Strategy, planning and scheduling

This week's reading has shown me two things:

The first, public relations strategy and planning is vital for effective management of organizations.

The second, in order to be an efficient and useful PR practitioner in a company, you have to be proactive and organized.

To make an organization successful, it must have a direction and a goal to push itself forward. Initially, I believed that the vision and mission statements of a company are formulated by the CEO and upper managerial positions. I never knew or even linked the role of a PR representative within these areas. So, today I learnt that communication programs conducted by the PR department are involved in supporting the organizations strategy and plan to reach their goal. How? Action plans and tools like annual newsletters and conferences are used to maintain direction and focus within the company.

The readings made me think about the role of PR personnel at a more managerial level instead of the 'technical' level.

I really enjoyed reading the study done by the IABC on the PR department. I think that PR practices in Singapore is considered unimportant and more of a luxury than a necessity. It surprised me to read about PR being a highly valued asset in an organization and the idea that communication excellence was determined by strategic manager expertise.

This new relevance given to PR practitioners in organizations has also brought something else to light. In order to be part of strategic planning, an understanding of business is necessary. So, all of you interested in pursuing public relations as a career, expand your knowledge! 

A public relations strategic plan involves so many components and questions to address. A proper plan can never be formulated or be effective if its not organized. Information like the time frames, possible problems that could arise, solutions to those problems, checklists and charts, budget and many other things all aim to ensure that mistakes will not be made and the organization is always prepared if a situation arises. 

This really made me think about how important it is to look ahead and anticipate what the company will face in the future. Having a plan B is really important and this can only be achieved through strategic planning, organization and proactivity that can be controlled by the PR practitioners.

Plan plan plan......