Public Relations Department functions

Depending on the field of the organization, PR Department builds its workflow according to assigned functions. Basically, the workflow involves performance of several major functions such as Publications and Periodicals, Marketing and Advertising, Media Relations, and Organizing Events and Internal Communication within the company. Let's briefly consider each of the functions.

1. Publications and Periodicals

Each year organizations which have PR Department within their structure spend thousands of dollars to produce publications and post articles in periodicals. This is a function of PR Department. In cooperation with graphic design services it organizes production of publications range from simple black-white or colored papers to art and design productions. PR Department controls event calendar and makes month schedules for most publications, but some publications can be in production to several months before completion. Once the publications are completed, News Bureau Editor watches them and makes revisions if necessary to proceed with periodical appearance. VIP Task Manager all tools needed for this function: task attachment as links or files, Calendar which allows to make event schedules and task lists arranged by daily/weekly/monthly view, etc.

2. Marketing and Advertising

The Public Relations Office takes part in organizing of marketing campaigns and placing advertisements. It has Marketing&Advertising Manager who works over the program to develop a marketing plan or a media plan in order to promote an event as well as increase the number of readers of the newsletters and news releases. The Department works with a number of specialized marketing and advertising agencies on a regular basis and works out complex marketing packages that often include publications, advertising materials, special events and news releases. VIP Task Manager allows to optimize the marketing and advertising operations within the Department by using templates and checklists, which step by step describe actions of organization for marketing campaign and placing of advertisement in periodicals.

3. Media Relations

Much publicity about the organization is gained through news releases. The PR Department establishes and maintains relations with media. When an event is held by the organization and news release needs to be issued about this event, Assistant Director of Public Relations assigns employees to write an appropriate release and bring it to the target audience. Assistant develops releases schedule and sets deadlines prior to the event. He arranges writers to prepare the release and translators to translate it into appropriate languages for the web newsletters. When the release is ready for publication, The Department negotiates with media and promotes the release to the appropriate audience. VIP Task Manager helps Assistant Director to increase his productivity by creating personal to-do lists and making agendas for appointments with journalists. VIP Task Manager makes it easer to plan events by adding contact information and conference details in the to-do list.

4. Participation in Exhibitions, Fairs, Conferences

In order to make event releases and newsletters more suitable and attractable, The Public Relations Department involves its employees in Participation in Exhibitions, Fairs, Conferences. Correspondents prepare reviews, write reports, takes representative functions and other. The Department has also employees responsible for shooting photographs and drawing pictures. Photographers and Designers get tasks to prepare photos about an event or create an image for brochures to decorate news releases. Art Director controls their work, assigns tasks and makes revisions. The Public Relations Office also cooperates with various art design studios which help decorate exhibitions, conferences, parties, and other public events. By using VIP Task Manager, Correspondents, Photographers and Designers can speed up their work by attaching articles, reviews, pictures, photos and drawings to directly the tasks. Art Director will be able read the attached materials right in the task lists of his subordinates. PR Manager can create a list of tasks which describes the steps for PR Specialists to arrange conferences, meetings, etc. For organization of each the event there can be defined due dates, priorities, responsible employees, budget, etc.

5. Internal communication

Today, in organizations especially in medium and large companies the dissemination of information among employees becomes important then ever. This gives possibilities for development of internal communications, improvement of employee collaboration, and strengthening of corporate culture. The PR Department is responsible for arrangement of corporate meetings, conferences, parties, and other public events with participation of managers and employees who work at the organization. The Department quickly disseminates information and news to every employee across the entire company by means of electronic mail, online newsletters, reports and press releases, online conferences, Intranet, etc. This helps to keep employees and others on top of what is going on with the organization. It saves the organization time, and it saves on production and distribution costs. PR Department can use VIP Task Manager to organize corporate events and increase effectiveness of internal communications. VIP Task Manager allows handling internal communications between employees by sending comments on the tasks.