FPR By Yushau A. Shuaib

PERSONALITY OF A PR MAN

Every organisation looks for the best hand to handle its various functions. The investment in public relations, as it is with other business undertakings, naturally yields fruitful dividends and organisations must expend substantial amounts of money on it, to maintain or improve their PR units.

            To achieve success in its communication with its publics, an organisation must clearly study and analyse its position in the society and/or market and get a specialist to manage its image. It may either recruit a PR staff or engage the services of public relations consultancy firms, which are abundant in the country.

            Nowadays, most big organisations prefer to have their internal PR unit to handle all their public relations activities like media relations, event sponsorship, advertising, etc. Some organisations attach the PR man to an existing department. This may not be advisable as PR is a management function, which gives special privilege to the officer to interact freely with the management, contribute meaningfully to decision making and report directly to the Chief Executive.

            To have an efficient PR officer, the organisation must analyse its public relations’ priority to enable it determine the ideal candidate it needs. This may even provide career prospects for the officer in the organisation and motivate him to put in his best in discharging his duties.

            A good academic qualification in Mass Communications or Public Relations, relevant and useful job experience, practical skills, and additional degrees in related fields like economics, Business Administration, Finance, Political Science and even Law, are prerequisites for an effective financial public relations man. Special attributes and characteristics may also be considered based on the nature of the job. A go-getter personality with good temperament that demonstrates energetic initiative and creative demeanour will enable the officer to champion fresh ideas and worthwhile programmes that are implementable to the advantage of his organisation. Amiability, resourcefulness and openness without necessarily being frivolous, are qualities that can enable the officer to attend to any enquiry and situation with ease without giving wrong signals to the public.

            For those without an educational background in Mass Communication or Public Relations, a good training in communications is recommended. If they desire a distinguishing career in Public Relations, they are to be registered with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) to be qualified to practise.  Many higher institutions offer Mass Communications, which covers areas of public relations, journalism and advertising. Some of the universities that offer degrees and special professional programmes include Bayero University Kano, University of Lagos, University of Maiduguri, University of Nigeria Nsukka and several other state universities and polytechnics.

            In a nutshell, the personalities of a reliable and effective communicator must include ability to write well which involves analytical, critical reasoning, inquiring mind and sound editorial judgment. Having self-confidence and ability to work with minimal supervision is crucial to taking timely decisions. Amiability, humility and openness to criticisms, are not weaknesses but attributes of the officer as a team player and builder who desires pleasant and lively relationship towards people-oriented programmes and at the same time, enables him  adjust to changes. He must also have a high sense of urgency to ensure timeliness and accuracy of work.

TEAM LEADER

To be a good leader of the public relations team, the manager should realise what his schedules encompass and the capability and ability to delegate some of those responsibilities to his subordinates. Basically, public relations’ key activities revolve around three roles, which are issuance, organisation and publishing. For clarity, issuance includes the regular distribution of press releases, features articles, cassettes of video coverage and pictures of photo coverage, in addition to related documents and materials that are useful for information dissemination.

            The role of organisation has to do with media events like press briefing/conference, media interview, seminars/workshop, exhibitions and for the purpose of public enlightenment.

            Publishing involves the publication of in-house informative materials. This also includes in-house bulletins, magazines, annual handbooks, calendars and diaries, which promote the corporate image of the organisation.

            There is also the speaking which is representation of the chief executive of the organisation on issues that need clarification for better public understanding. Speech writing too, is in this category.                    

            According to Di Burton, effective leaders’ needs are personal competence, social competence and cognition. Therefore, a good manager must be an achiever, self-confident and committed to his work. He should be flexible to be influenced by good decisions and contributions of others and be politically aware of his environment by allowing empathy between him and others who may influence him positively. The officer should think strategically not rationally or emotionally by seeking out information that is useful to his day-to-day activities. In a nutshell, the officer should have determination and self control, superior intelligence over his group, be alert to the environment, participate in team activities and have good appearance.

DELEGATION

No manager is ever master of all. Hardly can he do all the job without assistance, unless he fears for his incompetence and weakness which others may exploit to remove him from the office. A good manager is one who has confidence and respect for his team, and assigns specific responsibilities to each member for optimal performance. For a better and successful team work, the PR manager should motivate his team members by setting high standards for himself and clear standards for the members. These officers should be able to provide leadership by example and delegate functions effectively. All members should jointly or individually assign clarified roles to ensure they know their tasks. This would be easier, if individual strengths and weaknesses are identified, which can be built on and overcome respectively. All these could be achieved, if the team leader communicates effectively by listening to his team’s needs and constructive criticisms. He should be willing to support them by encouraging initiatives and include them in decision-making. They would be proud to put in their best towards the success of the department.