Ministries and government agencies: Briefs that help the minister and management

The challenge

A ministry produces thousands of briefs a year – the Ministry of Education alone produces 4,000–5,000 ministerial briefs annually – and a senior manager often has 5–10 minutes to read one, frequently early in the morning or on the move. Briefs and recommendations must therefore be short, precise and written for the reader – without compromising on expertise.

Our approach

We always start with management. What makes a good brief in your organisation? What should a recommendation contain, and how should it be commissioned? Then we train staff to write to those criteria.

• Ministry of Employment: For four years we taught the ministry's 'Write well' course for the department, the Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment, the Danish Working Environment Authority and the National Research Centre for the Working Environment – built on the ministry's templates and the executive's style guide.
• Danish Health Data Authority: Interviews with senior management, a toolkit course for managers on commissioning and feedback, the two-day course 'Write better briefs and recommendations' and an advanced course with extra practice and feedback.
• Ministry of Education: Interviews with senior managers in the department and the National Agency for Education and Quality, followed by five full-day courses in case writing with follow-up.

The courses draw on research in writing processes, reader analysis and argumentation – and on each organisation's own templates.

The result

Staff write shorter and more precise briefs, management gets papers that are easier to decide on and the organisation gains a shared language for a good brief. At the Ministry of Education, participants wanted all colleagues and managers to attend – so everyone knows the same models.

‘The dialogue. Great engagement from both the trainer and the participants.’

– Participant, Ministry of Employment

We have also trained staff at the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Finance, the Agency for Governmental Administration, the Agency for Digital Government, the Danish Court Administration and the National Board of Social Services, among others.