I found the readings this week some what challenging in that they did not follow directly on from last week’s chapter, however, they have been no less useful in explaining how the practice of the mysterious Public Relations industry operates.
One of the most obvious points made by the readings in my opinion was one of reputation. Since PR is such a heavily reputation-driven industry when the readings mentioned that you must be willing to bet your own reputation on your client I made immediate note. As if PR practitioners don’t have a bad enough name already they also have to watch where they place their reputations. If a business fails in its attempts to repair its reputation or fails to disclose or change practices that have led to a negative reputation the PR practitioner involved may also lose their reputation and good name as a result.
The readings centered on strategy and planning. Two concepts that are different in themselves but go hand-in-hand. One cannot be performed without the other, a kind of a double act if you will. Strategy is, according to the readings, “about formulating a guiding idea and considered intent that responds to the needs of an organization” (p. 171). Where as the readings defines planning as being about “developing a carefully sequenced series of actions to progress and assess the strategy” (p.171).
With the definitions out of the way, the readings get down to the nitty gritty of both sides of the topic starting with strategy. In this section the most valuable thing I came away with was the slightly altered version of Mintzberg’s ‘Five P’s’. These include: Perspective (through research determine the client’s perspective on the world); Position (in relation to al markets and publics); Purpose (includes over-riding goal of PR activity); Process (how you are going to achieve your goals through every PR action) and; Pattern (making sure that everything that is being done is getting you closer to the goal that has been set and adheres to the client’s values).
In the planning section of the readings there are pages and pages of different forms of planning and different charts for different aspects of the planning process but the easiest by far to remember and the part I found to be most important was the except from Time Management for Dummies (Mayer 1995) which shows the importance of basic time management and organisational skills. Without the use of these none of the other fancy charts and systems are useful. As a PR practitioner time management and communication about your time is one of the most crucial aspects of the job.
Ciao,
Kobe.
Readings: Tilley, E. (2009) Strategy and Planning. In J. Johnston & C. Zawawi (Eds.), Public Relations: Theory and Practice (pp. 171-205). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.
Firstly, i like your use of pictures!
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I think you summarised quite well, all the key aspects of this week's readings and i also found the points you mentioned the most beneficial and important, although i didn't think too much into the issue of reputation in this chapter as you may have, i'm not sure where reputation comes into it in regard to strategies and planning.
Overall i was pretty impressed Kobe.
=)
Hi Heather!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback. As for where reputation comes into strategy and planning I think that without a strong basis in those areas any reputation building activities would promptly turn into a three ring circus. To achieve a good reputation for you and your client you need to be able to plan what you are going to do.
Cheers,
Kobe.