New Year. New Term. Same Challenge

2012 has arrived in no time at all. This may not be the case for everyone, but for me 2011 has felt like a whirlwind. I finished my first year at university and started another, left one job and started another and adapted to the yo-yo lifestyle that is living away, to living back at home.The New Year is always a time to make new resolutions, start afresh and reflect on the year that has just been. For those still in education, it always brings 3 weeks of well deserved rest from exams, essay deadlines and the bank balance.

However although there is nothing due in those 3 weeks, there is plenty to reflect on and plenty pending to be thinking about. One clear example is our current task for Managing Public Relations.Considering the brief presented to us back in November, we are expected to implement a PR crisis management strategy for ‘Carry On Events’ (our peers’ fictional company). Our major hurdle is if we will channel their vision and interpret the information given in the right way.

This then leads onto the question of communication. How clear must instructions be and is information always received in the same way it is sent? Shannon & Weaver’s Model of Communication explains further.

As with any form of media, noise can still be created. Steve Fournier explains “Transmitting a signal across additional media only adds to the complexity of the communication and increases the chance for distortion.”

Communication over the years has been made easier with the increase in technology and social media. It has allowed us to connect both socially and professionally on an instant, online basis. PR practitioners such as ‘Lava PR’ and journalists have fully utilised this in order to communicate with their publics. This fast paced method has proven effective but needs to be approached with the same caution as traditional methods.

Despite these increased methods of communication, there is always more of an element of clarity when discussing an issue face to face. This is an issue we came across over the Christmas break when organising our pitch for ‘Carry On Events’. It became apparent due to the distance between us, work and clashing social calendars that the bulk of our ideas would need to be prepared once back at University. Luckily, our personalities (linked back to our Belbin Test results) - allow us to organise suitable time to gather all ideas and put our pitch into motion. 

Communication is a method of control. It is important within PR, whether in-house PR is present or an agency is the main concern. With an agency more care and though needs to be taken in order to accurately portray the image of your company. As someone who knows exactly what they like, I would need to make sure I communicated my vision accurately in order to gain the desired effect from my chosen consultancy firm.

Communication is linked with reputation, whether this is within the workplace or socially. Misunderstanding can lead to consequences beyond our control and noise is inevitable. As a PR practitioner it is important to understand the receiver in order to construct a suitable message to send via the appropriate channel in order to better the chances of understanding between both parties.

The same applies in any situation. I can only hope you’ve received this blog as I intended to the send it!

Over and Out

Rhi x