Prepare
Your boss calls. It's urgent. Best done yesterday. A bunch of meetings and many conversations later, you've landed yourself with the task of writing a complex policy paper with many possibilities, even more stakeholders, and a punishing timeline. Take a breath. Before you start, make sure you ask the following questions:
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Who is this submission meant for?
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Minister vs PS vs DS vs Director​
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What is the purpose of this submission?
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For Approval: securing a decision ​
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For Discussion: exploring issues, no clear landing just yet
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For Information: updating on progress, providing background
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What are the stated problems you're meant to address?
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Competing priorities: clarity and alignment
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Range of solutions: build vs buy vs partner
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Range of timing: now or later
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Are there assumptions behind these problem statements?
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Causality vs correlation
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Necessity of action
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Might there be other underlying issues that need to be uncovered?
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Primary vs secondary concerns
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Awareness of red-lines
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Do you have all the facts or do you need to gather them?
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What information is needed​
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How much is needed
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How much time do you have?
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Establishing the answers to these questions upfront will help you define the scope of your policy submission, and allow you to plan ahead to ensure sufficient time for consultation and clearance.
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Gather
It's time to gather the facts and lay out the case. Policy questions are often complicated and complex, involving a variety of stakeholders who hold different and sometimes competing points of view. Having established your audience and your purpose, you now need to determine if you are:
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Generating new sources of information: making you the "expert"
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Compiling existing information: where you "organise by logic"
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Synthesizing different viewpoints: where you are the "recommender" of a set of actions
Each of these tasks requires you to play different functions. Sometimes one policy submission can have all three objectives!
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Knowing where the centre of gravity is, however, will help you take certain writing decisions that will affect the submission's tone, format, and ultimate purpose. ​
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Generative: ranges from factual observations to more open-ended possibilities.
Compiling: neutral coordinating tone, without much need for a singular voice.
Synthesizing: this is quite often the case with policy submissions, where a clear path of action needs to be recommended, taking into account the many viewpoints from your gathering phase.
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Consultations are often a critical part of this gathering phase. This can range from within MDDI, to our stat boards, or other government agencies. It can also involve consulting with the private sector, or with members of the public. The wider your range of stakeholders, the more time you will need to gather their views. This process can sometimes be quite iterative, since you might need to refine your proposals with new evidence or feedback.
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Cook
So you've gathered your ingredients, and you have the recipe in your head! It's time to start cooking!
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In general, policy submissions take on the following structure:
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Aim
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Establishing purpose ​
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Background
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Providing context to the issue at hand ​
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Body
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Information: relevant facts and details
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Considerations: what is guiding one's decision-making
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Implementation details: including costs
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Argument: a clear POV on what actions need to be taken after reading​
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Conclusion
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For Information / For Discussion / For Approval
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Annexes
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Supporting documents to back up your arguments in the body
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But before you start putting it all together, ask yourself:
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Do you have the latest context? (This sometimes changes pretty quickly in the digital arena!)
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Have you assembled your argument, and what are you prioritising:
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Economic ​
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Social
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Security
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International positioning
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Political
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Technical merits (important, but never primary!)
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Have you considered opposing perspectives and factored in ways to mitigate those concerns?
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Have you achieved the right level of detail, depending on your audience?
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Do you provided a clear point of view, which can be summarized by someone reading it for the first time, into one or two sentences? ​
As Mr Lee Kuan Yew famously said, "Write so simply that any other officer who knows nothing of the subject can still understand you."
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Remember, no one likes a confused dish!​
No matter which division you come from (and hence your starting point), we cannot stress enough how important it is to strike the right balance amongst competing goals, which often crop up in digital policy debates. Digital adoption cannot happen all at once; nor can digital security be upheld at all cost, lest we lose our innovative capacity. Sometimes it's a question of timeliness too, whether the issue at hand demands urgent attending to, or has to cede to something else for the time being. A persuasive submission will assure the reader that the right balance has been found, with clear next steps for action.
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Striking this balance is often easier said than done. This alignment is however necessary if you plan on having your recommendations adopted. Don't just rely on words on a page - make the effort to reach out in person or connect through other mediums of communication - and give people sufficient time to come around. When you seek to understand, compromise or consensus can be more easily found.
Serve
Before you hit send, have you made sure of the following:
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Your "guests": who's in your mailing list, and do you have everyone necessary to reach a decision?
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"Taste test": have you let anyone else review your work and have you taken in any useful suggestions?
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"Appetites": what are the readers expecting from you, and will this delight or trouble their palates? If it's the latter, do you need to prime them in advance?
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"Not too hot, not too cold": is this submission arriving in time for good decisions to be made?
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Executed well, you should not be surprised by the possible reactions. Some submissions are meant to generate further debate (See the point above on submissions meant For Discussion); most are usually meant to lead to concurrence (For Approval). It's important to know when you're doing what. If you're not getting the reaction you're expecting, go through the checklist again to see if you've missed out on anything.
Just like a good meal, there is nothing as satisfying as having prepared and consumed a clearly written submission!
We hope this guide helps you to think through the basics of Policy Writing!
Check out our online classes at Learn.gov.sg
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