GenAI Change Management: A Starter Kit for Chiefs of Staff
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Purpose of this Kit
This starter kit is designed for House and Senate chiefs of 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 Member-led control. Every congressional office is different—this guide is meant to support and recommend, not prescribe.
We recognize the realities of Capitol Hill: limited time, varying comfort levels with new technology, and high stakes in the public eye while serving the people of your district. This kit is structured to help chiefs of staff make informed, intentional decisions about how to lead their staff as they learn about using GenAI tools in ways that support the Member and improve service to constituents.
Roadmap to GenAI Familiarity & Use
A phased approach to follow according to your office’s own pace.
Phase 1: Build Your Knowledge as Chief of Staff
Review institutional guidance. This can be found by contacting House Information Resources (HIR) or the Senate Sergeant at Arms (SSA).
Gain access to institutionally approved tools and begin experimenting with them. Follow guidance by HIR or SSA to attain subscriptions/licences to institutionally approved Large Language Models (LLMs) such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT+, Anthropic’s Claude, or Google’s Gemini.
Review training, explore resources, and discover use cases. Resources such as Sample AI Prompts for Congressional Staffers, Claude for Legislatures: A Training Resource for Legislative Staff, and Creating and Using Custom GPTs 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 official 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 a chief of staff for a Member of the US Congress 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 free (or paid) versions of the LLMs at home to further explore their capabilities and use cases. Ask an LLM for recipe recommendations, workout routine schedules, strategies to improve your finances, tips for training your dog…anything!
Phase 2: Build a Strategy for Your Team
Define the Member’s Buy-in and Prepare Your Office for Structured Experimentation.
Clearly define the Member’s guidance for GenAI use within the office. Each Member 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 staff 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 in your staff meetings 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 and may assist in the continual development of your office’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 Congressional workforce in understanding how it can be used to augment House and Senate workflows. In this dynamic environment, innovation is key to success but it’s essential to mitigate risk by establishing transparent guardrails to protect the Member, staff, and constituents you serve. Reviewing the institution’s guidance regularly and revisiting your office’s specific guidance to ensure it continually aligns with your Member’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 legislative correspondent is using an LLM to draft a form letter, 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 Member’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 staffer initiated to match the Member’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 Member’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 Congress. The goal of using GenAI tools is to boost Congressional capacity by strengthening the operations and efficiency of your team in service to your constituents. It is not to replace the Congressional 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 chief of staff, you are not alone. Reach out to others to learn about the approach they are taking 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 the First Branch.
Have additional questions or feedback on this resource? Reach out to us at info@popvox.org.
This guide was developed by POPVOX Foundation to support Congressional 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
