GenAI Change Management: A Starter Kit for Parliamentary Offices

Feb 3

Purpose of this Kit

This starter kit is designed for Parliamentarians and their staff undertaking thoughtful introduction and integration of institutionally approved generative AI (GenAI) tools into their office’s operations. The approach is grounded in flexibility, staff development, and MP-led control. Every office is different — this guide is meant to support and recommend, not prescribe.

We recognize the realities of meeting the modern demands of serving as an elected official: limited time, varying comfort levels with new technology, and high stakes in the public eye while serving the people of your district or region. This kit is structured to help MPs and staff make informed, intentional decisions about how to lead their office as they learn about using GenAI tools in ways that support the MP and improve service to constituents.

Roadmap to GenAI Familiarity and Use

A phased approach to follow according to your office’s own pace.

Phase 1: Build Your Knowledge as the MP or Senior Staffer

Review institutional guidance. Explore if your institution has issued official guidance regarding use of GenAI tools. If so, familiarize yourself with these rules.

If your institution has issued guidance, gain access to approved tools and begin experimenting with them. Follow your institution’s guidance to attain subscriptions/licences to institutionally-approved Large Language Models (LLMs). Paid subscription accounts come with additional data security features that should remain enabled.

If your institution has not issued guidance but you have the authority to begin use of GenAI tools, it is a best practice to use a paid-subscription version of the tool for choice. Paid subscription accounts come with additional data security features that should remain enabled.
Review training, explore resources, and discover use cases. Resources such as Harnessing AI to Master a New Policy Topic, Creating and Using Custom GPTs, and our AI Starter Kit can spark your imagination of what these tools can be used for.

Tip #1: Brainstorm use cases with help of an LLM. Once you gain access to an LLM, one of your first queries can be focused on how it can help you in your role. Try out the prompt:

“I’m [an MP or a staff member] for an elected official of [your institution's name] and am new to using GenAI. Please provide me with a list of use cases for how I can utilize you (the LLM) and include two sample prompts per use case.”

Tip #2: In your personal time, use a personal account on the LLMs at home to further explore their capabilities and use cases. Ask an LLM for recipe recommendations, strategies to improve your finances, tips for time management or trying a new hobby…anything!

Phase 2: Build a Strategy for Your Team

Define the MP’s Buy-in and Prepare Your Office for Structured Experimentation.

Clearly define the MP’s guidance for GenAI use within the office. Each MP is at a unique place and comfort level of understanding this technology and its applicability in a professional setting. It’s essential to have clear communication and transparency among your office’s leadership team regarding what guidelines should be set to lead your team’s successful integration of this emerging technology.
Create an initial GenAI Use Policy for your team. Clear instructions are key to encouraging safe and responsible innovation by your team. By providing an additional guidance document to supplement the policies set by your institution, your staff and interns can begin using GenAI tools with confidence, knowing they are staying within set boundaries.

Tip: See a sample GenAI Use Policy here.
Consider formalizing routine GenAI learning sessions. The two best ways for individuals to learn the capabilities of GenAI tools are to start using them and to learn from their peers’ use cases. Consider setting aside ten minutes with your staff or colleagues for individuals to share how they are integrating GenAI into a workflow, lessons learned, and potential related use cases. This routine check-in can act as a transparency measure for you to stay informed of use cases across your team or institution and may assist in the continual development of your office’s or broader institution’s GenAI Use Policy.

Phase 3: Remain in Control

Routinely revisit your office’s GenAI Use Policy. Artificial intelligence is an emerging technology with evolving capabilities. Your team is at the forefront of the parliamentary workforce in understanding how it can be used to augment institutional workflows. In this dynamic environment, innovation is key to success but it's essential to mitigate risk by establishing transparent guardrails to protect MPs, staff, and the constituents you serve. Reviewing the institution’s guidance regularly and revisiting your office’s specific guidance to ensure it continually aligns with the MP’s values and comfort level is important.

Tip: Whenever your internal GenAI Use Policy is updated, ensure your employee onboarding documents and intern training resources are also kept up to date.
Build out transparency best practices. For junior staff, use of these tools may already be second nature. Yet, as the staff on the frontlines of corresponding with constituents, their use of GenAI tools may be the most anxiety-inducing for you and other senior staff. Mitigate risks and support the professional growth of your junior staff by implementing transparency best practices around their use of GenAI. For example:

For Content Creation: If a staff member is using an LLM to draft a letter to constituents, have them copy and paste the LLM-created draft into a Word document and use “track changes” to create a record of how the staffer further edits the letter to customize it for the MP’s voice, policy position, or tone. When submitting the form letter for your review, have the staffer submit both the red-lined version and the final version. This transparency practice has a number of benefits. It provides you with awareness of what content was AI-generated as well as what customization the staff member initiated to match the MP’s position.
Have an open door policy. Be clear about your desire for staff to be using this technology and that you want to hear about it. Have an open door policy to encourage staff to share what worked and didn’t work, and give them opportunities to showcase innovative use cases.

For Additional Consideration

Practice what you preach. Set your own usage goals and challenge yourself to continually explore how this emerging technology may improve your workflows. Encourage and inspire your staff by sharing how you are using these tools.
There is no one-size-fits-all, timeless model. Let your MP's voice and your team culture guide the approach, and recognize that your office’s approach will very likely need to change and adapt over time.
People are the heart of parliaments. The goal of using GenAI tools is to boost parliamentary capacity by strengthening the operations and efficiency of your team in service to your constituents. It is not to replace the parliamentary workforce, automate judgment, or support lazy staff work. Human review and agency should remain at the core of all your office’s functions.
Give your staff permission to try, reflect, and revise. The world is at the starting gate of understanding this technology. You and your team are not behind; you are innovators. Support your team during this exciting time and create space to allow for experimentation, failure, and shared learning. You set the culture of your office regarding use of this emerging technology.
As an MP or staff member exploring this new technology, you are not alone. Reach out to others to learn about the approach they are taking in their own education of these tools or with their teams. Additionally, outside organizations, thinktanks, civil society groups, and more stand ready to support you. We’re building this ecosystem together to future-proof parliaments.

This guide was developed by POPVOX Foundation to support parliamentarians and their staff in using AI tools responsibly and effectively.

About POPVOX Foundation

POPVOX Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonpartisan nonprofit organization with a mission to help democratic institutions keep pace with a rapidly changing world. Through publications, events, prototypes, and technical assistance, the organization helps public servants and elected officials better serve their constituents and make better policy.

Questions or feedback? Contact us at info@popvox.org

Aubrey Wilson