day with different problems of the community they tend to have a more emotional language then the experts whom like to use a more rational language for explaining and resolving problems. This situation within the task force can be overcome with the willingness of the members to understand each other, and, especially, it will need the leadership of the governor to keep the task force intact.
Communication of the plan to the operational staff for implementation
The best option would be that the field experts of the task force transmit to the operational staff the part of the plan involving them. For example the chief of police will transmit to the police force the part of the plan which is expected to be implemented by them. The administrator expert can do the same with administrators. But here the task force should be careful and vigilant. During this ‘passing down’ process there can exists different ‘filters’ which will reduce the real implementation of the plan. These filters are unavoidable within different levels of the hierarchy (Farmer, 1995, p. 14). In order to avoid this filters the task force members should be vigilant and control the correct understanding and implementation of the plan by the operational staff. Different check-ups can be made for this purpose. The installment of a feedback system also would help in this.
References:
Rice, R. & Atkins, Ch. (2001). Public Communication Campaigns. California, Sage Publications.
Farmer, D. (1995). The language of public administration. Alabama, university of Alabama Press.
Woll, P (1974). Public Policy. Washington, The University Press of America.