In my experiences at the Urban Institute, where I sit across both research and communications departments, I see the tension that sometimes arises between the two camps with both complaining that the other doesn’t understand or respect their work. I spend a lot of time on this blog and elsewhere trying to help researchers understand the complexities and value of working with communications experts. But today, I want to share a list of six things I think communications experts should be aware of when working with researchers. Obviously, this list is biased by my experiences at Urban and working with similar organizations, but I hope it will be helpful to those who are trying to build strong research-communications teams.
- Respect the funding pressures. While many researchers’ salaries are “guaranteed,” it is only guaranteed to the extent that they bring in outside funding. This funding pressure means researchers may have to create products that aren’t the flashiest or that they don’t have funds to engage in in-depth communications products or efforts. Funding pressures may also mean that the researcher doesn’t have full control over the final products—some funders just want a full report, while others want some kind of data dashboard (which may be ill-advised in the first place). But in any case, the pressures are real and affect what kinds of research people can do and what kinds of products they can produce.
- Respect the research responsibilities. For better or worse, the researcher’s name is on the final product at the end of day. It would be great if everyone on the communications team was listed as a partner, but ultimately, the researcher has to answer to the media, other researchers, and critiques. Putting your name on a research project links you to that project forever, so if it gets delayed because the researcher or research team is quadruple-checking the numbers, remember that it is their name and reputation that will be out in the world.
- Some people don’t want to be famous. As much as we may want our work and our organization’s work to have a huge impact, some researchers are simply not comfortable talking to the press. I used to believe this was bollocks—journalists are not there to “get ya.” But in our hyper-partisan world, I’m not longer so sure. In my experience, many researchers are introverts who just want to do good work and hope it makes a difference. I know this preference decreases the odds that their work gets picked up, but communications experts should respect that not everyone wants their name in the Washington Post.
- Recognize the lack of knowledge. It’s human nature to be hesitant about things we don’t understand. As a communications expert, recognize that not everyone has your skills. Not everyone knows how to produce an effective headline or a strategic communications strategy. When you come to a researcher or research team exasperated that they don’t understand why you’re bothering them for an abstract, quote, tweet, or blog post, recognize that some of the push-back may stem from not knowing about these areas and may be hesitant to engage.
- Confirm multiple channels. Lots of researchers think that every subtlety, nuance, and detail of their data or research are equally important. Obviously, that isn’t true, but it’s your job to help them understand that the blog post or tweet or media interview won’t downplay the research, instead it can drive people to the research. The communications efforts don’t stand on their own, but build on a pyramid rooted in the in-depth, sophisticated research.
- Understand the research culture. It’s worth recognizing that many researchers—especially those with advanced degrees—have gone through a graduate education process that rarely values additional communication efforts. Blog posts, op-eds, viral tweets are typically not (or ever?) valued in tenure decisions or PhD defenses. Social science research (that’s really all I can comment on) has a culture that the researcher should focus on the model and the paper, with reaching a wider audience someone else’s job. Changing that mindset is not easy to do. Whether it’s in your specific organization or elsewhere, we are not yet at the point where research communication is respected as a huge value-add.
Although I don’t think I’ve presented the answers here, I’ve been on both sides of the research-communications discussion long enough to see where breakdowns in collaboration efforts occur. Researchers have their own, often unfair, criticisms of communications specialists (which I may write about at a future date), but I hope these points give those specialists an idea of the pressures and constraints researchers feel.
