10 WAYS TO GET THE BOSS TO UNDERSTAND PR

The modern manager is overworked, time poor and everyone wants her attention.

So how do you get your boss to understand what you do and the important role that PR can play in your organization.

Here's 10 ways to get people to sit up and take notice:

• Make every interaction with the boss or the board a chance to educate, inform and sell the value of communication and your expertise.
  
  
• Don't be tolerated. Be valued. Sometimes it's ironic that the people "selling" the organisation, don't "sell" themselves. Continually talk about the value communications brings to your organisation.
  
  
• When you submit your annual budget or costings for an activity, don't ask people to commit to an act of blind faith or fond hope. Forecast the results you expect and how they will benefit your organisation.
  
  
• Most professional services run on a billable time basis. Be prepared to show how you spend your time and identify the results of your efforts.
  
  
• It's easy to typecast communicators as left brain, artsy types, so speak in management language. Talk in terms of outcomes and objectives, deliverables, target dates, prospects and sales.
  
  
• Managers want to be able to see what you're talking about at a glance. Use graphs, graphics and tables to present your information.
  
  
• Benchmark the best. Ask senior management which organizations they think communicate effectively and then find out why they succeed. If they do things better than you, learn from them. When you introduce new ideas tell people where they come from and how and why they have worked for others.
  
  
• Report early...report often. Provide one page, event-based reports as well as time-based reports. You are not writing a history book so keep reporting short, sharp and concise. End each report with a "where to next" section in dot point form.
  
  
• Comma jockeys and font fiends talk tactics. Good communicators talk strategy then they talk tactics. If your conversations get bogged down in the details, remind people who are they are trying to reach, what they are trying to say and how they will know when your PR succeeds?
  
  
• Get the facts n' stats that show how PR contributes to operations. Make it a point to collect testimonials that show your success. Make sure all levels of management get the opportunity to see these results.

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