Make Better Decisions

By gathering objective evidence through observation, interviews and samplings of records, management can make better decisions. This will help:

•Test organizational objectives and processes

•Write factual audit reports that help improve effectiveness of management system

•Suggest ways to verify effectiveness of any corrective action to achieve objectives

Check for Quality

Auditing is third phase of Plan, Do, Check, Act process approach – check. It is also one of 8 quality principles of ISO, which allows managers to make better decisions based not on subjective opinion but objective fact.

The audit process is a valuable step for improvement. Auditor training will teach managers and executives how to improve effectiveness of their management system, which is essential for ISO 9001 certification.

Audit to Help

To fully understand requirements of ISO 9001 and to facilitate audit teams, you can also take a five-day IRCA Lead Auditor course. After all, auditing is designed to help us, not hurt us.

Let’s chat for a moment about your public relations goal. You need one that addresses problems that cropped up during your key audience perception monitoring. Chances are, it will call for straightening out that dangerous misconception, or correcting that gross inaccuracy, or doing something about that damaging rumor.

But as you surely know, goals need strategies to show you how to get there. And you have just three strategic choices when it comes to handling a perception or opinion challenge: create perception where there may be none, change perception, or reinforce it. Unfortunately, selecting a bad strategy will taste like peanut butter on your sea scallops, so be certain new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. For example, you don’t want to select “change” when facts dictate a “reinforce” strategy.

Here right, corrective language must be created, because persuading an audience to your way of thinking is awfully hard work Especially when you’re looking for words that are compelling, persuasive, believable AND clear and factual. This is a must if you are to correct a perception by shifting opinion towards your point of view, leading to desired behaviors. So, meet again with your communications specialists and review your message for impact and persuasiveness.

In order to carry your words to attention of your target audience, you need to select communications tactics most likely to reach them. Happily there are dozens of available tactics. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. Just be sure that tactics you pick are known to reach folks just like your audience members.

Occasionally, credibility of your message can depend on its delivery method. So, consider introducing it to smaller gatherings rather than using higher-profile communications such as news releases or talk show appearances. When you sense need to provide a progress report, it’s probably time for you and your PR folks to return to field for a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. Using many of same questions used in first benchmark session, stay alert for signs that your communications tactics have worked and that negative perception is being altered in your direction.

Should those around you wax impatient, things can always be accelerated with a broader selection of communications tactics AND increased frequencies.

You won’t get caught with your PR down when you apply your budget to public relations activity that creates behavior change among your key outside audiences that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives.

That’s when it will become clear to you that right PR really CAN alter individual perception and lead to changed behaviors that help you win.

end

Bob Kelly counsels managers about using fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com