During my first day in the fundraising office my first task was to write a press release for the 'WAG' walk and the 'Lipstick and Champagne' night. We have had practise writing a press release in University but I was unaware of what style St Barnabas would write and had never written an official press release that the media would receive (and potentially judge).
Before sending to press I asked Becky the event’s organiser (who I was shadowing) to read over press releases, expecting that changes would need to be made. To my delight she studied them and asked me to send them straight to the press without change! This confirmed my confidence in writing press releases to the media and how to go about it. Lesson learnt already :)
I was then asked to email around a few people with inquiries for example to the football sport’s club asking if they were interested in supporting our WAG walk in any way and the council with an inquiry.
St Barnabas Hospice takes quite a traditional approach to PR, advertising and marketing; well to be honest they have one event’s organiser who is expected to do a bit of everything. Becky was the youngest staff at the age of 30 it is therefore understandable that with the elder team that promotion were very traditional and out-dated for example relying solely on mailing, phone calls and posters to drum up participants for their sponsored events. I discussed with Becky the new importance of social networking. The charity could definitely benefit from social networking as it is free, reaches everybody in any location and gives them regular updates. More importantly, it targets a younger audience which the charity is currently completely missing.
The website is slightly out-dated and not updated frequently, already a huge downfall. The website could benefit from regular picture uploads from events, reports on each event and its success, lots of information on future events, the option to sign up online and maybe interviews and reports which would interest the viewers.
I set up a blog site for St Barnabas which they could carry out the activities that I previously mentioned. The charity could reference the web address to the blog on their posters, website and emails. I believe that the charity should focus on social networking and build an online community through their website and blog. This would attract a younger audience! Even holding a website launch night with champagne would get the ball rolling! But they need to be dedicated to keeping the website updated to a high quality regularly.
My next task involved a series of phone calls convincing businesses to donate raffle prizes to the ‘Lipstick and Champagne’ night. My phone calls proved to be a success and I was proud of my gatherings:
- Tony and guy – 200 £10 off vouchers for every lady attending and a £150 voucher.
- Slug and lettuce - meal for 2.
-Body shop goody bag.
- £15 beauty salon voucher.
- 2 expensive tins of expensive tea.
-Bottle of perfume and Gwen Stefani watch.
Later, I wrote numerous letters to larger companies who required a the inquiry in letter form. I felt this also gave me confidence in constructing a letter for business especially in a discreet and persuading manner when asking for support and donations. I was once again pleased when my letters received no criticism!
Overall, I enjoyed the day; it gave me more confidence in my own ability especially writing press releases. I did not feel challenged by any of the tasks required from me and I felt that I fitted in the team well and worked together with everyone effectively. I received good feedback from the staff and felt happy with my work done.
Friday, 9 April 2010
St Barnabas Hospice
After pitching a PR proposal to the event’s organiser of St Barnabas hospice to launch their new fundraising event the ‘WAG’ walk I was delighted to come away with a week’s work experience organised for the last week of the Easter holidays.
My next few blogs will follow my day-to-day workings within the charity to monitor my experience and for my own personal records to analyse what I have learnt.
Firstly, I will fill you in quickly on what the charity does; St Barnabas Hospice is a Lincolnshire based charity that cares for patients with life threatening illnesses in their hospices. St Barnabas relies on fundraising and donations for its ability to run their charity and services.
They hold fundraising events at least once a month from sponsored walks, to a quiz night, balls, midnight walks and lunches etc. Currently, they are launching two major events the ladies ‘Lipstick and Champagne’ girls’ night out and the ‘WAG’ walk.
The lipstick and champagne night is a girls only night of glamour where ladies will enjoy a sumptuous meal followed by dinner, raffle, champagne draw, entertainment by tribute drag artiste ‘Lily Salvage’ and a disco.
The WAG walk was launched due to a criticism that the charity does not hold enough male only events. The event is a 5mile sponsored walk around Lincoln finishing in the city football club for a complimentary warm curry and a refreshing pint to watch the first England World Cup Match.
These are the events I worked on during my time at the fundraising office.
My next few blogs will follow my day-to-day workings within the charity to monitor my experience and for my own personal records to analyse what I have learnt.
Firstly, I will fill you in quickly on what the charity does; St Barnabas Hospice is a Lincolnshire based charity that cares for patients with life threatening illnesses in their hospices. St Barnabas relies on fundraising and donations for its ability to run their charity and services.
They hold fundraising events at least once a month from sponsored walks, to a quiz night, balls, midnight walks and lunches etc. Currently, they are launching two major events the ladies ‘Lipstick and Champagne’ girls’ night out and the ‘WAG’ walk.
The lipstick and champagne night is a girls only night of glamour where ladies will enjoy a sumptuous meal followed by dinner, raffle, champagne draw, entertainment by tribute drag artiste ‘Lily Salvage’ and a disco.
The WAG walk was launched due to a criticism that the charity does not hold enough male only events. The event is a 5mile sponsored walk around Lincoln finishing in the city football club for a complimentary warm curry and a refreshing pint to watch the first England World Cup Match.
These are the events I worked on during my time at the fundraising office.
The mission!
Admittedly, I haven’t been keeping up with my PR blog as much as I would have wished. It is a very difficult task when university work takes priority! Hopefully this will show in my grades...
An aspect of PR that has been greatly occupying my thoughts recently is – work experience and employment.
The thought of leaping into the world of employment straight after university without any experience is a bit daunting no matter what grade I achieve! I have therefore taken upon myself a mission - that between now (Easter) and September, before 3rd year begins ( eeek dissertation) to gather as much work experience as possible! This will hopefully prepare me and build my confidence and competence for the big bad world of work!
I will hopefully keep my blog posted with how my work experience is coming along, what I am getting up to and how it is helping me, however I seem to have a lot on my plate.
Applying the mission:
- I made a PR proposal to St Barnabas hospice suggesting ways in which their charity could use PR to their benefit.
- I have just finished a weeks work experience with St Barnabas Hospice In Lincoln(England).
- I have met with ASSISI animal sanctuary charity (N.Ireland) and discussed how PR can improve their charity and fundraising techniques. I am writing up a proposal and will implement aspects and help as much as possible during the summer holidays.
- I have also spoken to ‘Teddys’ a new restaurant in Bangor (N.Ireland)who is interested in some fresh PR ideas for the summer and who have taken on board my idea for a brand logo ‘Teddys Loving Care – TLC’.
- Additionally, I will be working in the PR department in the Northern Bank (N.Ireland) for two months this summer; I am very excited about this as the Northern Bank have won numerous CIPR awards, I will be able to watch and be part of succesful PR team!
I will be working on some specific campaigns and learning more about stakeholder relations especially government and council relations. This will develop my professional experience hugely and give me an indicator as to where I might like to work in the future whether it is in house or agency.
Wish me luck!! All guns blazing from here on in!!!
An aspect of PR that has been greatly occupying my thoughts recently is – work experience and employment.
The thought of leaping into the world of employment straight after university without any experience is a bit daunting no matter what grade I achieve! I have therefore taken upon myself a mission - that between now (Easter) and September, before 3rd year begins ( eeek dissertation) to gather as much work experience as possible! This will hopefully prepare me and build my confidence and competence for the big bad world of work!
I will hopefully keep my blog posted with how my work experience is coming along, what I am getting up to and how it is helping me, however I seem to have a lot on my plate.
Applying the mission:
- I made a PR proposal to St Barnabas hospice suggesting ways in which their charity could use PR to their benefit.
- I have just finished a weeks work experience with St Barnabas Hospice In Lincoln(England).
- I have met with ASSISI animal sanctuary charity (N.Ireland) and discussed how PR can improve their charity and fundraising techniques. I am writing up a proposal and will implement aspects and help as much as possible during the summer holidays.
- I have also spoken to ‘Teddys’ a new restaurant in Bangor (N.Ireland)who is interested in some fresh PR ideas for the summer and who have taken on board my idea for a brand logo ‘Teddys Loving Care – TLC’.
- Additionally, I will be working in the PR department in the Northern Bank (N.Ireland) for two months this summer; I am very excited about this as the Northern Bank have won numerous CIPR awards, I will be able to watch and be part of succesful PR team!
I will be working on some specific campaigns and learning more about stakeholder relations especially government and council relations. This will develop my professional experience hugely and give me an indicator as to where I might like to work in the future whether it is in house or agency.
Wish me luck!! All guns blazing from here on in!!!
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
update!!!!
My previous blogs have been about team work and my working style which I have found very useful when evaluating my own style and learning to be more aware of others styles. I haven’t written a PR blog in a long time but I am hoping to keep it more updated! I realise that I have no followers but I want to keep this blog updated for my own benefit and it will hopefully come into use for my dissertation next year!
I will be looking at whatever interests me during the week, or whatever takes my fancy! Currently, I am very interested in the use of new media technologies in Pr such as the internet, blogging, twitter, you tube etc. I have looked at a few of these technologies in my media blog but this blog will be purely PR based.
I hope that I have the time to keep on top of this blog!!!
I will be looking at whatever interests me during the week, or whatever takes my fancy! Currently, I am very interested in the use of new media technologies in Pr such as the internet, blogging, twitter, you tube etc. I have looked at a few of these technologies in my media blog but this blog will be purely PR based.
I hope that I have the time to keep on top of this blog!!!
Sunday, 10 January 2010
list of sources for previous blogs
List of sources
Avery S (2008) ‘A winning MRO Sourcing Strategy requires communication, teamwork.’ Purchasing. Vol 137 (12) 27.
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=4&did=1613628961&SrchMode=2&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1262881053&clientId=17200
http://changingminds.org/explanations/preferences/belbin.htm
[Website: Accessed 29/01/10]
Davis A (2004) ‘Mastering Public Relations’ Palgrave MacMillan: Hampshire.
Deo T (2003) ‘Integrity in PR will only come through collaboration’ Media. (P.15)
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=8&did=479868671&SrchMode=2&sid=4&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1263136251&clientId=17200
Crofts J (2009) – Lecture notes, The University of Lincoln.
Love K (2009) ‘Practise Growth: How Teamwork Creates Buzz and new Business’; CPA Practise Management forum. Vol 5 (1) 12.
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=3&did=1711821461&SrchMode=2&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1262881053&clientId=17200
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_83.htm
[Website: Accessed 29/01/10]
Avery S (2008) ‘A winning MRO Sourcing Strategy requires communication, teamwork.’ Purchasing. Vol 137 (12) 27.
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=4&did=1613628961&SrchMode=2&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1262881053&clientId=17200
http://changingminds.org/explanations/preferences/belbin.htm
[Website: Accessed 29/01/10]
Davis A (2004) ‘Mastering Public Relations’ Palgrave MacMillan: Hampshire.
Deo T (2003) ‘Integrity in PR will only come through collaboration’ Media. (P.15)
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=8&did=479868671&SrchMode=2&sid=4&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1263136251&clientId=17200
Crofts J (2009) – Lecture notes, The University of Lincoln.
Love K (2009) ‘Practise Growth: How Teamwork Creates Buzz and new Business’; CPA Practise Management forum. Vol 5 (1) 12.
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=3&did=1711821461&SrchMode=2&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1262881053&clientId=17200
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_83.htm
[Website: Accessed 29/01/10]
My Style!
My style and skills and who compliments it?
I am an active, confident doer and evidently I work best with Action Orientated role members as this suits my role and my style of work where I like to be active and tackle the task head on. However, I am also a people person who is considerate of the other members and tries to challenge and motivate them. Although I get on better with more extrovert people, the quieter introvert people probably compliment my work best such as a research or specialist role as they form the basis of the direction of my work. The more extrovert roles such as shaper or co-ordinator could possibly clash with my role depending on the situation. I understand that a researcher and specialist will compliment my style as they will cover areas of research more thoroughly then my style of work will. Despite this, I feel that an implementer might compliment my style best as it is an action orientated role that is reliable and efficient and that will work with me to get the job done.
My flaws….what flaws??
It is important to recognise your weak traits so that you are aware if them and the affect that they will have on other people and therefore, how to manage them.
Being an extrovert worker, I must ensure that I am sensitive to the other personalities of the group and accept the less confident and shyer personalities and encourage their full contribution ensure that their full potential is met.
Furthermore, it is vital that I do not forget the importance of the thought orientated roles as these people offer the basic foundation for your ideas and provide the research and work behind closed doors. I must remember that just because my role is more extrovert and heard it is not by any means more important or larger than any other role! Each role is vital for success and each role needs acted upon to its full potential to achieve ultimate success.
MY Dream Team!!!
In my opinion the perfect team would ensure every member was motivated and active. However, it is vital that there is an equal selection of action orientated, people orientated and thought orientated roles evident in the team. The dream team would include every role that Belbin identifies this would ensure every aspect of the task was thoroughly tackled. However, rarely would we ever be this lucky to have a team like this. Instead a team in which every member is motivated and aware of how to accept and work successfully with other personalities is vital. Each member should work hard to their full potential and encourage, motivate and praise the other members. It is important to be aware that this is a team effort and to maintain a high group moral!
What makes a good place to work in?
My dream job would be in a dynamic and innovative company with very high morale and appreciation for every member of staff. The company would ensure that the staff work as a team and focus on team building, any company whether big or small can make improvements on teamwork. The culture should ensure that everyone understands each others skills and recognises that each team member’s role is vital. There should be a common goal and a collaborative work style. I would like to work in a company that has an honest and open work ethic that has an emphasis on accountability and flexibility who celebrate success.
How can I benefit an organisation?
My personality is suited to that of a PR profession as I am confident, outgoing, dynamic and interesting. I thrive on my social skills and enjoy nothing more than meeting and learning about new people.
PR organisations need to work 24hours keeping up-to-date on developments within the media. I am confident that I can meet any organisations needs and would be an asset as I am motivated towards achieving goals and deadlines in a creative way offering hard work and enjoying a challenge. Tackling challenges is something I have individually learnt to do, I have faced challenges throughout my life in education, previous jobs and especially personally and with family. Despite this, I have overcome any challenge I have faced and it has only made me a stronger person. I thrive on being optimistic, independent and motivated. I can benefit a company by offering a strong, positive and dedicated personality.
Am I suited to in-house or Consultancy?
Benefits of In-house:
- Working for a PR department in a large company – public, private, public body, charity.
- Get to know the organisation in depth.
- A range of PR activities.
- Get to know the sector of the industry well.
Benefits of Consultancy:
- Practitioners work for one of more different clients for a fee.
- Work across many accounts.
- Variety of clients.
- Changing environments.
- Pitching for contracts – less secure.
- May work in specialist areas.
Deciding whether I am suited to an in-house or agency company better is a difficult discussion. When I graduate I hope to have had work experience in both aspects so that I can make a more informed decision.
Currently, working in a consultancy seems more attractive to me. This is because of the dynamic environment that it involves. I would thrive on meeting new people every day and beginning to work with them, building new relationships. Different Cultures and people particularly interest me in which I have studied in the media side of my degree. The client would be continually changing and I would learn a huge variety of new personalities and how I should work with them to meet their needs. I would prefer to work in a dynamic environment rather than a set environment such as an in-house department.
An in-house agency however still attracts me. I would enjoy working for a large organisation such as a charity that can also be a dynamic, changing and challenging environment. I do not think that I would be suited to working in an in-house department for a private organisation as the work and environment would be too monotonous for my personality.
I am undecided as to which option would benefit me most however; I am aware that any job that involves working in a dynamic and changing environment, continually meeting new people would suit my personality and work style.
To conclude….
This blog has outlined the importance of teamwork in the PR profession, teamwork touches every service line: Team efforts touch every service line: clients, recruiting and retention, internal and external relations and public relations. Every company needs to work on their team work skills as it is vital for success. How good your team works together will be obvious to clients and it is therefore vital to have a team that can work soundly together to create success and therefore a positive REPUTATION!!!
I am an active, confident doer and evidently I work best with Action Orientated role members as this suits my role and my style of work where I like to be active and tackle the task head on. However, I am also a people person who is considerate of the other members and tries to challenge and motivate them. Although I get on better with more extrovert people, the quieter introvert people probably compliment my work best such as a research or specialist role as they form the basis of the direction of my work. The more extrovert roles such as shaper or co-ordinator could possibly clash with my role depending on the situation. I understand that a researcher and specialist will compliment my style as they will cover areas of research more thoroughly then my style of work will. Despite this, I feel that an implementer might compliment my style best as it is an action orientated role that is reliable and efficient and that will work with me to get the job done.
My flaws….what flaws??
It is important to recognise your weak traits so that you are aware if them and the affect that they will have on other people and therefore, how to manage them.
Being an extrovert worker, I must ensure that I am sensitive to the other personalities of the group and accept the less confident and shyer personalities and encourage their full contribution ensure that their full potential is met.
Furthermore, it is vital that I do not forget the importance of the thought orientated roles as these people offer the basic foundation for your ideas and provide the research and work behind closed doors. I must remember that just because my role is more extrovert and heard it is not by any means more important or larger than any other role! Each role is vital for success and each role needs acted upon to its full potential to achieve ultimate success.
MY Dream Team!!!
In my opinion the perfect team would ensure every member was motivated and active. However, it is vital that there is an equal selection of action orientated, people orientated and thought orientated roles evident in the team. The dream team would include every role that Belbin identifies this would ensure every aspect of the task was thoroughly tackled. However, rarely would we ever be this lucky to have a team like this. Instead a team in which every member is motivated and aware of how to accept and work successfully with other personalities is vital. Each member should work hard to their full potential and encourage, motivate and praise the other members. It is important to be aware that this is a team effort and to maintain a high group moral!
What makes a good place to work in?
My dream job would be in a dynamic and innovative company with very high morale and appreciation for every member of staff. The company would ensure that the staff work as a team and focus on team building, any company whether big or small can make improvements on teamwork. The culture should ensure that everyone understands each others skills and recognises that each team member’s role is vital. There should be a common goal and a collaborative work style. I would like to work in a company that has an honest and open work ethic that has an emphasis on accountability and flexibility who celebrate success.
How can I benefit an organisation?
My personality is suited to that of a PR profession as I am confident, outgoing, dynamic and interesting. I thrive on my social skills and enjoy nothing more than meeting and learning about new people.
PR organisations need to work 24hours keeping up-to-date on developments within the media. I am confident that I can meet any organisations needs and would be an asset as I am motivated towards achieving goals and deadlines in a creative way offering hard work and enjoying a challenge. Tackling challenges is something I have individually learnt to do, I have faced challenges throughout my life in education, previous jobs and especially personally and with family. Despite this, I have overcome any challenge I have faced and it has only made me a stronger person. I thrive on being optimistic, independent and motivated. I can benefit a company by offering a strong, positive and dedicated personality.
Am I suited to in-house or Consultancy?
Benefits of In-house:
- Working for a PR department in a large company – public, private, public body, charity.
- Get to know the organisation in depth.
- A range of PR activities.
- Get to know the sector of the industry well.
Benefits of Consultancy:
- Practitioners work for one of more different clients for a fee.
- Work across many accounts.
- Variety of clients.
- Changing environments.
- Pitching for contracts – less secure.
- May work in specialist areas.
Deciding whether I am suited to an in-house or agency company better is a difficult discussion. When I graduate I hope to have had work experience in both aspects so that I can make a more informed decision.
Currently, working in a consultancy seems more attractive to me. This is because of the dynamic environment that it involves. I would thrive on meeting new people every day and beginning to work with them, building new relationships. Different Cultures and people particularly interest me in which I have studied in the media side of my degree. The client would be continually changing and I would learn a huge variety of new personalities and how I should work with them to meet their needs. I would prefer to work in a dynamic environment rather than a set environment such as an in-house department.
An in-house agency however still attracts me. I would enjoy working for a large organisation such as a charity that can also be a dynamic, changing and challenging environment. I do not think that I would be suited to working in an in-house department for a private organisation as the work and environment would be too monotonous for my personality.
I am undecided as to which option would benefit me most however; I am aware that any job that involves working in a dynamic and changing environment, continually meeting new people would suit my personality and work style.
To conclude….
This blog has outlined the importance of teamwork in the PR profession, teamwork touches every service line: Team efforts touch every service line: clients, recruiting and retention, internal and external relations and public relations. Every company needs to work on their team work skills as it is vital for success. How good your team works together will be obvious to clients and it is therefore vital to have a team that can work soundly together to create success and therefore a positive REPUTATION!!!
Experiencing Team Work!!
Every occasion that I work in a team it challenges me to adapt to the different styles and personalities of the members. However, this is a skill that I feel I have developed and is further developing, by the time I graduate I am confident that I will be accomplished in it.
I evaluated the different team members of this particular occasion and decided on what I felt their roles were in our team. This is my opinion and it may therefore be incorrect or inaccurate:
Member A/ Myself: Shaper and Co-ordinator.
Member B: Monitor/ Evaluator.
Member C: Implementer.
Member D: Completer/Finisher.
Member E: Co-ordinator.
Member F: Monitor/Evaluator.
From my evaluation it is evident that our group lacked a number of roles that are vital for success. I feel that our team could have worked better had these roles been included. Perhaps our team could have benefited from a specialist member for more in-depth research.
Over time, I have noticed that I work better with the more extrovert members who are more active members of the group offering original ideas to the table who I feel have a larger contribution to the task. In this particular task two of the other members were extrovert and the remaining three were more introvert building quietly on the ideas offered. I understand that as an extrovert person I must be sensitive of those less at ease of contributing, I therefore continually try to include and motivate the quieter members asking if they had any ideas or anything they would like to add, or whether they thought our ideas are good.
Tackling the issues we encountered:
It was evident that one group member wanted to complete aspects of the task alone; however we avoided this emphasising that it is a group task. Understandably, people prefer to work alone and often work better alone, and in this case I would suggest that by choice they work alone on aspects of the task to their taste but bring the ideas to the team who can then develop upon them.
In addition, one other group member lacks motivation and leaves things to the last minute. We must accept that this is her style and motivate the member to develop her work gradually rather than leaving it to the last minute. We ensured that this was the case by organising weekly meetings at an arranged permanent slot in our timetable that suited every team member. All the team members were dedicated and consistent at attending the meetings which then motivated the less motivated member to also attend and contribute to the task.
How to get things done? – Motivation and dedication!
As previously mentioned we set aside a specific time for our group meetings which ensured that we completed our campaign and developed our pitch in time for the deadline. At the end of each meeting we discussed what would be completed in the meeting next week. All members were flexible on the length of the meeting depending on what needed completed, we all dedicated the afternoon for our group work no matter how long the tasks took.
To begin the task we discussed what aspects needed included, what we needed to research and what we wanted to pay special attention to. Our group benefited hugely from brainstorming and taking turns to type recording our ideas as we discussed them. We ‘bashed things out’ where everyone’s opinion was offered to the table and we later drew rational conclusions and developed them.
To keep all the members motivated and continually thinking about the task we set up a group email and we would add any ideas that we may have thought of during the day. By reminding the members of the task meant that we would subconsciously think about task and therefore become inspired and draw ideas from everyday life. Furthermore, it is beneficial to practise using the technique of email when working within a group as Pr practitioners use internal emails everyday as a form of communication in their job.
What needed improved?
Our team would have benefited to a bigger variety of people including more thought orientated roles rather than more active of people orientated roles. Apart from this, all the members worked well together and got on well.
I evaluated the different team members of this particular occasion and decided on what I felt their roles were in our team. This is my opinion and it may therefore be incorrect or inaccurate:
Member A/ Myself: Shaper and Co-ordinator.
Member B: Monitor/ Evaluator.
Member C: Implementer.
Member D: Completer/Finisher.
Member E: Co-ordinator.
Member F: Monitor/Evaluator.
From my evaluation it is evident that our group lacked a number of roles that are vital for success. I feel that our team could have worked better had these roles been included. Perhaps our team could have benefited from a specialist member for more in-depth research.
Over time, I have noticed that I work better with the more extrovert members who are more active members of the group offering original ideas to the table who I feel have a larger contribution to the task. In this particular task two of the other members were extrovert and the remaining three were more introvert building quietly on the ideas offered. I understand that as an extrovert person I must be sensitive of those less at ease of contributing, I therefore continually try to include and motivate the quieter members asking if they had any ideas or anything they would like to add, or whether they thought our ideas are good.
Tackling the issues we encountered:
It was evident that one group member wanted to complete aspects of the task alone; however we avoided this emphasising that it is a group task. Understandably, people prefer to work alone and often work better alone, and in this case I would suggest that by choice they work alone on aspects of the task to their taste but bring the ideas to the team who can then develop upon them.
In addition, one other group member lacks motivation and leaves things to the last minute. We must accept that this is her style and motivate the member to develop her work gradually rather than leaving it to the last minute. We ensured that this was the case by organising weekly meetings at an arranged permanent slot in our timetable that suited every team member. All the team members were dedicated and consistent at attending the meetings which then motivated the less motivated member to also attend and contribute to the task.
How to get things done? – Motivation and dedication!
As previously mentioned we set aside a specific time for our group meetings which ensured that we completed our campaign and developed our pitch in time for the deadline. At the end of each meeting we discussed what would be completed in the meeting next week. All members were flexible on the length of the meeting depending on what needed completed, we all dedicated the afternoon for our group work no matter how long the tasks took.
To begin the task we discussed what aspects needed included, what we needed to research and what we wanted to pay special attention to. Our group benefited hugely from brainstorming and taking turns to type recording our ideas as we discussed them. We ‘bashed things out’ where everyone’s opinion was offered to the table and we later drew rational conclusions and developed them.
To keep all the members motivated and continually thinking about the task we set up a group email and we would add any ideas that we may have thought of during the day. By reminding the members of the task meant that we would subconsciously think about task and therefore become inspired and draw ideas from everyday life. Furthermore, it is beneficial to practise using the technique of email when working within a group as Pr practitioners use internal emails everyday as a form of communication in their job.
What needed improved?
Our team would have benefited to a bigger variety of people including more thought orientated roles rather than more active of people orientated roles. Apart from this, all the members worked well together and got on well.
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