This course is designed to equip Public Relations professionals with the strategic business acumen necessary to effectively align PR initiatives with organizational goals. In this comprehensive course, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the intersection between business strategy and public relations, enhancing their ability to contribute to the overall success of their organizations.

By the end of this training course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the importance of clear Vision, Mission and Values statements.
• Be able to develop objectives for individuals and teams/departments feeding into corporate goals.
• Be able to use strategic planning tools to develop strategic options.
• Make use of key organisational procedures to enhance individual and organisational performance and deliver strategic objectives.
• Develop key leadership skills such as motivation and interpersonal communications, for effective implementation of strategic plans.

Course Content:

Strategy is Everyone’s Business

• Organisation’s Vision, Mission, Values and Goals
• Using scenarios to envisage possible futures.
• Assessing and managing risk
• Factors influencing decision making.
• Aligning individual tasks and behaviours to organisational goals

Strategic Planning

• Using PESTLE to analyse external factors.
• How to balance the needs of diverse stakeholders
• Analysing the capabilities of your own organisation
• Undertaking valuable SWOT analyses
• Turning analysis into strategic plans

Overcoming the Challenges of Strategy Implementation

• Develop staff engagement – hearts and minds.
• Make use of varied communication methods to raise strategic awareness.
• Learn to link individual goals and tasks to organisational objectives.
• Use measurement to track performance and predict likely outcomes.
• Understand how a learning organisation links detailed and messy implementation to strategy development.

Developing Strategic Leadership Skills

• Understanding barriers to change
• How to motivate staff to deliver high performance
• Developing your leadership skills: situational leadership
• Using coaching skills to deliver higher performance.
• Develop your interpersonal communication skills.

Ensuring Organisational Procedures Support Strategy

• Recognise the dynamic tension between change/innovation versus compliance.
• Recognise elements of Organisational culture which help effective strategy deployment.
• Learn to make the performance appraisal an effective tool in delivering high performance.
• How to ensure the strategic planning process delivers effective outcomes.

For Whom:

Public Relations managers, Supervisors, Officers, and Others who perform related functions both in public and private sector.

Training Methodology

The training methodology combines lectures, discussions, group exercises and illustrations. Participants will gain both theoretical and practical knowledge of the topics. The emphasis is on the practical application of the topics and as a result participant will go back to the workplace with both the ability and the confidence to apply the techniques learned to their duties.