Development Pathways Tool: Developing level skills

How the Tool supports the Policy Skills Framework#

The Development Pathways Tool identifies the actions that can be taken take to develop the range of skills needed by policy practitioners. These skills are identified in the Policy Skills Framework, which sets out a range of knowledge, applied skills, behaviours, and practices that are described at three levels:

• Developing
• Practising
• Leading.

The skills that sit within these elements are as follows.

Knowledge

Constitutional and Government Systems and Processes

Te Ao Māori, Treaty, and Māori Crown Relationships

Political Context and Priorities

Domain Knowledge

Applied Skills

Policy Analysis

Evidence and Insights

Strategic and Futures Thinking

Systems Awareness

Advice and Influence

Monitoring and Evaluation

Behaviours

Integrity and Political Savvy

Stewardship

Responsive and Adaptive

Self Aware and Inclusive

Continuous Learning

Practices

Plan and Manage Work

Engage and Sustain Relationships

Design for Implementation

Improvement and Innovation

Communication

Using the Development Pathways Tool profiles#

The actions in the checklists are organised into three ways of learning:

• on-the-job learning and work experience
• learning from others (including colleagues)
• formal training, such as courses, workshops, and qualifications.

Knowledge#

O TĀTOU MŌHIOTANGA | What we understand

Knowledge and understanding needed to do the policy job well

Constitutional and Government Systems and Processes#

70% on-the-job learning

• Read the resources on the New Zealand Parliament website, particularly the section How Parliament works.
• Develop your understanding of the roles of the executive, legislature, and judicial branches - the 'machinery of government' (see System Design).
• Take a tour of Parliament. Watch the House debate the different stages of a Bill. Watch select committee hearings including public consultation hearings on Bills, Crown financial accounts or other business.
• Tour the National Library. View Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
• Read key guidance documents associated with policy papers and legislation or regulatory papers (e.g. the Cabinet Manual and CabGuide and Standing Orders).
• Learn about your agency's processes for commissioning, peer review and other quality control mechanisms.
• Contribute to the production of a range of policy products, such as briefings, Cabinet papers and ministerials.
• Assist with a Cabinet process or select committee process.
• Learn about the role, boundaries and accountability of a public servant. Read the Public Service Commission's A guide on integrity and conduct, factsheets on free and frank advice and policy stewardship.
• Assist with a response to a written or oral Parliamentary question.
• Familiarise yourself with key legislation such as the Public Finance Act, Public Service Act, Crown Entities Act, Official Information Act, Privacy Act, New Zealand Bill of Rights Act, and Public Records Act. Do induction modules in your organisation, if they exist.
• Read Treasury guidance, circulars and instructions (e.g. Impact Analysis Requirements and Better Business Cases).
• Read about public policy in New Zealand (e.g. Public Policy in New Zealand (Shaw and Eichbaum 2011) or New Zealand Government and Politics (Miller 2010).
• Read key documents with commentary on the Māori Crown relationship, such as the Waitangi Tribunal's 2011 report Ko Aotearoa Tēnei, Puao Te Ata Tu: The Report of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on a Māori Perspective for the Department of Social Welfare (June 1986) and the summary of submissions from the Minister for Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti 2018 engagement process.
• Read the Treaty of Waitangi analysis material in the Policy Project's Policy Methods Toolbox, which includes the Cabinet Office circular Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi Guidance developed by Te Arawhiti - The Office for Māori Crown Relations, on how to apply the terms and concepts of the Treaty of Waitangi to policy development and implementation.
• Visit He Tohu | National Library in person to view the constitutional documents that shape Aotearoa New Zealand.

20% learning from others

• Learn from senior staff about the lessons they have acquired from the policy process, and how you could apply those lessons to your work.
• If possible, accompany your manager or senior colleagues to meetings with the minister or other agencies.
• Work with a senior colleague to draft a timeline for a policy process involving Cabinet decisions, legislation or regulations.

10% formal learning

• Introductory courses on machinery of government, Cabinet Office guidance, legislative processes, and select committees. For example:
  • Policy to Legislation by the Office of the Clerk
  • Introduction to Parliament and Select Committees by the Office of the Clerk
  • Machinery of Government by Civic Square
  • Parliament's Financial Scrutiny Cycle by the Office of the Clerk
  • Civic Square's modules:
    • Module 1: The Big Picture - An overview of NZ government
    • Module 2: The Executive - Ministers, Cabinet and the State sector
    • Module 3: Help, I have an Official Information Act request!
  • Effective Policy Analysis and Development by Brightstar
  • Impact Analysis Requirements by the Treasury.
• Specific induction training, including the Public Service Commission's online modules Tikanga whakauru mahi a te Ratonga Tūmatanui | Public Service Induction.
• Complete the online e-learning modules developed by the Government Chief Privacy Officer and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

Te Ao Māori, Treaty, and Māori Crown Relationships#

Knowledge and understanding needed to incorporate
Te Ao Māori, the Treaty of Waitangi, and Māori Crown
relationships in policy making.

• Understanding Te Ao Māori (Māori world view) perspectives and how they differ
  from non-Māori world views.
• Learning about Aotearoa New Zealand history relevant to the policy work.
• Understanding the role of te Tiriti o Waitangi, Treaty settlements and related legislation, and Māori Crown relationships in the work of the agency and sector.
• Learning about tikanga and how to use te reo Māori.

70% on-the-job learning

Foundations - Tikanga and Te Ao Māori

• Learn about the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi set out in He Tirohanga o Kawa ki te Tiriti o Waitangi.
• Become familiar with expressions of Māori values and principles (e.g. in He Ara Waiora - the Treasury's Māori Wellbeing Framework).
• Learn about the rohe (territory or boundaries) and population of iwi in New Zealand, using Te Kāhui Māngai (Directory of Iwi and Māori Organisations).

Applications - The Treaty in policy and law

• Learn about the key policy tools or analytical and kaupapa Māori-based frameworks used in your agency and how to apply these.
• Read the Treaty of Waitangi analysis material in the Policy Project's Policy Methods Toolbox, which includes the Cabinet Office circular Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi Guidance (developed by Te Arawhiti - The Office for Māori Crown Relations) on how to apply the terms and concepts of the Treaty to policy development and implementation.
• Learn about Te Arawhiti - the Office of Māori Crown Relations' resources including the Engagement Framework and Guidelines on the Māori Crown Relations' Engagement page.
• Understand the Māori rights and interests, and Treaty principles relevant to your policy area, through a review of relevant Waitangi Tribunal and Court cases, and previous agency responses to Treaty issues.
• Read a range of Waitangi Tribunal reports, especially those relevant to your policy area.
• Familiarise yourself with Public Service Act 2020 provisions relating to the role of the Crown as Treaty partner under te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Context - History and the Māori Crown relationship

• Read key documents with commentary on the Māori Crown relationship, such as the Waitangi Tribunal's report Ko Aotearoa Tēnei, Puao Te Ata Tu: The Report of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on a Māori Perspective for the Department of Social Welfare (June 1986), and the Summary of submissions from the Minister for Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti 2018 engagement process.
• Learn about Treaty settlement commitments through Te Haeata (the historical settlements commitments portal), particularly those commitments your agency is responsible for.
• Learn about the history of your agency's business, key decisions that have been made, and what impact these have had on Māori and Māori Crown relations.
• Review your agencies' Māori strategies and Treaty statements, if these exist.

20% learning from others

• If possible, accompany your manager or senior colleagues to meetings with iwi or other Māori groups.
• Identify the implications of the Treaty of Waitangi principles for a policy option you're involved in and get feedback from a colleague.
• Find opportunities to spend time with people who may be affected by your policy area, including Māori and iwi organisations.
• Ask colleagues about how they consider Te Ao Māori and matāuranga Māori in their policy work.
• Talk with your colleagues about the Crown's Treaty of Waitangi obligations and agency examples of engagement and collaboration with Māori groups.

10% formal training

• Take a course on the Treaty of Waitangi and cultural perspectives in policy making.
• Take a course on New Zealand history and the history of the Māori Crown relationship.
• Attend training on Te Ao Māori relevant to your subject area (e.g. Victoria University's Centre for Lifelong Learning offers tailored courses on Māori Crown Relations).
• Take tikanga and te reo Māori training to build your ability to communicate in te reo Māori.

Political Context and Priorities#

70% on-the-job learning

• Read party manifestos, and relevant government and cross-party coalition and confidence and supply agreements.
• Review written statements of the Government's objectives and the minister's priorities.
• Attend staff meetings to get a regular download from senior managers on the minister's priorities.
• Read the Public Service Commission's A guide on integrity and conduct.
• Watch the Prime Minister's post-Cabinet press conference and look at what might be relevant from the political television programmes.
• Regularly read the minister's media releases and speeches posted on the Beehive website.
• Attend Parliament or watch Parliament TV when an issue or question of the day relevant to your team's work is being discussed, to see how the matter is addressed.
• Consider how political decisions impact on your agency's stakeholders.
• Identify the other agencies and ministers who might have an interest in your agency's policy work.
• Know the tools of government research (for example, Brookers for legal matters and Hansard for transcripts of Parliamentary debates) and how to use them appropriately in your work.
• Read the Te Ara - Encyclopedia of New Zealand extract on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi - ngā mātāpono o te tiriti, a range of Waitangi Tribunal reports, and consider how the Crown's obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi relate to your work.
• Read the Treaty of Waitangi analysis material in the Policy Project's Policy Methods Toolbox, which includes the Cabinet Office circular Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi Guidance developed by Te Arawhiti - The Office for Māori Crown Relations, on how to apply the terms and concepts of the Treaty of Waitangi to policy development and implementation.

20% learning from others

• Discuss with your manager where your team's work fits within the minister's priorities.
• Learn from other colleagues who have experience in interacting with ministers and Parliamentary processes.
• Discuss with senior colleagues the historical context of any reforms to your agency or sector and whether there are any documents that would be helpful to read.
• Learn about the respective roles and responsibilities of staff in the minister's office (e.g. private secretaries, political advisors, media advisors) through discussions with more senior colleagues.
• If possible, accompany your manager or senior colleagues to meetings with the minister.
• If possible, accompany your manager or other senior colleagues to a select committee meeting and discuss afterwards the difference between policy and political issues.
• If possible, accompany your manager or senior colleagues to a meeting with Māori or iwi groups and discuss afterwards how the Public Service could better incorporate Te Ao Māori perspectives into policy processes.
• Interview your more senior colleagues about who the key stakeholders in your agency's sector are, their interests, and how they are likely to influence your policy work.
• Discuss with senior colleagues who the key decision makers are in your agency.
• Accompany your manager or other senior colleagues to your agency's executive leadership meetings.
• Identify the implications of the Treaty of Waitangi principles for a policy option you are involved in, and get feedback from a colleague.

10% formal learning

• Take a course on the Treaty of Waitangi and cultural perspectives in policy making.

Domain Knowledge#

70% on-the-job learning

• Build knowledge of your agency's business and strategic direction by reading your agency's annual report, statement of intent, briefing to the incoming minister, and relevant strategic or business plans.
• Discuss with your manager how your role contributes to achieving your agency's priorities.
• Learn about the key policy tools or analytical and kaupapa Māori based frameworks used in your agency and how to apply these.
• Learn about the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, relevant legislation, regulations and Cabinet decisions relating to your agency and your work.
• Learn about the history of your agency's business, key decisions that have been made, and what the impact of these has been on other agencies' business, New Zealand society, the economy, Māori, Māori Crown relationships, and New Zealand's international relations.
• Learn about Treaty settlement commitments in your policy area.
• Learn about the current policy issues facing your agency and sector, including regional variations and interests.
• Participate in small policy projects and tasks that will develop greater subject matter expertise.
• Stay up to date with literature relevant to your role, tasks or knowledge base.
• Discuss with your colleagues about when and how to engage your agency's operations, legal, finance, digital and service design, and communications teams in the development of policy, and take opportunities to do so.
• Participate in projects across your agency, or in corporate projects to broaden your knowledge of organisational issues.
• Find out if your agency has a Digital Strategy and if so, read it and follow up on any questions with your manager and/or ICT business partner.
• Learn about the various digital and data tools you have access to through your agency.
• Learn about and understand the different channels your agency uses for information and service delivery.
• Shadow one of your service delivery teams as they roll out a new service or feature.

20% learning from others

• Interact with colleagues to gather new ideas and insights relevant to your subject matter expertise.
• Participate in relevant professional and expert networks.
• Seek on-the-job coaching on domain knowledge from more senior practitioners or managers.
• Attend in-house seminars on your area of subject matter expertise.
• Find opportunities to spend time with people who may be affected by your policy area, including Māori, iwi organisations, frontline staff, businesses, different ethnic groups, community groups, non-government organisations, disabled people, senior citizens and single parents.
• Read key documents with commentary of the Māori Crown relationship relevant to your subject area.

10% formal learning

• Attend your agency's induction training.
• Complete the Public Service Commission's online modules Tikanga whakauru mahi a te Ratonga Tūmatanui | Public Service Induction.
• Attend external seminars and participate in workshops to expand and update your subject knowledge.
• Attend training on Te Ao Māori relevant to your subject area (e.g. Victoria University's Centre for Lifelong Learning offers tailored courses on Māori Crown Relations).

Our Behaviours#

Ō TĀTOU WHANONGA | How we behave

Behaviours to support carrying out the policy role effectively

Integrity and Political Savvy#

Exhibits and navigates the principles and values required of public servants, including while working with sensitivity to the political context.

• Watches and learns from others considered adept at working with ministers and other internal and external stakeholders.

70% on-the-job learning

• Learn about the role, boundaries and accountability of a public servant. Read the Public Service Commission's A guide on integrity and conduct, factsheets on free and frank advice and policy stewardship.
• Learn about the Government's objectives and your minister's priorities, and how these relate to the work of your agency. To see this at a broad level, read the Speech from the Throne.
• Talk with your colleagues about the minister's style preferences and way of working, particularly as they relate to the work you do (e.g. drafting briefings).
• Develop an understanding of how the minister's office operates.
• Read party manifesto and cross-party coalition and confidence and supply agreements as they relate to your sector.
• Develop an understanding of other agencies and ministers who may have an interest in your agency's policy work.
• Attend staff meetings to get a regular download on the minister's priorities.
• Work alongside a senior colleague to develop a simple briefing that delivers free and frank advice.
• Regularly read the minister's media releases and speeches posted on the Beehive website to get an understanding of what issues are current and how the minister addresses them.
• Develop an understanding of your agency's stakeholders, their interests, and influence on your work.
• Talk with colleagues about the role of your agency's executive leadership team and how they like to work.
• Seek guidance from senior colleagues on working with decision makers and in dealing with sensitive situations.
• Support advisors attending select committees and ministerial meetings to understand how they prepare for them.

20% learning from others

• Discuss with your manager how your team's work fits within the Government's and the minister's priorities.
• If possible, accompany your manager or senior colleagues to meetings with the minister, and your agency's executive leadership team.
• If possible, accompany your manager or senior colleagues to select committees.
• Look to senior colleagues for guidance on working with ministers and decision makers.
• Attend regular feedback sessions by private secretaries to policy staff (if they exist).

10% formal learning

• Specific induction training including Public Service Commission's Tikanga whakauru mahi a te Ratonga Tūmatanui | Public Service Induction.

Stewardship#

Works collaboratively to steward policy systems that can provide advice for the benefit of current and future generations and Māori Crown relationships.

• Beginning to understand stewardship in the Public Service and its key components and
  is aware of bias toward short-term thinking.
• Learning how quality policy advice supports ministers to be good stewards in the public interest.
• Learning about how their agency stewards its capability.Learning what it means to steward the policy and regulatory systems of their agency, sector or the broader Public Service.

70% on-the-job learning

• Read Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission's guidance on:
  • stewardship and what it means under the new Public Service Act 2020 - Public Service Principles - what are they and what do they mean for public servants?
  • Free and Frank Advice & Policy Stewardship and its Frequently Asked Questions.
• Read more about Stewardship in the Policy Methods Toolbox.
• Read information about the role of the Treasury as the Public Service function lead for Regulatory Stewardship.
• Read information and resources for regulators on Regulatory system governance from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
• Understand what legislation is administered by your agency, the directory of ministerial portfolios, and the schedule of any delegated responsibilities delegated to associate ministers as set out on the Cabinet Office page Register of Assigned Legislation.
• Read the Legislation Design and Advisory Committee's Guidelines to promote good legislative standards.
• Read Transparency International New Zealand's article about the Long-term insights briefings process: Giving effect to the public service principals of open government and stewardship: an introduction to Long-term Insights Briefings.
• Read Long-term Insights Briefings produced by agencies at Published Briefings.
• Read the Government Expectations for Good Regulatory Practice (which include regulatory stewardship expectations).
• Read your own agency's strategies and accountability documents, including any systems assessments.
• Read through some Regulatory Impact Analysis documents produced by your agency.

20% learning from others

• Visit the Government Regulatory Practice Initiative website to review its resources and development offerings.
• Ask to shadow a colleague working on a regulatory initiative

10% formal learning

• Read your own agency's strategies and stewardship documents, including any systems assessments.
• Visit the YouTube channel of the Government Regulatory Practice Initiative and watch some of their webinars - including some specifically on regulatory stewardship.
• If in a regulatory or regulatory adjacent role, consider enrolling in the Level 3 Core Knowledge Regulatory Practice qualification through Te Pukenga - New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology.
• Attend any events or webinars run by your own agency's teams responsible for regulatory stewardship and systems governance, or talk to those teams about the agency's processes for regulatory change.

70% on-the-job learning

• Take opportunities to work across teams, groups, and different subject areas.
• Work on policy problems where there is less structure or control.
• Learn to accept that policy development and projects don't always go to plan.
• Look for opportunities, when priorities or directions change.
• Challenge ideas and assumptions.
• Reflect on your work - what went well, what didn't go so well, what did you learn? Discuss your findings with your manager and other colleagues.

20% learning from others

• Accompany your manager or senior colleagues to meetings where 'uncomfortable' conversations or trade-offs are required to meet the policy objective.
• Ask senior colleagues how they operate in areas of ambiguity or uncertainty.
• Ask senior colleagues about how they respond to change and are resilient to setbacks.

10% formal learning

• Take a critical thinking course.

Self Aware and Inclusive#

Aware of your own identity, values, and culture, and how they differ from others. Acts inclusively in a diverse society.

• Understands the importance of being balanced, inclusive, respectful, and fair in their behaviour and language.
• Is self-aware and learning how to identify any unconscious bias.
• Learning about what it means to be inclusive of the core cultural concepts and practices relating to indigeneity, and is welcoming of different backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, values, beliefs and abilities.
• Learning about what it means to work inclusively and transparently.

70% on-the-job learning

• Review the Public Service Code of Conduct and understand our responsibilities as public servants to be fair, impartial, responsible and trustworthy (see Guidance: Understanding the code of conduct).
• Become familiar with the principles and expectations for public servants set out in section 12 of the Public Service Act 2020.
• Familiarise yourself with information on the cross-government Diversity and inclusion work in the State of the Public Service report.
• Explore the information provided at the University of Auckland's page Unconscious bias resources and references.
• Watch the video from the Royal Society about potential biases when making decisions (see Understanding unconscious bias).
• Read the Policy Project's Guide to Inclusive Community Engagement as a starting point for thinking about different groups in the community, and how to reduce barriers to participation.
• Read guidance on Te Arawhiti's website about the Crown's engagement with Māori.

20% learning from others

• Review any previous papers by your agency that include evidence and analysis from a number of groups and sectors reflected in the policy options.
• Learn more about the cross-agency Employee Led Networks and how they could help support your policy work. This could include engaging with network representatives to understand how any of the network's insights and perspectives might be applied to your work.

10% formal training

• Take an online module to learn about the concept of unconscious bias, such as the Kirwan Institute's Implicit Bias Module Series.

Continuous Learning#

70% on-the-job learning

• Discuss with your manager ways to enhance your knowledge, skills and competencies.
• Seek feedback and coaching from your manager about how you interact with peers and your team.
• Practise constructive participation (such as asking questions) in team meetings and policy discussions.
• Identify the skills and experience you would like to develop and discuss these with your manager. Seek input from peers.
• Review and assess yourself against the Policy Skills Framework, and consider what skills still require development, and the role you would like to move to.
• Seek constructive feedback on your performance from others.
• Help your team on unfamiliar policy issues or tasks.
• Discuss with your manager the best options for learning through colleagues, on-the-job opportunities, and information online.
• Think about your strengths and weaknesses and review them against the expectations in this tool.
• Look for opportunities to acquire new skills and seek exposure to a wide range of policy issues, applying transferable, core skills.
• Actively seek ways to expand your range of skills by using the policy skills profile mapping tool, and familiarising yourself with the Development Pathways Tool.

20% learning from others

• Talk with your manager and senior colleagues about who you can connect with internally as a 'buddy' to guide you and answer questions.
• Learn from your peers, and join a policy analyst network in your organisation.
• Seek peer review or coaching from more experienced analysts or your manager.
• Talk to other staff within and outside your agency about their career development paths.
• Find out from your peers how they like to work with others, and their preferences or working style. It may be helpful for you to know both your own and your team's personal styles. Consider your personality profile and what it tells you about your working style and how you interact with others.

10% formal learning

• Take some free online tests on work behaviour styles.
• Complete a personality profile (preferably as part of a team-building strategy).

Our Applied Skills#

A TĀTOU MAHI | What we do

Applied skills needed to develop quality policy advice

70% on-the-job learning

• Know your agency's policy guide (if they have one) and quality assessment criteria for policy advice, including the Policy Project's Policy Quality Framework.
• Read the Policy Project's resource materials in its Policy Methods Toolbox on Start Right, design thinking, community engagement, behavioural insights and futures thinking.
• Familiarise yourself with Cabinet Office guidance on Cabinet papers (see Cabinet policy paper template).
• Read policy tools likely to be required in your work (e.g. the Treasury'sImpact Analysis Requirements).
• Learn about Treaty settlements affecting your policy area.
• Read the Treaty of Waitangi analysis material in the Policy Methods Toolbox, which includes the Cabinet Office circular Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi Guidance developed by Te Arawhiti - The Office for Māori Crown Relations, on how to apply the terms and concepts of the Treaty of Waitangi to policy development and implementation.
• Peer review more senior colleagues' work to build understanding of how different analytical frameworks, techniques and tools have been applied to different policy issues.
• Learn about diversity and inclusion tools and resources that may assist your policy analysis (e.g. Ministry for Pacific People's Pacific Policy Analysis Tool Kapasa, Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People's Disability Toolkit for Policy, Ministry of Social Development's Child Impact Assessment Tool, Ministry for Women's gender analysis tool Bringing Gender In).
• Develop a problem tree for a current policy issue that documents the relationships between adverse economic, social, environmental or cultural outcomes and their root causes.
• For all policy options that your team has identified in regard to a policy issue, diagrammatically document the intervention logic of each (what inputs and activities will produce which outputs and outcomes).
• Assist your team with analytical work on policy issues, or lead analytical work on small tasks or projects.
• Work with a more senior colleague to develop a Regulatory impact statement or a simple Cabinet paper on a policy project.
• Investigate opportunities to help with quality assurance of Regulatory impact statements that inform policy in your subject area.
• Attend seminars in your agency or other departments that will extend your thinking.

20% learning from others

• Ask colleagues to recommend and discuss good briefings and Cabinet papers, as well as books and articles on the practice of policy analysis.
• Seek on-the-job coaching from your manager or senior colleagues on the policy development cycle, from defining the problem to setting policy objectives, identifying and assessing options, recommending solutions, implementing solutions, monitoring and evaluation.
• Ask colleagues about how they apply Te Ao Māori and mātauranga Māori to their policy work.
• Ask colleagues about how they apply other frameworks that have a population lens (e.g. Ministry for Pacific People's Pacific Policy Analysis Tool Kapasa).
• Check with principal and senior analysts for other informative books and articles on 'wicked problems' and test your understanding of these through discussion with your team members and manager.
• Seek peer review or coaching from more experienced analysts or your manager.
• If possible, accompany your manager or a senior colleague to meetings with the minister, so you can see how key messages are communicated and how officials interact with the minister.
• Improve your understanding of policy analysis by reading key text books, for example:
  • A practical guide for policy analysis: the eightfold path to more effective problem solving (Bardach 2009)
  • Adding Value to Policy Analysis and Advice (Scott and Baehler 2010)
  • The Australian Policy Handbook (Althaus, Bridgman and Davis 2017)
  • The Art and Craft of Policy Advising (Bromell 2017)
  • Routledge Handbook of European Public Policy (2017).

10% formal learning

• Take an in-house course in basic policy analysis if available.
• Attend seminars at the Institute of Governance and Policy Studies, Motu, or other departments on analytical topics.
• Take introductory short courses for policy staff on the role of policy analysts, policy tools and frameworks (e.g. from Wellington Uni Professional).
• Treasury can run courses on Regulatory Impact Analysis on request. G-Reg and ANZOG both schedule workshops and seminars from time to time on regulatory design and practice.
• Take introductory courses on using economic analysis in the policy development process by the Government Economics Network (GEN).
• Take a cost benefit analysis course (e.g. Introduction to Cost Benefit Analysis by GEN).
• Consider taking a tertiary course, such as Public Policy Fundamentals by Wellington Uni Professional.
• Consider taking one of the Government Economics Networks' introductory courses (e.g. Microeconomics for Policy Analysis, Macroeconomic Principles for Policy, Cost Benefit Analysis, Behavioural Economics for Policy)'.

Evidence and Insights#

70% on-the-job learning

• Learn about the strengths and limitations of key data and statistical collections available in your agency and externally (e.g. from Statistics New Zealand, the Treasury, Ministry of Social Development).
• Research how to source quantitative and qualitative data information from these sources for policy development.
• Read the Policy Project's conversation tracker on the Superu (Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit) Making Sense of Evidence - A Good Practice Guide.
• Read Making sense of evidence: A guide to using evidence in policy (Superu 2018).
• Review briefing papers that have a strong evidence base.
• Learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the different quantitative and qualitative methodological tools available by reading relevant textbooks, and speaking with colleagues who are knowledgeable on Māori perspectives on data and data use.
• Use problem trees to identify the relationships between adverse outcomes and the root causes of policy issues.
• Do a literature review of a policy issue, drawing on articles that use qualitative and quantitative information.
• Practise using, summarising and communicating key themes from research, information and data results.
• Familiarise yourself with the content and resources provided on the Policy Project's Evidence and evaluation page.
• Learn how to commission simple and medium-complexity data extraction and collection internally and externally.
• Work with a senior colleague on a policy project where you need to identify the characteristics of the people the policy will serve and design a method to seek their views.
• Learn about what data is available through the Integrated Data Infrastructure and how it can be accessed.
• Apply different approaches to understand the personal stories and lived experience of the policy's end user. Read the material in the Policy Project's Policy Methods Toolbox on design thinking, behavioural insights, and futures thinking.
• Review information and advice on privacy, security and risk (see Your privacy responsibilities and Privacy security and risk).
• Review information and advice on data (see Data toolkit).
• Understand which data and digital standards may apply to your work (see Government Digital Standards Catalogue).
• If your agency has chief science advisor, familiarise yourself with what they do and how their role fits into your agency's policy process.

20% learning from others

• Learn about your internal data analysis team (if you have one) and find out more about what they do.
• Learn about your behavioural insights team (if you have one) and find out more about what they do.
• Learn about your futures thinking team (if you have one) and find out more about what they do.
• Review high quality research work conducted by others to get insights on how to approach research tasks.
• Identify and meet with data, research and evaluation specialists in your areas to understand what data and information they collect, and what it can and cannot tell you.
• Consult with senior colleagues to assess various sources of evidence for relevance.
• Ask colleagues with relevant skills about statistical concepts (e.g. margins of error and confidence intervals).

10% formal learning

• Take an introduction to statistics course.
• Take an online course to build your understanding of statistical methods.
• Complete training in the use of Microsoft Excel and Power BI.

Strategic and Futures Thinking#

70% on-the-job learning

• Read your agency's annual report, statement of intent, four year plans etc, to learn about your agency's role, current issues, and strategic direction.
• Follow key policy topic issues in the media and think about the potential implications for your work, not just immediately but also over the medium to long term.
• Identify the strategic context for your work and whether your agency has any international obligations.
• Become familiar with material published by other countries about the future in your policy area.
• Attend other group's staff meetings to familiarise yourself with their work and current issues.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
• Take the opportunity to contribute to workshops in your agency on its vision and strategic direction for the medium to long term.
• Read the Policy Project's materials on futures thinking in the Policy Methods Toolbox.

20% learning from others

• Think about joining a community of practice (e.g. Strategic Futures Group) or an agency-based learning group focused on systems thinking and futures thinking.
• Discuss with your manager where your team's work fits within your agency's overall strategic direction, outcomes and work programme. Learn about the minister's priorities, and the key future challenges and opportunities that the agency has to negotiate.
• Read an accessible introductory text on foresight/futures thinking, such as:
  • Thinking about the Future (Hines and Bishop, 2007)
  • Looking Back at Looking Forward (van der Duin and van der Steen, 2012)
  • Introduction to Strategic Foresight (Dr. Freija van Duijne and Dr. Peter Bishop).
• Explore an online compendium of futures tools designed for the policy context (e.g. the United Kingdom Government's Futures Toolkit for policy-makers and analysts.

10% formal learning

• Consider doing a futures thinking course.
• Consider doing a strategic thinking course.

Systems Awareness#

Applies tools for making sense of systems and their behaviour. Advises on changes to system settings to improve policy proposals.

• Developing an understanding of:
  • system thinking and how it can help you in your day-to-day work,
    including making sense of systems
  • what it means to take action within different systems
  • systems relevant to your work, including how past decisions have impacted on the current state, and how drivers and constraints can influence system change going forward.
• Learn about how drivers and constraints can influence system change.

70% on-the-job learning

• Develop an understanding of the key people, organisations, and elements in the systems that your agency works in and any relationships between them.
• Learn the basic skills of systems mapping and how you can use it to understand the context for a policy issue.
• Develop your understanding of mātauranga Māori as a way of thinking about and seeing the world (e.g. He Ara Waiora).
• Find out what data and insights your organisation collects about what is happening in the systems relevant to your work.Take the opportunity to find out about tools that can help with making sense of systems such as The Cynefin Framework - A Leader's Framework for Decision Making and Action, the Waters of Systems Change and the Stacey Diagramme.
• Look into how past decisions and events have shaped the systems relevant to your work. Consider the key drivers that create both positive and negative behaviours within the system, and whether those drivers can be changed to influence those behaviours in a different way.

20% learning from others

• Discuss with other parts of your organisation how the people and other organisations interact within systems relevant to your work. Consider whether the behaviour of that system impacts on your policy work.
• Consider joining a community of practice (e.g. systems thinking, complex systems) or an agency-based learning group focused on building and sharing systems awareness capability.
• Look at other reports and papers produced within your organisation that have included systems thinking in their approach.
• Read texts on systems awareness such as:
  • Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows and edited by Diana Wright
  • From Transactional to Strategic: Systems approaches to public service challenges by Justin W. Cook and Piret Tõnurist
  • Blogs by Dave Snowden and others at the Cynefin Company website
  • The civil servant's systems thinking journey from the United Kingdom's Government Office for Science.

10% formal training

• Read about mātauranga Māori to develop understanding of how Māori see the world and how this can significantly inform systems awareness.
• Attend a course that can build your systems awareness knowledge and skills.

Advice and Influence#

70% on-the-job learning

• Read the Public Service Commission's A guide on integrity and conduct, factsheets on free and frank advice and policy stewardship.
• Read your agency's style guides and processes for different types of documents.
• Review previous advice to decision makers to get a feeling of tone, language and appropriate format.
• Prepare short documents, ministerials, Official Information Act requests, key messages, simple briefing papers etc.
• Learn about the relevant legislation, regulations and Cabinet decisions relating to your work.
• Learn how to access legislation, regulations, written and oral parliamentary questions, and select committee reports online.
• Peer review colleagues' work to build your understanding of how well-reasoned, impartial and politically neutral policy advice is presented.
• Learn how to write policy advice that is clear, accurate, well-reasoned, impartial and politically neutral, and targeted to the audience.
• Contribute data, text and analysis to support the work of others for a range of products (e.g. talking points, web content, reporting on status).
• Assist your team on policy issues or tasks that you are unfamiliar with.

20% learning from others

• Ask senior colleagues to identify effective policy advice papers. Review them to identify what works.
• If possible, accompany your manager or a senior colleague to meetings with senior management or leadership teams, so you can see how messages are communicated.
• Seek peer review or coaching from more experienced analysts or your manager.
• If possible, accompany your manager or a senior colleague to meetings with the minister, so you can see how key messages are communicated and how officials interact with the minister.

10% formal learning

• Take an introductory negotiation and influencing skills course.
• Consider training in storytelling.
• Take a persuasive writing or plain English course (e.g. Business Writing Essentials by Write Limited).

Monitoring and Evaluation#

70% on-the-job learning

• Learn about the different types of evaluation, including formative, process, system, impact and outcome evaluations.
• Learn about the difference between qualitative and quantitive information, and the role they play in monitoring and evaluation.
• Go to the BetterEvaluation website to learn how to better plan, manage, conduct and use evaluation.
• Have a look at the results of some of your agency's past evaluations to understand how they can generate evidence and insights to inform new policy development.
• Read Superu's guide Making sense of evaluation to help you build evaluation into your policy making.

20% learning from others

• Seek any opportunity to work with a senior colleague on an evaluation.
• Ask a senior colleague to explain how they have set indicators to help evaluate outcomes on their own policy project.

10% formal training

• Talk to your manager about any training opportunities that are available through your agency.

Our Practices#

Ā TĀTOU TIKANGA MAHI | How we operate

Practices and methods to support good policy processes and the delivery of policy advice

Plan and Manage Work#

70% on-the-job learning

• Read the Start Right Guide from the Policy Project.
• Learn about your agency's policy project management methodology.
• Practise using commissioning discussions to clarify priorities and the scope of your contribution to projects.
• Understand the various roles in a project and how they contribute to the project's objectives.
• Lead the development of small pieces of advice, or lead the development of advice on minor projects.
• Learn how to break down the different streams of work in a project, by identifying tasks and sub-tasks, deliverables and milestones.
• Keep your manager informed on progress with allocated work. Identify well in advance if you are having difficulties meeting competing priorities, and suggest strategies to address this.
• Seek feedback from your manager about the key priorities, risks and opportunities in your work.
• If you have excess capacity, alert your manager and suggest projects you could assist with.

20% learning from others

• Talk with your colleagues about the common risks to planning a policy project (e.g. changes in ministerial direction, changes in organisational priorities, lack of the right skill sets, the minister's availability).
• Participate in project team meetings and discuss expectations with your manager and senior policy analysts.
• Learn from more experienced colleagues about budgets and tracking spending on projects.
• Seek advice from senior colleagues on scoping and sequencing your parts of a project.
• Learn from senior colleagues how to track progress in achieving milestones.

10% formal learning

• Take an introductory project management course. For example:
  • Project Management Fundamentals by Wellington Uni Professional
  • Managing Policy Projects by Brightstar.
• Take training on your agency's project management practices and systems.
• Take time management courses.

Engage and Sustain Relationships#

70% on-the-job learning

• Learn about the alternative approaches to engaging with the public in government decision making identified in the IAP2 Public Participation Spectrum by the International Association for Public Participation (i.e. inform, consult, involve, collaborate, and empower).
• Read guidance on how to carry out good practice community engagement in the Policy Community Engagement Tool.
• Go to the Māori Crown Relations Engagement page, and review their Engagement framework and Engagements guidelines.
• Familiarise yourself with guidance on collaboration and engagement with local government (see Guide for central government engagement with local government).
• Discuss with your colleagues about when and how to engage your agency's operations, legal, finance, digital and service design, and communications teams in the development of policy, and take opportunities to do so.
• Look for opportunities to participate in projects in which you will interact with unfamiliar stakeholders.
• When attending meetings with stakeholders, think about what you need to do to represent your agency well.
• Learn how to access service user data collected by your agency or other organisations to inform your understanding of problems and potential solutions.
• Avoid duplication by finding out who your agency is engaging with already, and on what.
• Read the Treaty of Waitangi analysis material in the Policy Project's Policy Methods Toolbox, which includes the Cabinet Office circular Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi Guidance developed by Te Arawhiti - The Office for Māori Crown Relations, on how to apply the terms and concepts of the Treaty of Waitangi to policy development and implementation.
• Read the six community engagement resources in the Policy Method Toolbox to learn about good practice, principles, and values for community engagement. Learn about engagement approaches of other agencies by reading the case studies and Demonstration Project Report which showcase good community engagement practices.
• Learn about other tools that can help you seek diverse stakeholder views. For example:
  • Ministry for Pacific People's Pacific Policy Analysis Tool Kapasa
  • Disability Toolkit for Policy from the Ministry of Social Development
  • Ministry of Social Development's Child Impact Assessment Tool
  • Ministry for Women's gender analysis tool Bringing Gender In.
  • Engagement with children and young people: Best practice guidelines

20% learning from others

• Learn from your team about the key stakeholders (e.g. ministers, select committees, consumers, community groups), their drivers, interest and influence, and engagement preference and style.
• Shadow a senior colleague at meetings with stakeholders, observe how they behave, and debrief them afterwards.
• Accompany a senior colleague to meetings with counterparts in other government agencies and, where possible, make follow-up contact with others at your level in those agencies.
• Think about an external audience your organisation needs to engage with. Ask others about the communication needs and preferences of that audience.
• Identify the tools your agency has for stakeholder engagement and discuss with more experienced colleagues their experience in applying them.
• Ask your colleagues about agencies that may be able to provide advice on how to engage effectively with stakeholders (e.g. the Office for Disability Issues on effective engagement with disabled people).
• Talk with your colleagues about the Crown's Treaty of Waitangi obligations and agency examples of engagement and collaboration with Māori groups.

10% formal learning

• Take an introductory stakeholder analysis course (e.g. Engaging effectively with your stakeholders by Victoria University of Wellington).
• Take the How Local Government Works course by the Society of Local Government Managers.
• Take tikanga and te reo Māori training.
• Attend Introduction to engaging with Māori workshop on Te Arawhiti's Engagement Framework and Engagement Guidelines on their Engagement page.
• Take the Ministry for Ethnic Communities' Intercultural Capability E-learning modules on communicating with people from different backgrounds.
• Take an introductory course in planning engagement and public participation methods (e.g. Engagement Essentials and Engagement Methods by the International Association for Public Participation).

Design for Implementation#

70% on-the-job learning

• Learn about your agency's corporate functions, and who can help you (e.g. legal, finance).
• For a given policy issue, practise describing who has to do what, how, when, where, and with whom, for each proposed option to have its desired effect.
• Find out about the values, needs and preferences of the end users of your agency's policy.
• Think about the potential impacts of policy change in your sector and how it would affect stakeholders.
• Build your understanding of design for implementation by getting involved in long-term projects that take incremental steps to design and implement workable solutions.
• Build your understanding of design for implementation issues by being involved in a policy project that has a sizeable implementation component.
• Read the Policy Project's materials on design thinking in its Policy Methods Toolbox.
• Learn how to use prototypes to bring abstract ideas to life.
• Build into your work tests and experiments that can examine what is and isn't effective in practice.
• Review how a recent policy decision was operationalised, and identify the roles played by different corporate functions and external service delivery channels.
• Learn how to access data on user needs to inform design options.
• Position the user at the centre of the policy problem and consider this at every stage of implementation.
• Talk with senior staff about the lived experience of users, their values, and how these need to be reflected in implementation design.
• Shadow one of your service delivery teams as they roll out a new service or feature.
• Explore and understand the processes associated with User-Centred Design.
• Have a look at the online resources available from the Auckland Co-Design Lab.

20% learning from others

• Engage with a 'community of practice' or a wider public sector group to discuss and learn tools and concepts relevant to designing for implementation.
• Talk with your operational colleagues and read your agency's accountability documents (e.g. annual report, statement of intent) to learn about the operating environment for your agency.
• Learn as much as you can from more experienced colleagues about the end users of your agency's policy area, and the use of co-design in implementation.
• Spend time in regional offices, if your agency has them.
• Seek secondments or other opportunities to work with partner organisations, such as iwi entities.

10% formal learning

• Attend introductory courses on policy design and implementation.
• Do a course on user-centred design.

Improvement and Innovation#

70% on-the-job learning

• Talk with your manager or senior colleagues about taking alternative approaches to policy tasks or problems, their respective advantages and limitations. Put these into practice.
• Learn how to improve the quality of your advice and practices by becoming familiar with the Policy Project's policy improvement frameworks Policy Quality, Policy Skills, and Policy Capability.
• Read the Strategy for a Digital Public Service and Digital Strategy for Aotearoa and consider how your work can help achieve their strategic visions.
• Read the Government Data Strategy and Roadmap and relevant Industry Transformation Plans (e.g. The Digital Technologies Industry Transformation Plan).
• Try something new, and afterwards identify what you learned about what worked and what didn't.

20% learning from others

• Collaborate with others to improve your chances of success and provide a safe space to explore ideas and ask questions.
• Connect with people who are very different or who work in different areas, to gain new insights.
• Ask questions of your more experienced colleagues, with a view to learning new ways of working and thinking.
• Look on the internet at how other jurisdictions are tackling problems in your domain.

10% formal learning

• Attend courses that build your understanding of how service design can encourage innovations
  (e.g. Design Thinking Fundamentals Bootcamp by Wellington Uni Professional).

Communication#

70% on-the-job learning

• Read the Policy Project's guidance on Writing for Ministers and Cabinet.
• Understand and apply the Plain Language Act (see Plain Language Act 2020: Guidance for agencies).
• Understand that by relaying experiences, stories make it easier for audiences to understand.
• Practise 'storylining' techniques by setting out the evidence, reasoning and drawing conclusions.
• Judiciously use metaphors and imagery as devices to help explain complex ideas or situations.
• Read your organisation's style guidance and processes for the type of document you are developing.
• Understand and apply the templates, formats, and quality standards for different policy 'products'.
• Review examples of written advice, verbal discussions and presentations to get a feeling of tone, language and appropriate format for the audiences.
• Look for opportunities to produce a different kind of written product than what you have previously done.
• Verbally present to your peers, team or others outside your agency.
• Ask your manager or senior colleagues whether you can help them by preparing a summary, report or paper.
• Peer review work using guidance to practice the skills for different communication products.
• Learn more about how to make your work accessible, including familiarising yourself with the accessibility requirements for our work (see Accessibility and Designing for web accessibility).
• Learn how to use the online Contrast Checker by WebAim to make sure the colour contrasts between text and background meet accessibility requirements.
• Read The Accessibility Charter and associated resources.

20% learning from others

• Ask the team about the feedback given by quality assurance panels on your agency's policy advice.
• Seek feedback, coaching, or peer review on your communication style (both written and verbal) from more experienced colleagues or your manager.
• Ask your peer reviewer to provide feedback on your approach, and use of evidence and reasoning.
• Use peer review opportunities to debrief with your peer reviewer to apply lessons learned.
• Set up an informal discussion on a topical issue to practise how you communicate and respond to issues.
• Shadow or observe a more experienced colleague at meetings with different audiences, and debrief them afterwards on how they handled difficult questions or challenging audiences.

10% formal learning

• Attend internal training sessions or seminars on policy writing.
• Take an effective writing course or communications course.
• Take training in 'storytelling' approaches to shape communication products (e.g. Infographics: Telling stories with pictures by Write Limited).
• Take a presentation skills course.
• Take te reo Māori lessons to build your ability to communicate in te reo Māori.