Communicating and Influencing Example: Civil Service Answers That Score
What the behaviour actually means
Communicating and Influencing is one of the nine Civil Service behaviours assessed under Success Profiles [2]. At every grade, it asks you to show more than just 'good communication skills'. Assessors want evidence that you thought about your audience, adapted your approach, and used communication to move something forward — a decision, a policy, a relationship, a change.
The official behaviour framework sets out what good looks like at each level [1]. As you move up the grades, the expectations shift:
| Grade | What assessors focus on |
|---|---|
| AA / AO | Clear, polite communication; listening; adapting tone for different people |
| EO | Explaining information accurately; handling questions; influencing colleagues |
| HEO / SEO | Tailoring messages to different audiences; managing pushback; building buy-in |
| Grade 6 / 7 | Communicating complex issues simply; influencing senior stakeholders; handling competing interests |
| SCS | Strategic communication; shaping narratives; influencing across government |
Whatever grade you are applying for, your example needs to show the behaviour at that level. An AO example about updating a team noticeboard will not score at Grade 7. A Grade 7 example about a cross-government consultation will not fit an AO application. Match the scale of your story to the seniority of the role.
Read the job advert carefully. The person specification will list the grade-level indicators for this behaviour [2]. Use those exact indicators as a checklist when you choose and shape your example.
What good looks like in a communicating and influencing example
Before the worked examples, here is what separates a scoring answer from a mediocre one.
- You, not the team. Use 'I' not 'we'. Assessors score your actions, not your team's.
- Audience awareness. Name who you were communicating with and explain why you chose the approach you did for them specifically.
- Adaptation. Show that you changed something — your language, your channel, your framing — based on the audience or the response you got.
- Handling resistance. The strongest examples include a moment where someone pushed back and you responded constructively rather than bulldozing or backing down.
- A concrete outcome. What changed because of your communication? A decision made, a policy approved, a team aligned, a complaint resolved.
- Proportionate action. The action section carries most of the marks. Situation and task set the scene; result closes it. Keep context tight so your actions have room to breathe.
See also the STAR method civil service guide for a full walkthrough of how to structure any behavioural answer.
Four communicating and influencing example answers (illustrative)
The examples below are illustrative. They are written to show the behaviour at different grades and contexts. Use them as models for structuring your own real experience, not as answers to copy.
Example 1 — Administrative Officer (AO): Explaining a policy change to the public
- Situation
- A change to eligibility criteria for a government grant scheme meant that a significant number of existing applicants needed to be told their applications would be reassessed. The team had one week to contact all affected individuals before the new rules took effect.
- Task
- I was responsible for drafting the letters and emails that would go to affected applicants, and for handling incoming calls from people who had questions or complaints about the change.
- Action
- I read the policy guidance carefully and identified the three questions applicants were most likely to ask: whether they would lose money already paid, what the new criteria were, and what they should do next. I drafted a plain-English letter that answered all three questions upfront, without jargon, and included a clear next step at the end. I showed the draft to a colleague who had no background in the scheme and asked her to flag anything confusing. I revised two sections based on her feedback. When calls came in, I listened to each person's specific concern before explaining the change, rather than reading from a script. For callers who were upset, I acknowledged their frustration first, then walked them through the facts calmly.
- Result
- Call volumes were lower than the team had anticipated, which the team leader attributed to the clarity of the written communication. Complaints escalated to the manager were minimal. Several callers thanked me by name for explaining the situation clearly.
This works at AO level because it shows audience awareness (plain English, testing the draft on a colleague), active listening, and adapting tone for upset callers. The outcome is proportionate to the grade — reduced escalations, positive feedback — without overclaiming.
Example 2 — Higher Executive Officer (HEO): Securing buy-in from a sceptical team
- Situation
- I was leading the rollout of a new case management system in my team. Several experienced colleagues were resistant, feeling the new system would slow them down and had not been designed with frontline work in mind. Their concerns were affecting team morale and risked delaying the go-live date.
- Task
- I needed to bring the team on board without dismissing their concerns, and to communicate the reasons for the change in a way that felt honest rather than corporate.
- Action
- I arranged a team session and opened it by asking colleagues to list every concern they had about the new system. I wrote them on a whiteboard without comment. Once the list was complete, I went through each point honestly: some concerns I could address with training or workarounds, some I acknowledged were genuine limitations we would need to manage, and one I agreed to escalate to the project team as a legitimate usability issue. I then explained the business case in plain terms — not the official slide deck, but a straightforward explanation of why the old system was creating problems further down the process. I followed up individually with the two most resistant colleagues to check whether the session had addressed their concerns and to give them space to raise anything they had not wanted to say in the group.
- Result
- The team completed the transition on schedule. The usability issue I escalated was resolved before go-live. At a follow-up check-in a month later, the colleagues who had been most resistant told me the system was working better than they had expected.
This example works at HEO level because it shows two-way communication, not just broadcasting a message. Acknowledging genuine concerns honestly, rather than dismissing them, is exactly what the behaviour framework rewards. The individual follow-up shows sensitivity to different communication needs.
Example 3 — Senior Executive Officer (SEO): Influencing a decision with mixed stakeholder interests
- Situation
- My team was proposing a change to internal guidance that would affect three other teams with different priorities. One team supported the change, one was neutral, and one was actively opposed, arguing the change would create extra work for them without benefit.
- Task
- I needed to build enough support across all three teams to get the change approved at the next governance board, while addressing the opposing team's concerns substantively rather than just overriding them.
- Action
- I met separately with each team before the board meeting. In each conversation, I started by asking what their main concern or priority was, rather than presenting my case immediately. With the opposing team, I spent most of the meeting listening. Their core objection was that the new guidance would require them to update a process they had recently overhauled. I went back to my team and we agreed a six-month implementation delay for that specific process, which removed the main objection without undermining the policy intent. I then drafted a one-page summary for the board that set out the change, the concerns raised, and how each had been addressed. I kept the language factual and avoided framing the opposing team negatively.
- Result
- The board approved the change. The opposing team lead told me afterwards that the process had felt fair. The implementation delay I had negotiated was built into the final guidance.
The strength here is the negotiation and the honest board summary. Assessors at SEO level want to see that you can influence without steamrolling, and that you communicate with integrity — including representing others' views fairly in writing.
Example 4 — Grade 7: Communicating a complex policy change to external stakeholders
- Situation
- I was leading a policy team developing new guidance on data sharing between public sector bodies. The guidance had significant implications for local authorities, NHS trusts, and third-sector organisations, each of which had different legal frameworks, technical capabilities, and levels of familiarity with the policy area.
- Task
- I was responsible for designing and leading the external engagement process, ensuring that all three stakeholder groups understood the proposed changes, could respond meaningfully, and felt their concerns had been heard before the guidance was finalised.
- Action
- I began by mapping each stakeholder group's starting point: what they already knew, what their primary concern was likely to be, and what format of communication would work best for them. For local authorities, I ran structured workshops with pre-read materials that focused on implementation timelines and resource implications. For NHS trusts, I worked with a colleague who had clinical governance expertise to co-present, so that the technical legal content was framed in terms familiar to their governance teams. For third-sector organisations, I produced a plain-language summary that avoided public sector acronyms entirely and was tested with two organisations before wider distribution. When a group of local authorities raised a substantive concern about liability, I did not dismiss it or defer it. I acknowledged it in the session, committed to a written response within five working days, and delivered it. I also amended the draft guidance to address the concern directly, and wrote to all stakeholders explaining what had changed and why.
- Result
- The consultation response rate was higher than comparable exercises run by the team in previous years. Feedback from stakeholders described the process as transparent and well-managed. The guidance was published without significant challenge, and two stakeholder organisations cited the engagement process positively in their own communications.
At Grade 7, assessors expect you to show that you managed complexity across multiple audiences simultaneously, made judgements about how to adapt your approach for each, and handled substantive challenge with integrity. The written response to the liability concern, and the amendment to the guidance, show that the communication led to real change — not just information transfer.
Common mistakes that cost candidates marks
These are the patterns that appear most often in answers that do not score well.
- Using 'we' throughout. If the assessor cannot tell what you personally did, they cannot score you. Every action in your example needs to be something you chose and did.
- Describing the communication without explaining the thinking. Saying 'I sent an email to all stakeholders' tells the assessor nothing. Why that channel? Why that framing? What did you consider before sending it?
- Skipping the resistance. The most credible examples include a moment where someone disagreed, questioned, or pushed back. If your example has no friction, it may not demonstrate influencing at all — just informing.
- Overclaiming the outcome. 'The policy was a huge success' is not evidence. 'The board approved the proposal and the opposing team confirmed the process had felt fair' is evidence.
- Spending too long on context. If your situation and task take up half your word count, you have not left enough space to show what you actually did. Set the scene quickly, then get to your actions.
- Ignoring grade-level indicators. The Success Profiles framework describes the behaviour differently at each grade [1][2]. An answer that does not reflect the complexity expected at the grade you are applying for will not score, however well-written it is.
For more on structuring behavioural answers across all nine behaviours, see the civil service behaviours overview.
Choosing the right example matters as much as writing it well. Ask yourself: does this story show communication that changed something? If the answer is yes, you have the raw material for a strong answer.
How to choose your own communicating and influencing example
You may have several stories that could work. Here is how to pick the strongest one.
- Check the grade-level indicators. Read the job description and find the exact wording for this behaviour at this grade [2]. Your example needs to match those indicators, not a generic definition.
- Look for genuine influence. Did your communication change a decision, a position, or a plan? If so, it is likely to demonstrate influencing as well as communicating.
- Find the friction. The best examples have a moment of challenge, disagreement or complexity. If your story has none, consider whether there is a different example that does.
- Check your personal contribution. Can you describe your actions in the first person throughout? If the story only works as a 'we' story, look for a different example or find the part of the story that was yours alone.
- Test the result. Is the outcome specific and attributable to your communication? Vague outcomes ('things improved') are harder to score than specific ones ('the board approved the proposal').
If you are applying from outside the civil service, your example does not need to come from a government role. An example from the private sector, the NHS, a charity, or a voluntary role is valid as long as it demonstrates the behaviour at the right level [1]. Focus on what you did and why, not on explaining how your previous organisation worked.
See the making effective decisions example page and the delivering at pace example page for the same treatment of two other commonly assessed behaviours.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Civil Service Communicating and Influencing behaviour?
It is one of nine behaviours assessed under the Civil Service Success Profiles framework [2]. It asks you to show that you can explain complex information clearly, adapt your communication to different audiences, build trust, deliver difficult messages sensitively, and use communication to influence decisions or outcomes — not just to pass on information [1].
How long should a communicating and influencing example be?
For a written statement, most applications ask for 250 words. Keep your situation and task brief so your actions have room to breathe — the action section carries most of the marks. In an interview, aim for two to three minutes. Do not let context eat your word count.
Can I use an example from outside the civil service?
Yes. Assessors assess the behaviour, not the sector. An example from the private sector, the NHS, a charity or a voluntary role is valid as long as it demonstrates the behaviour at the right grade level [1]. Focus on what you did and why, not on explaining how your previous organisation worked.
What if my example involves a team effort?
Use it, but be specific about your personal contribution. Replace 'we decided' with 'I proposed' or 'I drafted'. If the communication was genuinely a team effort, describe the part you owned — the stakeholder group you managed, the document you wrote, the meeting you led.
How do I show influencing rather than just communicating?
Influencing means your communication changed something: a decision, a position, a plan, a relationship. Include a moment where someone held a different view and explain how you responded. Show that you listened, adapted, and moved things forward. If your example ends with 'I sent the update and everyone was happy', it probably shows communication but not influencing.
What is the difference between this behaviour at EO and Grade 7?
At EO, assessors want to see you explaining information clearly, handling questions and adapting your tone. At Grade 7, they expect you to manage complex stakeholder landscapes, communicate across organisational boundaries, handle substantive challenge, and use communication to secure agreement on difficult issues [1][2]. The scale, complexity and autonomy in your example need to match the grade.
Related guides
- Changing and Improving Example: Civil Service Worked Answers
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- Managing a Quality Service Example: Civil Service Worked Answers
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- Civil Service Personal Statement Example: How to Write One That Works
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- Civil Service Behaviours Examples: What They Are and How to Answer Them
Clear civil service behaviours examples for every grade, plus how to structure STAR answers that score well at application and interview. Free to read.
- STAR Method Civil Service: How to Structure Winning Answers
How to use the STAR method in civil service interviews and written applications. Practical steps, worked examples, and a pre-interview checklist.
- Seeing the Big Picture Example: Civil Service Worked Answers
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