Week 3

I think the two key points to remember from this week’s readings are the significance of having a sound public relations plan and to always familiarize yourself with the very well-known S.M.A.R.T. goals and S.W.O.T. analysis, those catchy buggers.

The chapter’s readings broke down the stages of strategic process in public relations, in which they consist of:
- Creation of organisational vision and mission statements
- Creation of public relations vision and mission statements
- Establishment of performance indicators
- Budgeting
- Writing of a strategic public relations plan
- Scheduling of public relations plan activities

The readings made me think more about public relations practice in that it is very appropriate that the first stage mentioned directly involves the organisation itself, as before you can make a change outside and influence the mind of others, you have to change within first, before anything else.
Long gone are the days of simple-minded business people, instead us public relations practitioners have to drill into their heads that we are an independent group and thus need to operate and participate with the decision-making process. This ensures that we have a say in shaping the development of the strategic plan, which by the end of it all, then ensures that we are communicating to our publics effectively.

The process of actually building the framework of the strategic plan starts on a crucial base, as you have to first define your organisation’s reason for existing. Many questions can be brought up, such as ‘What do we stand for?’ or ‘How do others see us?’, and these can be answered by defining what are the organisation’s vision and mission statements.
I know it sounds really cute to have such things, but having a vision statement describes the future state of the organisation at a selected time. Management can determine the best direction to take, and then compare the organisation’s current position and its ultimate destination, and then formulate a way to close the gap between the two.
The mission statement is then formulated to help close the gap, with broad practical steps for reaching the vision.

Moving on and without going into too much detail on the S.M.A.R.T. goals and S.W.O.T. analysis, they are a detrimental guide for any company or practice to use since it helps you to define goals and analyze the position of your company or plan.

S – Specific; have a specific goal, usually involving the 6Ws
M – Measurable; so you can stay on track and measure progress on reaching your goal
A – Attainable; be realistic with your goal
R – Realistic; you don’t want to create some super mega awesome goal which is simply impossible to achieve within a timeframe
T – Timely; having a timeframe gives a sense of urgency and purpose to the goal

S – Strengths of the company
W – Weaknesses of the company
O – Opportunities that the company can take advantage of to successfully carry out their plan
T – Threats that might ruin your good plan