Understanding the P R PROCESS

PUBLIC RELATIONS PROCESS

Public Relations is a powerful tool and should not be underestimated. A carefully planned and well executed communication strategy can make a substantial difference to an organisation's success.  

P R Process is a plan which pre-determines activity to achieve a desired result. It links research data to an activity in order to attain desired goals and objectives. In short, it’s the roadmap to get you where you want to be.

P R Process comprises the following steps;
A. Fact Finding
B. Planning
C. Communication
D. Evaluation
E. Research

Lets’ understand the importance of each of the above steps in P R Process.

A. FACT FINDING

Fact finding exercise is an important element of communication plan of any organisation. One doesn’t carry out a fact finding exercise by just issuing a press release or by advertisement. The PROS has to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation by doing SWOT analysis of the organisation she/ he work for. After joining an organisation as PR Officer or Manager, she / he must understand the corporate objectives of the organisation, know its various publics-their attitudes and define the PR objectives in specific terms. She/he should also study ongoing CRM / ERM activities of the organisation and do a research based fact finding exercise to convince the management that what PR does is basically a management function. 

B. PLANNING

Following are the reasons for planning a P R program;

1. To set targets for P R activities against which results can be assessed.

2. To estimate cost and man-hours involved.

3. To select priorities to control the number and timing of different P R activities

4. To decide the feasibility of carrying out the declared objectives according to availability of resources which are; sufficient man power of right caliber, adequate physical equipments, and sufficient budget.

A widely accepted six point P R Planning Model by PROS is as under;

1. Appreciation of the situation

2. Defining objectives to be achieved 

3. Defining the publics to be reached

4. Finalising the communication plan, deciding the media & the appropriate media mix

5. Budget (including man hours involved)

6. Assessment of results i.e. research technique(s) to evaluate the results 

C. COMMUNICATION

In PR every communication is purposeful. There is always some objective that is to be achieved through communication. Also every communication is meaningful too, because there is some intention behind every communication. An organisation communicates with different public with different objectives in mind. Some of the objectives are as under;

1. To disseminate information

2. To foster change

3. To facilitate suitable attitudes

4. To motivate people

5. To instruct or educate people

6. To prevent spreading of misinformation or rumors etc.

7. To negotiate or resolve conflicts

D. EVALUATION 

Evaluation of any P R program is based on the following;

1. To assess whether the MESSAGE has been carried out as planned.

2. How far the P R OBJECTIVES has been achieved.

3. What is the Cost Benefit and Cost Effectiveness of the P R Program.

4. How this P R Program helped us in improving our ability to design and implement future communication programs more effectively.

E. RESEARCH

Since P R is a deliberate, planned and sustained activity, research is the very essence of any successful P R program. In-depth study of past PR programs, if any, help us to get benefit of success or failure of past PR programs. Before doing any research comes fact finding i.e. statistical data which is necessary to employ the techniques of Motivation Research, Opinion Research and Market Research. 

Thank you for reading :)

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