Reseña en inglés.

Perhaps the need for clear communication between the public sector and citizens is never more evident than in times of global crisis.

In times such as this.

Modern communication mechanisms evolve so rapidly that they can leave governments, agencies, authorities and organisations struggling to keep up. Every few months there seems to be a new favourite method for getting the message across. To complicate things even further we have a general public that is now much more connected than ever before, and has increased expectations. A public that can easily voice its opinions, with the means to amplify its dissatisfaction.

How can governments address these issues? How can they bridge the gap between government and an engaged yet distant audience, and future-proof themselves in an ever-changing environment? That is the topic tackled by Vilma Luoma-aho and María José Canel in their book Public Sector Communication: Closing Gaps Between Citizens and Public Organizations. 

The strength of this book lies in its clarity. It clearly highlights some of the gaps between the public sector and citizens, and how the role of the citizen has changed. The authors explain that the barrier between citizen and organisation has both diminished and been reinforced. It has never been easier for citizens to contact organisations, whilst at the same time huge swathes of the population feel barred from greater involvement.

The book promotes the idea of ‘antifragile’ communication – a means of making organisations strong enough to prosper in an uncertain, and at times unstable, environment.

«When relationships with citizens and stakeholders become stronger, unpredictable changes pose less of a threat to organizations».

It offers a five‑step solution for how to achieve this:

Step 1: Moving from ‘humans as resources’ to employee engagement.

Step 2: Moving from strategies to cultivating a strong internal culture.

Step 3: Moving from messages to listening.

Step 4: Moving from attention to interaction.

Step 5: Moving from reputation management to expectation management.

During this global pandemic, public sector organisations should be asking questions such as: How should public sector organisations consider and plan their communications? How should they establish relationships with their stakeholders?

This book can help address those issues. It is available as an e-book to Council Library users, and can be accessed via our online catalogue Eureka.

This book review does not necessarily represent the positions, policies, or opinions of the Council of the European Union or the European Council.

 

Fuente: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/documents-publications/library/library-blog/posts/public-sector-communication-closing-gaps-between-citizens-and-public-organizations/?utm_source=dsms-auto&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=%27Public+sector+communication%3a+closing+gaps+between+citizens+and+public+organizations%27+by+Mari%cc%81a+Jose%cc%81+Canel+and+Vilma+Luoma-aho