During these perception monitoring sessions, stay alert for negativity. Was there a glaring inaccuracy that popped up repeatedly? Any false assumptions about your services or products? Did you notice misconceptions, rumors or clearly negative attitudes? And watch especially for evasive or hesitant responses.

The data you gather from these perception monitoring interviews allow you to establish your public relations goal. You must decide to focus on correcting a dangerous inaccuracy or clarifying a troublesome misconception.

As a manager, you know that goals are achieved using right strategy. In case of perception and opinion matters, there are just three workable strategies available to you: reinforce existing perception/opinion, create perception where there may be none, or change existing opinion. Only caveat: be sure your chosen strategy fits well with public relations goal you have established.

Now your PR people must prepare message that will alter perception among members of your target audience. As unit manager, your personal input will be required to insure that it is both persuasive and compelling. As well, message must be clearly written, and well supported with facts if it is to be believable as it strives to alter perception in your direction.

Delivering your message is not a complex task and your PR folks will help select proper communications tactics to get job done. Luckily for all concerned, there is a full menu of such tactics from special events, news announcements, print and broadcast interviews and brochures to newsletters, speeches, emails and many others.

To satisfy all concerned that effort to alter an offending perception is really working, you must re-monitor perceptions of members of your external target audience

This go-around, however, will see all members of public relations team on lookout for clear-cut signs that negative perception is actually being altered according to plan.

You should also be aware that matters can be accelerated by adding new communications tactics to effort, AND/OR by increasing their frequencies, as appropriate.

If genius is too strong a descriptive for managers who apply this public relations blueprint, let us at least observe that it allows them a degree of success in achieving their unit objectives they did not previously enjoy.

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to managers about using the 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 the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com