The book – How to be a good PR Manager, talks about participative management which means that that it is important because management cannot accomplish the goals unless workers and stakeholders are involved in decision making and implementation. It also mentions that participative management has two facets I) industrial relations and 2) public relations. The book talks about who is an effective manager.

A successful manager is the one who understands the following.
1. What management is about?
2. The objectives and process of management
3. What type of person are you?
4. The managerial roles and qualities
5. The anatomy of your business and its functions
6. The role of experience and career development
7. The art of communication
8. The role of personality
9. The art of change
10. What you can do?

Public Relations according to the author in the management of relationships based on a two-way communication process between an organization and it’s public to promote the corporate mission, goals, services, products, reputation and earn public understanding. It’s also the management activity responsible for the creation of favourable attitudes among key audiences.

He goes on to say that PR in India a growing profession and how Al Ries and Laura Ries in their book ‘ The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR’ proved that advertising lacks credibility, the crucial ingredient in brand building and now only PR can supply that credibility. PR is a low-cost high-value alternative for organizations to meet communication needs.

There are two types of PR professionals. A good PR manager is the one who possesses the required qualities and professional qualifications, efficient, experienced and conscientious and produce profitable results to the organization in terms of communication and help build up its image.

The other category of PR personality is inept, inefficient, inexperienced, non-professional and insincere ones who do not come up to the expectations of the management in giving positive results and in building relationships with the stakeholders. Such PR person fails to bring credit for the organization even though the organization performed well.

He also shared the top ten commandments of a PR campaign.
1. Research
2. Identification of Problems
3. Setting Objectives
4. Target Audience
5. Action Plans
6. PR Programme
7. Media Strategy
8. Budgeting
9. Communication or Implementation
10. Evaluation

In his book ‘How to be a good PR Manager’ – he spoke about the barriers to good PR. The public relations profession confronts a number of potential barriers that come in the way of good public relations practice. They have difficulty in identifying who is good or bad at public relations. PR profession has difficulty in articulating the benefits of public relations. Organizations do not appreciate the importance of corporate public relations due to the lack of understanding. PR professionals lack an understanding of finance, marketing, and business issues which are an integral part of an organization.

If one wants to because an effective and better PR manager one had to learn from the biographies of great PR practitioners. John W. Hill who founded Hill and Knowlton along with his friend, Don Knowlton in 1933 in New York wrote an autobiography The Making of a Public Relations Man which tells the story of the world’s first broad service PR counselling firm.

–Nafisa Jalal