The last eight plus weeks has challenged all of us to learn, adapt, live and work in a new way. That has been the same for the legislators that we work and interact with. As lobbyists, the MLC team interacts with numerous legislators daily– through committee hearings, legislative session, coffee, lunch, dinner, or a short conversation in a hallway, or a meeting in their office. Those traditional engagement opportunities have evaporated overnight.

Similarly, legislators engage with their constituents in different ways to maintain the pulse of their districts. Most legislators have regular coffee or “office” hours, in district meetings, townhalls, ribbon cuttings, door knocking for constituent engagement, and dozens of other opportunities. Like the changes in our day-to-day interactions, legislator’s engagement opportunities with constituents have also disappeared. It is ironic that legislators, who generally pride themselves on being available to the public, are now faced with the realization of being quarantined or severely limited to do what they do best: interacting in person with people.

As lobbyists, we have had to change how we communicate; my bedroom has turned into my office and my wife’s dresser has turned into a standing desk for me. In person meetings have transitioned into FaceTime calls. I was scheduled to FaceTime with a legislator earlier this week at 30 minutes before our scheduled time, I received a text that said – can we talk now, my young child is still up and when we are scheduled to call I’m going to be tied up trying to deal with nap time! As the father of young kids, I have deep appreciation for prioritizing nap time. However, through this process, I wanted to share a couple interesting anecdotes of both challenges and opportunities legislators are dealing with through this crisis.

• Crisis Fosters Relationships

In times of prosperity, individuals and business do not need the same type of assistance that we are seeing now. Since March there has been nearly 70 executive orders issued by Governor Whitmer, millions of people filing for unemployment, and thousands of legitimate questions in need of real answers. This crisis has allowed legislators to engage, interact, and help constituents in ways that weren’t necessary before the pandemic. One legislator mentioned the pandemic has made him more in tune with his district. Because more people are contacting him than ever before, he is building relationships with individuals and businesses that don’t normally interact or engage with politicians. He was confident this will help him be a better legislator for his district.

• Prioritize What Matters

I was scheduled for a FaceTime call on Friday with a legislator on an issue that was important, but didn’t need to happen that day. I had worked with his staff on getting the call on his schedule. 15 minutes before the call, he texted me asking if we could push our conversation back to Monday. In the past 24 hours, he had received hundreds of calls and e-mails from constituents needing assistance with Michigan’s unemployment insurance agency. These were real people in his community that needed help to buy groceries and make the months’ rent payments. This pandemic has really focused legislators and legislative staff to prioritize what is important – helping residents.

• Life is not always about efficiency and outcomes

People need to feel like they are being listened to and heard. Legislators are busy people with time constraints. That can also lead to efficiency being key – I have 7 minutes, summarize the issue, tell me what you are looking for, and what you are asking me to do. With the unique circumstances we are in, efficiency has been challenged. Crying kids, dogs barking, and cats jumping on laps are par for the course in the day-to-day communication that is taking place. Sometimes it’s okay to sacrifice efficiency for the human moments we are all dealing with daily.

Michigan Legislative Consultants is a bipartisan lobbying firm based in Lansing, Michigan. Our team of lobbyists and procurement specialists provide a wide range of services for some of the most respected companies in America. For more on MLC, visit www.mlcmi.com or connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.