How do you align PR goals with other departments?

Connect early and connect often—with leadership and with colleagues across your company. Alignment on goals for external messaging is a two-way street (or multi-lane highway, depending on the number of key stakeholders). It’s important that PR not be an afterthought, but rather part of a larger marketing and communications channel strategy. That said, not every company initiative is a “PR moment,” so it’s important to have goal-focused conversations to determine where PR is best positioned to drive desired outcomes.

Each department within an organization is chalked full of talent and expertise that can help build the brand and carry forth the mission. I like to meet with each department leader and their team(s) on a regular basis to see what's hot, where their troubles or bottlenecks are happening, what's new and exciting and potentially could be newsworthy. Team members are not often focused on what could be newsworthy but they are focused on their goals and overcoming obstacles to achieve them. As PR people, we can tell more of the company story and elevate team members stature by understanding their projects and shaking out the news. It should be a symbiotic relationship.

PR goals should always be aligned with business and marketing objectives (as a minimum, people strategy is also helpful) else the strategy and activity will have limited impact. This isn’t always easy and takes time to listen to other teams and educate them in where PR can and cannot support. By collaborating in this way, you’ll have a more impactful strategy that more people will resonate with. Win-win.

Themes, messages, and stories = storytelling! Savvy PR practitioners are experts at crafting narratives that link departments and disciplines. I start by asking: "What are goals/aspirations and where are we in achieving them?" Think of narrative storytelling like a great biography. Forrest Gump, for example, is memorable (almost 30 years later), based on the evolution of the character and how he adapted to external circumstances that brought out his strengths and weaknesses. [Plus, FG has been shown countless times on cable...demonstrating importance of repetition in remembrance.] Your organization has a story -- ways people work toward goals and aspirations. Go tell those stories!

The need to align PR goals with other departments is particularly critical if the oganisation is a big one. Otherwise , there is the risk of the PR dept being on a frolick of its own when it comes to the execution of the PR plan whilst the other departments sit aloof as the plan unfolds or even frustrate its execution.

Effective communication is crucial when aligning PR goals with other departments within an organization. Some ideas to achieve it : Shared Document Repositories, Collaborative Tools (like Asana, Trello, or Slack) to facilitate communication and track progress on joint projects, Cross functional teams, Stakeholder Involvement. Be open to adapting your PR strategies based on the feedback and insights you gather from other departments. Collaboration is an ongoing process, and it's important to iterate and improve over time. By fostering open and effective communication, PR teams can ensure that their goals are aligned with the objectives of the organization and that they are a valuable partner in helping other departments achieve their goals.

PR is a strategic function. Its fundament is to understand the company's strategy extremelly well to deliver accurate and effective communication. Especially from the perspective of all other departments. Work on building relationships, listen and more importantly - ask the right questions. Do this regularly, especially focused on yearly plans or common targets. This is a dialogue, make sure your counterparts also understand your PR goals, objectives and strategy clearly. Seeing eye to eye is crucial. Don't make the mistake of assuming your work, objectives and strategy are clear to everyone. Especially since, very often, other departments might not know what's the purpose of PR, or what is the difference between marketing and PR.

Make sure you're invited to the calls and meetings that matter. Too often communications is thought of in binary terms as the originator and/or executor rather than a strategic function that should be constantly involved, consulted and updated. Have your radar on 24/7 and don't wait to be asked. Make it your business to be as up to speed as your stakeholders.

It is advisable to establish a comprehensive spokesperson grid, encompassing top management, CXOs, and key opinion leaders (KOLs) who will engage with the media and the public. Concurrently, designate points of contact (POCs) from each department or business unit to facilitate information sharing and collaboration with the PR team, all directed towards a unified communication goal, be it enhancing Brand Equity or driving Revenues. In my approach, I typically utilize a Single Overriding Communication Objective (SOCO) to guide and streamline these efforts.

When it comes to defining uniform PR goals for an organization with multiple departments, it is crucial to establish a strong foundation of collaboration and communication. Organizations should encourage cross-departmental collaboration by fostering open dialogue and involving representatives from each department in the goal-setting process to help ensure that all perspectives are considered and that the PR goals align with the broader objectives of the organization. Rgularly reviewing and assessing the progress towards these goals, and make adjustments as needed will ensure that all departments are aligned and working towards the same outcomes, leading to a more cohesive and effective PR strategy for the organization as a whole.

Educate each other on what success looks like. Often, operational goals are straightforward enough that the PR lead can develop aligned PR/comms-focused SMART goals to help them achieve their operational goals. The PR lead should be able to show how these SMART goals have a line of sight to the larger strategic plan which should be supported by the operational plan. If a goal (operational or PR based) doesn't contribute to the overall strategic plan, then don't do it. PR departments should always take a collaborative approach of working in partnership with an operational department to develop SMART goals and not foist them upon the client.

A PR plan is incomplete unless it has inputs from all key departments including HR, sales, marketing etc. A strategic plan should always require inputs from all departments for a holistic plan.

When representatives from each department are involved in the overall PR plan, our employees' valuable service is not overlooked and taken for granted. Individuals and teams can be recognized regularly through in-house newsletters, community features, professional journals, and social media, e.g., #workplacewednesday, #thankfulthursday. Many bright initiatives spring from other departments and they contribute to successful communications. #publicrelations #prplans #employeerelations

Rollout of the plan requires a cohesive effort from all stakeholders. Ensure the team is all pulling in the same direction. Though following the plan is important, do also continuously monitor and review your impact and allow for some flexibility in the plan should you find a sweet spot.

Look for common denominators across departments. This is especially critical when you look at department size, which is often smaller than most other business areas. What are the things that will support the entire business and/or multiple departments. Above all, remember that you are a business partner to other departments, not an order-taker.

Aligning PR goals with other departments is crucial for integrated communications. Establish shared objectives, e.g., PR supporting marketing's brand awareness goals. Form cross-functional teams for product launches, leverage data-driven insights, and maintain open communication channels. In tech, PR collaborates with R&D for media partnerships, while in retail, sharing customer feedback empowers customer service. This alignment drives synergy, optimizes resources, and enhances overall performance.

I like to sit with the various departments, understand their plans and business objectives. My team and I will then develop PR strategies that will support them to achieve their objectives. We then align these strategies to the bigger organizational PR objectives