Month: November 2020

Public relations are how a company interacts with the public, maintains ties to its community and gets important company information out to consumers and other interested parties. A small business needs to be adept in the practice of public relations and avoid looking to public relations practices only as means to react to a scandal. Practicing public relations means following basic principles that develop a positive reputation for your company in the marketplace.

Know your audience.

Establish a foundation that’s grounded in insights. Do your research and ensure that whatever products or services you support, actually fulfill a customer need. Will your customers be satisfied with what they’re being offered? If not, voice those concerns internally. Many times, PR practitioners can provide an ear closest to the customer, given their access to what press and analysts are hearing from end users. Use that knowledge to support the development of offerings that will truly delight the marketplace.

Deceit

Never deceive the public with any information you release. A lie will be uncovered and the resulting fallout from deceit can be worse than the issue you were trying to cover up. Present the facts in a way that sheds as much positive light on your company as possible.

Be humble.

Focus on your products, partners and customers. Worry about what you are doing that makes you great. Be proud, but don’t be boastful. Utilize partners and customers to tell your story. In fact, all of the messaging you create should be supported by a third party advocate who is willing to engage proactively with press on your behalf.

Contact Information

Every piece of public relations material that comes from your company should have contact information that includes a contact name, phone number, email address and mailing address. Give the public a chance to follow up on the information you released and the media a chance to present further information if they find the story interesting.

Target Information

Using a press release distribution service can cost money and make the process of getting information out to the public an expensive proposition. Prior to releasing information, target the audiences that you feel would have the greatest interest in your press release or marketing data.

Photographs

A well-written press release can help the public understand the point you are trying to make. Including a pertinent picture with your press release can give the public a visual image that will either add emphasis to your message, or clarify any potential confusion that your message may cause.

Media Relations

A public relations professional’s best allies are journalists. Good media relations will not only get your press releases printed in spots where the public will see them, they can also result in personal interviews that will gain your company even more exposure.

Have a call to action.

Think about the actions you want people to take so you can maintain a relationship. This can come in the form of a pointer that brings the reader back to your website.

Tools

Understand all of the public relations tools at your disposal and know how to use them. Press releases, speeches, personal interviews, seminars, web broadcasts and direct mail pieces are just some of the tools a public relations professional can use to reach the target audience.

Timing

Some public relations pieces can be scheduled for release well in advance. For example, the announcement of a new product is something a public relations professional can coordinate with the marketing group to get the timing right. But a public relations group should also be prepared to release important information on a moment’s notice to coincide with a scandal or corporate emergency.

Availability

Reporters cannot confirm information in time to make print deadlines if you are not available at all times. Availability is critical for a public relations professional, and that means giving all of your contact information to the media and remaining on call at all times.

Stay Active

Your company should not wait for moments to present public relations materials. You should remain active in finding new ways to get information to the consumer or media. Make yourself available for speeches and seminars, and become an active member in professional and civic organizations.

Fact Checking

Never release information until it has been thoroughly checked for accuracy. Develop a fact-checking system for press releases and all public relations materials that will get the information to all pertinent parties to sign off on before it is made public.

Require the requirements.

Every plan must meet a set of requirements (data, partners, launch dates etc.). If the requirements aren’t met, that becomes your ultimate “go/no go” filter. PR practitioners often find themselves in a position where they are the ones to decide how, when and where a news announcement takes place. Your requirements become your rules of engagement, giving you the confidence, you need to know your plan is sound.

Proper crisis communication in the workplace can help you:

• Protect your employees and other stakeholders during a crisis
• Build trust in the workplace
• Prevent the spread of misinformation in the workplace
• Prevent panic and help employees feel secure
• Prevent the threat a crisis may have on the organization’s strategic objectives, reputation and viability.
• Align employees with the overall crisis management strategy and enable them to work towards the same goals
• Align the internal and external messages
• Keep customers loyal
• Keep the reputation of being an attractive employer

Communicating during a crisis is one of the most important elements of a workplace disaster. It is critical to communicate effectively with the internal staff, as well as with clients and also with media.

First and foremost is to set up multiple means of communication using text messages and e-mail, and the latest being Whatsapp groups. Social media platforms can also be of great help. Set up a Facebook page, where employees can check to get information and can also have two-way interactive communication.

Precise, timely and relevant information is critical during any crisis and emergency. It is suggested that crisis communication should be an integral part of an effective communications plan. All businesses should have a crisis communication plan to ensure that accurate information is provided during an emergency to minimize problems caused by misleading communications.

A good communications plan indicates that you care about your employees and for your customers.

An internal crisis communication goal should be to provide timely, accurate, and clear information to prevent inaccuracies and rumours. To achieve this, message templates must be kept ready all the time to save time and energy. This can prevent a lot of errors which might occur after an actual emergency has taken place.

It is important to set up a post-disaster communications schedule. The most critical information should be released as soon as possible. Once the situation stabilizes, it is good to post information at set intervals, such as every morning and evening.

A right communication plan with media is also essential. A good communication strategy can turn media into a support and make it a joyful hand holding. It is advised to designate a spokesperson, training them in dealing with the media, making sure all employees know who they are and how to direct the media to them. Training the spokesperson on an accurate conduct is very important and they should be able to project confidence while interacting with media.

Having a crisis communication plan in advance of a crisis helps in reducing misinformation, assures an effective communication flow, and increases the timeliness of messaging. The plan should include key contacts, templates and detailed procedures on how and when to share information and with whom.

The biggest challenge is managing outsiders who may share misleading information which may end up in damaging the reputation. This is why effective, precise communication is critical during crisis – whether it is inside the organisation or to the public in general.

Effective communication with media is essential. A good PR firm can help put in place a good media communication strategy. This way the media can support while you recover from crisis and rebuild your organisation.

Good PR firms can provide in-depth training to ensure your spokespersons can confidently and effectively communicate with the media.

A business’ crisis communication plan should include multiple means of reaching key stakeholders, such as text messaging, emails, a business telephone hotline with recorded messages and to allow voice messages to be left, social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter), a business’ website.

It is crucial to recognise that crisis communication is as important as crisis management. It is imperative to keep the key stakeholders informed internally through the various channels used for effective communication. It is important to send out personal and effective communication to clients. It is extremely essential to send out an honest communication to media as well (whether proactive or reactive). All this helps in managing the crisis effectively.

A manager is responsible for ensuring that his employees are able to effectively communicate with one another and with management. This includes establishing specific communication channels, managing expected use of communication tools and trouble-shooting when communication issues arise. Effective communication in the workplace can help ensure employees are sharing and exchanging information in a way that’s conducive to smooth business operations.

Communication in true sense is the lifeline of every organization. Individuals irrespective of their designation and level in the hierarchy need to communicate with each other for accomplishment of work within the stipulated time frame and also for better relationships at workplace. Half of the problems disappear when discussed. It is really essential for people to come out with their ideas and strategies.

• Managerial communication plays a pivotal role in knowledge sharing. Managers must communicate with their subordinates to share whatever they know. A unique idea is of no use, if not shared. Managers need a medium which helps them interact with their immediate team members and vice a versa. Here comes the role of effective managerial communication. Managers need to communicate with their team members to make them clear as to what is expected out of them. Managerial communication helps managers to extract the best out of team members. Employees need to be told their key responsibility areas.
• Managerial communication plays an important role in completing tasks way ahead of deadlines. Individuals ought to work together in teams to complete tasks at a much quicker rate. It is really essential to discuss ideas, evaluate pros and cons of strategies to reach to something which would benefit not only the employees but the organization on the whole. Managers before implementing any new policy must sit with their team members and take their suggestions as well. You never know when someone comes up with a brilliant idea?
• Effective communication leads to transparency among team members. Employees who do not communicate are generally prone to stress and anxiety. Managerial communication enables the manager to delegate roles and responsibilities to their subordinates as per their interests and also allows the employees to ask whatever they have not understood. Managerial communication helps managers to know what their team members are up to and thus prevents overlapping of work.
• Managerial communication also goes a long way in motivating employees. A sense of loyalty towards work and organization develops if managers communicate with their team members on a regular basis. Remember problems if not attended at initial stages lead to critical situations later. Employees should have the liberty to discuss their grievances with their team leaders. Communication helps to sort out differences among employees in a healthy and positive way.
• Managerial communication also plays an important role during crisis and critical solutions. Managers ought to be in constant touch with their employees for them to deliver their level best. Managerial communication in simpler words gives a sense of security to the employees.
• Human beings are not machines who can work at a stretch. We need people around with whom we can discuss lot many things apart from routine work. If you do not communicate; you would never know what is happening around you. An individual working in isolation often treats his work as a burden. Communication keeps an individual abreast of the latest developments at the workplace.
• Managerial communication also plays an important role in stress management.

Manager’s Role

Establish Communication Channels

There are a variety of ways to communicate, and the manager’s responsibility is to ensure employees understand the company’s best established communication practices. If you don’t have a communications policy in place, create one, and put it in writing for training and reference use. Consider policy for using email, including when to forward or copy other parties. Outline rules regarding inner-office communication, intranet and memos. Also establish guidelines for communication such as text messaging, voice mail, instant messaging and video-conferencing.

Trouble-Shoot Communication Issues

When communication issues arise, it’s the manager’s job to intervene and mediate a resolution. A manager must have an understanding of the different communications styles of individual employees. Whereas one employee may prefer the ease and personal nature of face-to-face discussions, another may prefer to put details in writing to ensure accuracy and track-ability. The manager is charged with helping these colleagues find a happy medium. For example, the two employees in this example might be urged to talk face-to-face, and then summarize the conversation in a follow-up email to ensure clarity on all sides.

Teach Communication Skills

Some people have a difficult time articulating thoughts and ideas, and a manager is charged with helping employees develop their communication skills. This can be done through role-playing, job training and mentoring. Managers may also consider the value of sending employees to a public speaking development forum such as Toastmasters International, which helps professionals hone their communication skills.

Issue Communication Checks

Even with a comprehensive set of communication best practices in place, there are still bound to be occasional breakdowns in the way people share and exchange information. Managers should periodically review internal policies, request employee feedback and conduct a “performance check” to ensure communication strategies are on track. This may be accomplished during an all-staff meeting, individual or group performance reviews or through an employee survey or focus group.

Media Relations and Information Subsidy

Information Subsidy consists of information that is provided to the press as supplemental material to help present their reporting. This includes information such as press releases, advertisements and videos of related news events. An advantage of using information subsidies is that they can decrease or eliminate the need for completing additional research on the part of the media. Subsidies can be a good source of information for the media; however, it is important that the media vet the source for accuracy and bias.

By presenting ready-to-publish data, information subsidies can save journalists time and money. A study completed in 1999 estimated that nearly half of the information reported in newspapers came from information subsidies. Yet another survey suggested that most of the information received by journalists is never published. Trust in the source and content of the data are the criteria journalists use when determining whether or not they will use the material provided.

Media Relations and Public Relations Practitioners (PR)

Media and Public Relations Practitioners are very similar in many ways. Both parties aim to share information with the public. This information is intended to benefit the public by educating them on news and other events. Public Relations Practitioners attempt to expand their client’s media coverage by staying up to date on news and current events that are relevant to their client. Because PR practitioners are usually focused on a client, some would argue that they are biased or attempt to sway public opinion. The media is constantly looking for a new story. PR practitioners are a good, reliable place for the media to go to for newsworthy events. They often provide newsworthy or public service data, which can save the media the time required to complete their own research and sourcing.

The fact that PR specialists have been providing the news mass media with information for years has not really changed the trust level that the media has for the sources. Trust is a critical component between the media and PR practitioners and it must be present for their to be a successful working relationship. It has been said that part of the problem between journalists and PR Practitioners is the perception that PR Specialists have not been good at providing journalists with newsworthy material. Journalists should express their thoughts and concerns to these PR Specialists to allow for better communication and improvement of the type and quality of news data. As with any relationship, both parties must be committed to working together to achieve success.

Ethical Pitfalls

The words ‘fake news’ bombard news outlets today. It is now more important than ever for Public Relations Practitioners to provide honest, truthful, and accurate information to the media. It is equally important that journalists themselves authenticate information that they have been given. There is much pressure for a Public Relations Practitioner to embellish the truth for their client to make news appear better than it really is. PR Practitioners could help the communication process by providing more detail about specific news. For example, if a client calls the recall of a product, the reason for the recall should be thoroughly explained.

One way a PR Practitioner can avoid ethical issues is to be upfront with their clients and the media regarding any potential ethical issues. The pressure for a PR Practitioner can be great because of the need to work with multiple entities in order to produce their information. Having a basis for their personal and professional ethics will go a long way in helping a PR Practitioner. This basis should include considering the interests of themselves, the media, and the entity they are representing. Respect for those involved and social responsibility should also be an inherent part of ethics. Another approach to ethics is based on virtue. This includes learning from others, being prepared to take risks, and practicing complete honesty in their reporting.

5 tips to improve employee communication 

Most organizations plan meticulously how to best engage their external audience, but they conveniently forget about their most important constituency: employees. High performing organizations make sure employee communication is their priority and this is one of the reasons they stand out! 

Here are the top 5 tips to improve employee communication in your organization

1. Communicate with clarity 

Overusing jargon or technical terms will only lead to more misunderstanding. Be clear while communicating.

2. Set the tone

Management and leadership of the organization need to set the tone right. The need to be accessible and they need to understand that there is a certain relation between strategic employee communications and organizational goal achievement. 

3. Know your employees 

You don’t need to communicate differently with different employees, you just need to know your employees. To understand the perception of your employees surveys them regularly. 

4. Use multiple channels 

Most people need to hear or read the message multiple, least the message is lost in translation. Distribute your message through various channels so that it reaches people well within time. 

5. Measure the effectiveness

No communication should be without a set objective, else the purpose of communication is entirely lost. There are many ways to facilitate communication, but what’s the point if it falls on deaf ears. Make sure you regularly measure the engagement and ask employees if the communication strategy works.

There are a few key steps to take when building an effective internal communication strategy. These steps will ensure that your strategy is airtight and has the maximum benefits for all employees.

1. Review Your Current Strategy

Before revamping your internal communication strategy, it’s important to take stock of what’s currently in place.

Evaluate your current IC strategy to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Find out what you’d like to improve on. Ask yourself questions such as:

• How is your current strategy being implemented?
• What software and channels are you currently using?
• How effective is it?
• What impact does it have on company culture?
• What are the chief complaints you’ve been receiving about it?

Answering these questions will give you a good baseline to start with. You can then build and improve on this with your new strategy.

2. Define Your Audience

Before coming up with a plan for your internal communication, it’s important to identify your audience.

Most companies make the mistake of treating their employees as one large, homogeneous demographic. This is problematic as different divisions of your company will want different things out of their communication channels.

For example, your software development and sales teams will have very different communication needs. Spend some time and segment your audience into different groups so that it is easier to give them what they need.

3. Set Clear Goals

It’s important to have concrete goals and timelines in place to add some structure to your planning process.

Devise reasonable timelines for planning, ideation and execution to set yourself up for success.

Goals should lay out what you want your internal communication efforts to achieve.

When coming up with goals, it’s essential to follow the SMART formula:

• Specific: Your goals need to be concrete, not vague.
• Measurable: Your goals must be quantifiable.
• Attainable: Ensure that your goals are realistic with your current resources.
• Relevant: Goals must be directly linked to your company’s aspirations.
• Time-bound: Your goals must have deadlines to keep yourself on track.

4. Define Your New Strategy

Now it’s time to hash out your vision for your new internal communication strategy. Your new internal communication strategy should include:

• Clear goals
• An Audience segmentation
• Clear metrics
• Realistic timelines
• Ambassadors
• An internal communication solution
• The right content types
• An effective content distribution

Objectives of Public Relations

It achieves following objectives for the organisation:

(i) It facilitates smooth functioning of business and achievement of organisational objectives.

(ii) It builds corporate image and creates a favourable impression and creditability of company’s products.

(iii) It helps in launch of new products and maintain interest and confidence in the existing products.

(iv) It acts as a supplement to advertising in promoting existing and new products. Thus, it helps business and its associates to sell products easily.

(v) It lowers the promotional cost as it has to simply maintain staff to develop and circulate information with media or manage events.

Scope of Public Relations

Community Relations:

A business should be seen as a responsible citizen of the community it operates in. A comprehensive community relation programme should focus on building a respectable image for the company in the community in the long run. Many organizations implement educational and health related programmes for improving quality of life of the community members. Such activities help to build their reputation along with benefiting the society.

Employee Relations:

Employees are the most valuable assets of the company and the organization had to create employee goodwill for maintaining a loyal workforce. Loyal employees are more productive and interested in the well-being of the company.

Customer Relations:

The most important component of external public is the customer. The customer is the reason behind the existence of the organization. Public relations inform the customer about introduction of new products or changes in existing ones. Public relations play a crucial role in attracting the attention of the buyer towards the company’s offerings and helps to differentiate the product from those of its competitors.

Financial Relations:

A segment of the company’s public consists of those individuals and institutions the company has financial dealings with. These include the shareholders, creditors, potential investors, banks, financial analysts, etc.

These parties have to be informed about the company’s finances, plans for expansions, plans to raise share capital, etc. A well-planned financial relations programme is necessary to improve the organization’s image and increase the value of its stock.

Political and Government Relations:

The Company has to function under the control of government rules and regulations. It has to forge proper relations with various government officials and political parties to ensure smooth functioning of the enterprise.

Crisis Communication:

The role of public relations takes on vital significance during crisis situations like an accident, financial scams, bankruptcies, etc. It is the responsibility of the public relations to give the honest and accurate information to the concerned publics and assure them of remedial measures taken to control the crisis.

Significance of Public Relations

Advantages:

Public Relation should be an important but subtle part of the promotional mix, not just an adjunct to advertising.

The most important advantages to be gained are:

1. Credibility: If the public are made aware of the benefits to be gained from a company’s products from an independent source, and that source is not being paid by the com­pany in question, then the credibility factor is that much greater.
2. Greater readership: When glancing through a newspaper it is seldom that a great deal of attention is primarily paid to advertisements. Much more attention is given to editorial or news sections. Similarly, people are more likely to divert attention from the televi­sion to do other things while the advertisements are being shown.
3. Contain more information: Public relation is able to impart more information to the public than advertisements can. A glance is all that is usually given to an advertisement, whereas public relation, when presented as news, is given more attention and is therefore able to contain much more detailed information.
4. Cost benefits: No direct payments are made to the media for public relation. There are obvi­ously costs involved, but PR budgets are far less than those for advertising.
5. Speed: Public relation has an advantage of speed. Information on a major development can often be issued and reported in a short space of time. Public relation can also be flexible and reactive.

Disadvantages:

Public Relation is generally looked upon as being of benefit, but sometimes both companies, and famous personalities, wish that they could avoid public relation. If there is a major acci­dent on the premises of a company, or an oil leak from one of the oil companies’ installations offshore, that company will be on the receiving end of some very bad pub­lic relation.

They can try to minimise this by breaking the news to the media themselves, and being as helpful as possible, but damage to their reputation will still be incurred.

1. Message distortion: A company has no control over what the media report about them. A press release, which a company hopes is reported in full, may in fact not be used at all, or may have only a small portion of it reported.
2. Repetition: With advertisements a company can ensure that there is frequency of the message. Public Relation does not have this advantage and the message may only be given once, if at all.

The functions and decision of public relations (PR) are influenced by internal and external environment. The internal environment is generated within the organization which influences in the decision making of PR. They are controllable factors and comprise of personnel, infrastructure facilities, organization facilities etc.

The external environment is not under the control of an organization. It may include competition, industry problems, a threat of substitutes, social cultural factors, political factors, economic factors and many others which are externally related to an organization. It is uncontrollable factors and the business entity can only try to minimize it but can’t control it.

Social and Cultural:

The societal perspectives/trends by PR practitioners can be understood from at least four perspectives.

Stakeholder Part of Society: stakeholders are also a part of society. Their values and beliefs come from broader societal influences. For instance – the interest of society in health and fitness developed ample opportunities for fitness centers, nutritional products, fitness industries.

Socio-Cultural trends: A social system with high degree of civilization, mobility industrialization and urbanization are the primary factors impacting the business. Business depends on the social environment for all the needed inputs. Therefore, it is rightly said that business is one unit of the total social system. No business can control the social belief, culture, heritage, family systems, religion etc. but, they can influence them to a limited extent. Therefore, it is imperative for PR practitioner to develop a social connection with the public.

E.G. in the late 1990s, Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, was facing rising societal concern about the extraordinary profits generated by Microsoft therefore in 1999, he donated $ 3.35 Billion to the William Gates Foundation, which provides grants for health and human service organizations. The Gates Learning Foundation, today gives software, computers, and services to libraries in low-income areas.

Restrictive Legislation: It is essential for PR practitioners to guide the organization to follow the ethical paths. It will help them to avoid any serious legislation activity. For E.G. when many companies started generating profits and revenues, at that time they split their businesses or diverse it into some other field too.

Demographic and Economic Change: Due to the changes in demographic and economic changes, many companies have garnered the opportunity. The concept of “DINK (Double Income and No Kids)” has brought significant changes in couple lifestyles, the standard of living, etc. today, as many women aspire to achieve high in their life, therefore, they choose too baby later in their life. This led them to spend more on baby accessory items, giving a better life, child care midwives and education. It also opens a way to movies and television shows to produce serials center for families and children.

Economic:

The growth in an economy, interest rates, government policies, support agencies, contributions, inflation rates, fiscal policies, foreign exchange rates, and foreign trade balances are among the most critical economic factors. The economy also has an impact on consumer demand for products and services. Mostly, organizations to assess the effect of economic factors model their business environments using different scenarios. The major economic factors which have a considerable influence on business include growth strategy, labour legislation, industrial relations, stock exchange and its regulations, commodity exchange, price policy, exit policy, export promotion, technological environment etc. the PR should be well versed with all these terms and use it while making their PR decisions in a company.

Political Issues:

Politics and business have a close connection. The government itself is a political boy created by a political system. There are numbers of business legislation enacted by the government which regulates business transactions. The current changes in political dynamics impact the businesses on a larger scale. The government who is in power makes the suitable or favorable changes in the economy which benefit the businesses and large, the nation. A successful PR analyze the prevailing political environment and then formulate strategies to avail of the opportunities emerging out of a political system.

Legal Environment:

Legal aspects of business regulate both economic and non–economic issues. For E.G. the announcement by the government to demonetize Indian rupee has drastically impacted many business sectors. Many times, government passed the acts to bring changes in the Indian economy and give benefit to the masses. Therefore, PR professionals have to take a keen interest in the legal aspects affecting the performance of the functions and have to adopt a constructive role in this relationship.

There are many acts passed by India government related with business and economy aspects like The Indian Contract Act 1872, Indian Partnership Act 1932, Sale of Goods Act 1930, Negotiable Instrument Act 1881, Law of Insurance, Arbitration Act, 1899, Law of Carriage, Essential Commodities Act, 1955, The Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, and the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

Theories explain how to make public relations more effective for organization and society. Theories provide an understanding of the relationship between actions and events. PR practitioners consider several theories when they make decisions about how they can build a successful relationship with their public.

This chapter introduces four basic theories that public relations practitioners use:

Systems theory:

• Systems theory is made up of interrelated parts, adapting and adjusting to changes in the political, economic and social environment in which they operate.
• It is used to explain how public relations helps understand and manage the relationships an organization has with its stakeholders and publics who make up its environment.
• Generally, the organization who focus on their clients, customers and other stakeholders are the part of open systems. They are open to new ideas and positive criticism.
• We use system theory not only to examine the relationship with our external stakeholders but also to look at the internal functions and stakeholders of our organization. Based on the requirement of organizations, they decide to give the leverage to be given to unit or department.
• In systems theory, public relation practitioners advise the dominant coalition, the primary decision makers of the organization, about problems and opportunities in the environment and help these decision makers respond to the changes.
• In systems theory, as it is based on relationships, therefore, it is interconnected. The environment imposes constraints on the organization.
• The decision maker’s organization mostly influences the policies of businesses. Here, the decision makers of an organization allow for the two-way flow of resources and information between the organization and environment.

Pat Jackson’s Lasting Contribution to Public Relations: Any profession exists by public consent only. Public relations provides an overriding social benefit t when people have a voice. Harmony is an outcome of public relations practiced over a long time. Harmonious relationships, not just relations, fortified with trust require co-authorship.  Remind managers that their communication role is to transmit not only information but also emotions and intuition.

Grunig, Grunig, and Dozier state that the systems perspective emphasizes the interdependence of organizations with their environments, both internal and external to the organization.

• We can use systems theory not only to examine relationships with our external stakeholders but also to look at the internal functions and stakeholders of our organizations. Organizations structure their employees by specific jobs and functions. Many different departments, such as accounting, legal, and public relations, make up the managerial function.

The monitoring of relationships is a major one for public relations people. Through systems theory, we think of public relations people as boundary spanners, straddling the edge of an organization—looking inside and outside of an organization. Public relations practitioners are the go-betweens, explaining the organization to its stakeholders and interpreting the environment to the organization. Public relations people advise the dominant coalition, the primary decision makers of the organization, about problems and opportunities in the environment and help these decision makers respond to these changes.

Situational Theory:

As the term suggests, it is about identifying a group of people within the group who can influence the larger sections of society. They are the active people who have an influence on the larger people.

Grunig and Repper agreed that it was a good start to use the concept of stakeholders as a way of describing relationships. However, they concluded that not all people in stakeholder groups would be equally likely to communicate with an organization. They felt that public relations people could more effectively manage communications by identifying specific publics within stakeholder groups.

Grunig and Hunt theorized that public range from those who actively seek and process information about an organization or an issue of interest, to those publics who passively receive information. According to these researchers, three variable predict when public seek and process information about an issue: Problem Recognition, constraint recognition, and level of involvement.

Problem recognition: It is important for people to first recognize an issue and its potential impact on them. E.g. 3s is an organization which works in the area of sanitation. They have understood that many Indians, especially in rural areas, do not have toilet facilities.

Constraint recognition: Describes the way people see the problems which stand before the solutions. E.g. they have tried to identify the reasons and did connect to the access to the reason for it.

Level of involvement: Actually, here the organization seeks the involvement of people in the cause. E.g. they actually identify the group of people who has an high involvement with an issue and suggest the solutions to them. 3s came up with a concept of moving toilets which are highly accepted and appreciated initially by some regions but now they have major clients in all over India.

• Using these three variables, Grunig and Hunt described responses that follow from being high or low in these dimensions. For example, those publics who have high problem recognition, low constraint recognition, and high involvement in an issue are much more likely to actively engage in communication about it.
• The situational theory actually explains and useful to understand that public wants rather than organization choice of information to distribute. It also assumes that public will pay attention and seek out information that is in their best interests.

Theories of Persuasion and Social Influence:

Pfau and Wan define persuasion as “the use of communication in an attempt to shape, change, and/or reinforce perception, affect (feelings), cognition (thinking) and/or behavior. Public Relations people try to persuade audiences to learn new information, to change emotions and to act in a certain way. Miller and Levine stated, “At a minimum, a successful persuasive attempt generates some type of cognitive, effective, or behavioral modification in the target.”

We will discuss two most prominent theories in theories of persuasion and social influence i.e. Social Exchange Theory and Diffusion Theory.

Social Exchange Theory:

• Social Exchange Theory uses the economic metaphor of costs and benefits to predict behavior.
• This theory was propounded by John Thibaut and Harold Kelley applies to many fields of study, including interpersonal communication, public relations, and theories of organizations.
• People always have the expectation to get their reward high and cost low. But, not at the cost of their customers. Sometimes, it is difficult for organizations to look for a long term. In that case, it is essential for public relations practitioners to let the decision maker of an organization analyze the whole range of options along with the associated costs and rewards.
• For E.G. A company who supplies a product to their customers and understand that there is a defect in their products that has already been shipped to customers. In that situation, a company has to take a decision which helps them to save their customers and costs and give them high rewards. A public relations practitioner will analyze the whole situations and suggest the best possibilities for an organization which will help them to save huge loss in future.

Diffusion Theory:

• Diffusion theory is another way to look at how people accept and process information.
• They have identified the following five steps to accept the idea of diffusion:

1. Awareness. The individual has been exposed to the idea.
2. Interest. The idea has to arouse the individual.
3. Evaluation. The individual must consider the idea as potentially useful.
4. Trial. The individual tries out the idea on others.
5. Adoption. This represents final acceptance of the idea after having successfully passed through the four earlier stages.

• This theory helps to reach important decisions. Here, the first importance is given to mass population than the personal contacts.
• For E.g. an amusement park wants a maximum family to visit their parks with family. They understand that cost of their park is very high therefore they came up with a scheme for students to visit their park free along with their I- card and whoever accompany them, will get 10 % discount in their tickets.  A company wants more students to visit their park. So, in that regards, they started promoting their ideas through various colleges and send them flyers (Awareness). After sending them flyers, they have started highlighting the most interesting concepts or theme for which students should visit the place (Interest). After that, they give them possible alternatives so that they decide the best for them (Evaluation). After that, few students visit and get the nice feel of the park (Trial) and give mouth publicity to their groups and all known people. And suddenly, the find that many people have started visiting the park and it has become a huge hit.