Tag: client service

How I get it done – finding balance and managing time as a working mom

Written by Hayley Rakus on February 15, 2024. Posted in Firm Culture.

I recently returned to The Reis Group after maternity leave. As a mother of three kids under the age of five and a Managing Supervisor at TRG, I juggle many roles in my personal and professional life.

As I’ve transitioned back to work, I’ve been reflecting on how we get it all done, as PR professionals and human beings. Regardless of what stage you’re at in your career, or whether you have kids or other dependents at home, managing your time and energy effectively is essential to success and overall happiness. While it usually seems impossible to attain that perfect balance between work and home, there are simple things we can do to make our lives more organized, more intentional and more satisfying.

Here are some of the best pieces of advice I’ve received from some well-balanced friends and role models over the course of my career that I’ve been reminding myself as I transition back to being a working mom:

Make your bed in the morning.

I’m proud to be married to an active-duty service member. While his military training has taught him many things, including how to fly a plane, one of the most impactful things it has taught him is to make his bed in the morning – every morning, no matter what. There is something powerful about starting off your day in this small, intentional, disciplined way. You set the tone for the rest of the day and no matter what happens, at least you’ve made your bed!

Learn the difference between what is urgent and what is important.

To successfully manage your workload, you need to understand the difference between an urgent task and an important one. Especially in the fast-paced world of PR, every incoming email can seem like a potential fire drill. We are inundated with client demands, a chaotic news cycle and near constant social media notifications, which means you need to get an ironclad grip on what’s important and what’s truly urgent so that you can prioritize your tasks and deliver on client goals. The same rule applies for your personal life and your relationships. Know what is really urgent and what is only important.

Here is a Harvard Business Review article, about the “Eisenhower Matrix,” a useful tool you can use to plot your tasks and help you visualize urgent vs. important.

Make a plan and work your plan.

My mom, who raised five kids while starting her own interior design business, reminds me of this whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed and stressed out – and it applies to every aspect of your life. From weekly meal planning to managing a complex client project – make your plan and then work that plan, one step at a time. At work, online project management tools can be helpful in breaking down bigger projects into manageable steps and visualizing the full scope of a project.

Take breaks!

No one is a robot. Breaks are important. We need fuel, fresh air and mental breathing room. This recent Harvard Business Review article, points out a key distinction: we have only a finite amount of time each day, but our energy can constantly be renewed. If we can manage our physical and mental energy better, we can get more done within the confines of our time. Even though it can seem impossible with a busy workload, we must make time to take a short walk. Do some stretching. Build breaks into your day or risk burning out. Still don’t believe me? This Harvard Business Review article spells out the importance of work breaks and how to make them count.

Keep your pencils sharp.

My grandfather, who worked at a New York City advertising agency during the “Madmen” era, used to give this advice. While we may not use pencils very much anymore, the implication is still sound. Present yourself well. Be polished. Spellcheck. In the era of endless distractions, stay focused and know what your goals are – both personally and professionally. Attention to detail really matters in PR and in life – demonstrate that you understand that and success will follow.

Being a Conscious Leader in Today’s PR Landscape

Written by Tiana Ware on February 2, 2024. Posted in Firm Culture.

As a GenZ-er early in my PR career, I am in the process of being transitioned into a role as an account manager. It’s a challenging and exciting prospect to begin to find my own voice and develop my own approach to management.

With the support of my managers at The Reis Group, I decided to attend a conference called Conscious People Management for Team Success to help me learn a management style to make my colleagues feel supported and inspired. The two-day conference was eye-opening, with a plethora of tips and tricks. But my main takeaway was an important lesson that will guide my personal development: Feedback is the most powerful and important gift that you can give—and receive.

Nearly three years into my health care PR career, I’ve been learning the great value of clear and intentional feedback. My supervisors’ suggestions are helping me grow my skillset and increase my efficiency while continuing to produce high-quality work. Through this process, I’ve realized that my perfectionist tendencies sometimes cause me to spend longer than necessary on a project. I needed to spend less time with some tasks because it was impacting deadlines and the overall momentum of projects. To remedy this, they provided a few examples of smart strategies that can help: Give myself strict timeframes for each task. Create a plan for my day before jumping into assignments so that my daily priorities are clear.

A great takeaway from these conversations was realizing the value of good feedback. I didn’t feel that I’d been judged or criticized. Instead, they affirmed my experience by acknowledging that balancing thoughtful work and getting the job done quickly and efficiently can be difficult, especially when you want to deliver for the team and, ultimately, the client.

My managers focused on being solution-oriented, and building on my strengths. They also provided great suggestions, like sharing their own tools for time management, creating daily to-do lists and setting up weekly team check-ins.

Learning the value of receiving feedback is one thing, but the idea of being in a managerial role and giving feedback in potentially uncomfortable conversations felt pretty intimidating.

As I’m transitioning to an account manager role, I’m wondering how to approach these difficult and vital conversations. How do I develop the best possible tone and the most useful structure for these feedback sessions? Management consultants preach various tactics, but I needed to figure out my own way.

The leader of the Conscious People Management for Team Success seminar stressed that these conversations should be focused and specific, positioned in a way that propels both individual and team growth. She suggested four steps:

Share actionable insights.
Highlight data for development.
Provide information that enables improvement.
Brainstorm ideas to help you grow.

Soon after the seminar, I had the chance to give feedback to a colleague. Before I met with her, I sat down and listed what she did well with an assignment because I knew she’d put in a lot of effort. Then I noted the three specific areas that needed work, and I thought about what she could do to improve. Then, I planned to give her encouragement by reiterating the good things she did and being upbeat about what she needed to do moving forward.

With the tips I’d learned, I felt prepared to have a productive conversation. We first discussed areas where she shined. I also asked about her own self-evaluation so I could better understand where she was coming from. I was quickly able to identify some confusion about the assignment and areas of disconnect. We were able to find a few specific examples of how she could improve her work.

We both left the conversation feeling positive and motivated. I had reminded myself to stick to my plan to lead with empathy and understanding. For me, the biggest triumph from that conversation was that she felt supported and inspired to take on similar tasks moving forward and wasn’t discouraged or defeated by the feedback.

My first experience with giving feedback was a learning opportunity for both of us. Rethinking the concept of feedback to see it as a “gift” is a powerful way to make our teams stronger. It fosters trust and inspiration among us, which allows us to better serve our clients. Most importantly, it serves as a reminder that no matter where you are in your career, there is always so much more to learn, and being open to it can help strengthen you as a person and a teammate.

Building the Hybrid Office of the Future—Today

Written by Sharon Reis on October 5, 2023. Posted in Firm Culture.

How to maintain a vibrant culture, build a bond with team members and foster productivity in today’s new work environment.

This article also appeared in O’Dwyer’s health care issue.

The way we work has completely changed. People who have spent their careers commuting to the office five days a week now greatly value the freedom of new work-from-home and hybrid policies. Younger people who have spent most of their careers working from home with great flexibility see this as the new normal. So, how do you build a high-performance team, a vibrant culture and a dynamic company in this new environment?

This is the cultural challenge we’re all facing in setting new norms in a post-COVID workplace. According to The Center for Creative Leadership, “Team norms are a set of rules or operating principles that shape team members’ interactions. Norms establish how the work will get done and what team members can expect from one another.”

This is our strong new focus at The Reis Group: creating new norms while continuing to build trust and respect in a post-pandemic, hybrid-all-the-time workplace. Most importantly, we’re creating the future of our health care PR agency together.

Recently, I made a somewhat bold decision to renew the lease for our office space in Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C., even though we come to the office only two days a week. This decision surprised some people. Why would I saddle us with a long-term lease when we rarely use the space?

The fact is, I strongly believe I need to be in the presence of the team on a regular basis. I want interpersonal connections. I want to be able to read non-verbal communication. I want to have idle conversations standing in the kitchen while getting a coffee or heating up my lunch. I believe these relationships create a bond, help further meaning and purpose, and strengthen the team.

I’m fully aware that our colleagues are just as productive working from home. I don’t question that at all. In fact, several of our most-valued team members are full-time remote. But what I value most are relationships, especially with early career colleagues. I want the ability to mentor and train them in person. I believe this creates loyalty, fosters sharing, builds emotional connections beyond work and provides a sense of belonging to something larger. Without that, jobs become merely transactional, with people working for the highest bidder.

“Having in-person connections contributes to growth in every way—the team, the culture and the personal and professional relationships. I’ve seen it firsthand,” said Kathleen Petty, TRG Senior Vice President. “Being able to feel the pulse of the office; knowing which clients are hot; and who might be having a bad day are all important for supporting and valuing each other.”

While renewing our lease, we’re also making a significant change. We’re renovating and, more importantly, shrinking our office space. When I made this announcement to the team, I was met with many questions. Are we not growing? Will we still hire new team members? My answer was yes and yes. Consolidating office space is strictly economics. I couldn’t justify renting a larger space that gets used only twice a week. Clients aren’t traveling like they used to, so face-to-face meetings are not a daily occurrence anymore.

Team members don’t want to commute every single day, and neither do I. Why spend hours stuck in traffic or on the Metro, when I can spend that precious time walking the dog, working out, preparing a meal or maybe sleeping later? So, how do we make the most of the two days that the team spends together in the office? How do we make it different than working at home?

“The last thing anybody wants is to come into the office and spend the whole day in back-to-back virtual meetings,” said Stacy Skelly, TRG Senior Vice President. “So, we are consciously planning professional development and team-building experiences for the in-office days. And the team seems pretty excited about using our time together to build ties that go beyond client work alone.”

“What stands out to me in a positive way is the chance for professional development and career progress,” said Molly Ashmore, a second-year account executive, “I love how much TRG invests in us to make us the best PR professionals we can be. I really feel like I have grown exponentially and I’m learning new skills every day. For an entry-level professional, it’s been great.”

“The hybrid work environment has been a big advantage for me. I’ve been fully immersed in the firm’s culture for nearly two years,” said Matthew Porter, Account Executive. “I’ve actually been thinking about relocating to another city, and keeping my job isn’t a factor. With a strong sense of the agency culture and the client experience, I can work from anywhere.”

The hybrid, flexible work environment has also changed how benefits are perceived. Several years ago, we decided to eliminate sick leave and merge those days into PTO so everyone received the benefit and the time to focus on their health and well-being, without having to explain their time off. Longtime team members understood and appreciated the flexibility, but a younger, newer colleague was upset by it. She’d become accustomed to the freedom of hybrid work over most of her five-year career, but now she was irritated and wanted to know why her doctors’ appointments needed to come out of her PTO time.

“What we are seeing is a need to address and explain benefits in greater detail during our monthly team meetings,” said Andrea Holmes, Director of Operations at TRG. “The hybrid, flexible and decentralized work environment needs to have parameters and boundaries for employees to thrive.”

We’re also reevaluating some of our customary practices. “If your flexible workday ends at 5:30, we’re telling people not to send colleagues an email with a detailed to-do list or a document for review until the next morning,” said Lauren Musiol, TRG Senior Vice President. “We’ve also heard from the team that getting an email or a Teams call for a new project late on Friday afternoon can cause undue stress over their weekend. This is a prime example of why we’re focused on creating new norms together. We want it to be perfectly clear to everyone that unless one of our clients is in a crisis, we want to be respectful of people’s lives outside of the office,” she said, “We now strongly encourage the use of the delayed-delivery messaging option in Outlook.”

One of our veteran senior employees has been caring for a sick parent living in another state. Several times this year, she has needed to pick up and take turns helping organize his care. Our agency policy is that as long as you have high-quality Wi-Fi so you can effectively participate in virtual client and team meetings and access needed files, we’ll make it work. We don’t allow working in public spaces because much of our client work is confidential. We’ve had some bumps along the way with implementing this policy. Some have tried to work from trains and airports instead of taking PTO. Bad Wi-Fi connections can make their work time more frustrating than productive and diminishes the client experience significantly.

In building the health care PR agency of the future, we’re creating new norms and shared expectations for how we work with each other. I’m excited about the future, although I recognize that change is hard; super hard. Yet when I think about what our agency workplace and culture will be by this time next year, I couldn’t be happier.

How to Conquer Zoom: Webinar Edition

Written by Tiana Ware on August 10, 2023. Posted in Elevating Reputations.

Since the start of COVID-19, we all experienced a mass migration into the virtual world. Over time, as America’s businesses and organizations are moving to a hybrid work environment, it’s still clear that Zoom is here to stay. Realizing that this would be our new normal, The Reis group has concentrated on how to maintain—and improve—our high level of client service by mastering this ubiquitous platform.

A key service that we provide for our clients is conducting virtual media briefings through Zoom’s webinar feature. As a health care PR agency, it’s our job to think through the key logistics of the platform, set benchmarks for materials development, and become experts in the platform and all its features. Conducting a Zoom webinar incorporates many moving parts. It’s not rocket science, but there are some important things to know.

Here are a few “tricks of the trade” to ensure your next webinar is a success!

Know the platform. Zoom, like other platforms, is constantly making changes to improve the user’s experience. As a designated “Zoom guru,” it’s your job to stay updated on updates. One of the best ways is by engaging with the platform at least once a day leading up to your virtual event and scheduling several practice sessions with your client. Recently, during a practice session, we noticed that Zoom’s annotation feature had been unexpectedly enabled. This could have been disastrous because it would have allowed non-host panelists to make live annotations or comments on the PowerPoint slide deck. Could you imagine the disruption that could have caused? We were able to quickly disable the feature and add that to the growing list of items to check each day to ensure a successful event.

Have a plan, but also be agile! Developing a detailed step-by-step timeline is super important. This ensures that all players are aligned on key activities such as developing the slide deck, disseminating the registration links, scheduling practice sessions, etc. The reality, though, is that we sometimes will be forced to scrap our plans to meet a client’s evolving needs—and that’s ok! I recently experienced this with a client, so we immediately scheduled additional check-ins, adjusted the timeline, and identified areas where extra support was needed. Clear communication and quick strategic thinking helped us to produce a high-quality webinar.

Remember to breathe. Doing your homework and having a good plan are crucial. But even with safeguards in place, things can go wrong—and often will. Recently, we were live during a webinar, but instead of sharing the slide deck, the host’s email inbox was shown by mistake. We quickly informed them privately and hardly missed a beat. When things go wrong, it’s easy to panic. Instead, I was able to remember to remain present—and to breathe! Remaining calm gives you a chance to respond in a timely thoughtful way and diffuse your anxiety. When the inevitable mistakes are made, our best service to our client is to just stay cool and carry on.

Running a Zoom webinar can be intimidating but it’s also an opportunity to build skills and position yourself as an expert. I often look at conducting webinars as a reminder to be committed to the process of learning—being open and hungry for new information. The Zoom platform is ever evolving but if we plan ahead and stay cool, we evolve too.

Four considerations to integrate AI into your health care PR practices

Written by Stacy Skelly on July 12, 2023. Posted in Firm Culture.

For the public relations industry, as for nearly every sector right now, artificial intelligence remains largely an unknown. AI’s ethical use is hotly debated. Its capability to accelerate our work is unmatched. Yet none of us can fully comprehend the impact it will have on health care PR practices or on health care overall.

In fact, the Federal Trade Commission is currently investigating generative AI platform ChatGPT. According to The New York Times, the investigation is based on “its collection of data and its publication of false information on individuals.” With the increasing adoption of this technology, it is crucial that we stay up to date with the advancements but remain cautious of the results.

That’s why our TRG team is staying connected to the changing nature of AI and know there are multiple avenues to explore:

AI-based services create new efficiencies for our team. We’ve been using it to create new efficiencies and enable our employees to spend their time on higher-level thinking. For example, our team now uses an AI-based service that transcribes voluminous material within minutes, enabling our staff to spend more time on higher-impact work such as our message-testing and commentary-development processes.

Generative AI, like ChatGPT, is a great tool for brainstorming. AI can elevate brainstorming to a new level. Stuck on how to reach a new audience? Looking for ideas on a tag line? Considering what tactics might work for a PR campaign? Now, a simple online query can eliminate the challenge of a blank screen and get those creative juices flowing. We intend to use ChatGPT to jump-start the creative process when needed. But this comes with a caveat: nothing generated by these programs should be taken at face value and used without careful checking. We also will not input confidential internal or client data into these platforms, which could then make that information available to others.

Accuracy is an issue and needs to be monitored. Another huge challenge with these programs is their potential to spread misinformation and disinformation and promote biases. In fact, AI sites even caution that their outputs might contain factual errors. So, while it might seem like the sky is falling—and the robots will soon be cranking out press releases and messaging platforms—there’s no replicating the human touch. We still have expertise and know-how that ChatGPT doesn’t. And it is our responsibility to ensure client content is accurate and fair. We’ll also be working with our vendors to closely monitor their use of AI.

Staying ahead of the technology will make us better PR pros. It would be easy to try to ignore the trend toward AI and let somebody else figure it out. But at TRG, we are always seeking innovative ways to meet client needs. AI has the potential to boost our creativity and speed our workflow as we give our clients cutting-edge communications advice. My research in ChatGPT, for instance, recently helped me provide guidance to a client considering the best way to announce AI enhancements to its own technology platforms.

My career in public relations has already seen massive shifts in how we do our work. AI is the next frontier. Rather than retreating from the unknowns, we believe that learning how AI can improve our skills will only make us better communicators.

Building Successful Connections in a Remote Working World

Written by Madeleine Roberts on May 16, 2022. Posted in Firm Culture.

When I joined The Reis Group in September 2021, I was starting a fully remote job for the first time. As an introvert, the thought of meeting new coworkers and clients, networking with reporters, and trying to get the feel of a new workplace already felt overwhelming. Knowing that I would be doing all these things over video calls meant that I knew I would need to have a strong plan in place to succeed.

Now, more than six months into my role at this Washington D.C.-based public relations agency, I’ve found a variety of strategies that have helped build relationships in the remote working world, especially as someone who is naturally more reserved. The key lies in finding a balance between being prepared and professional, stretching past your comfort zone to connect with others, and letting your personality shine through.

Building connections with reporters

Successful earned media strategy and outreach relies on two things: a strong story angle and a strong reporter connection. Building and maintaining relationships with reporters depends on establishing their trust that you are a helpful resource. Most importantly, ensure that reporters associate your name with someone who is quick to respond, who will always follow up and follow through, and who is easy to work with. But if you’re going to be working with reporters strictly on a remote basis, you may need to consider additional ways to make your connection stronger.

Don’t be afraid to personalize communications with reporters who you find yourself working with most often. For example, stay up to date with their recent stories, and reference them in pitches. Taking a few extra minutes to show reporters that you’re paying attention and appreciate their work can go a long way towards them keeping you in mind as a valued source.

Building connections with clients

In my experience, trying to get to know clients over video calls still feels strange, even more than two years into the pandemic. I’ve found that one key to starting off right is to have a quick introduction prepared and ready in advance of meetings. That way, when it comes time to introduce yourself, you can jump in with a smile and communicate the most important things that the client needs to know – including how excited you are to be working with them. Practicing ahead of time never hurts either.

Finding time for meet-and-greets outside of regular meetings can also help build connections with clients. Getting to know the individuals that you’ll be working with most closely is important to establishing and maintaining a productive working relationship. Prepare a list of questions in advance to ask the client about their work and how you can best help them achieve their public relations goals.

Building connections with colleagues

Finally, it’s important to work well with the people on your internal team. The teammates that we work with day in and day out are the ones who have each other’s backs and make sure the work gets done at the end of the day. Let your personality shine through the webcam so your colleagues can get to know the real you – and then you can’t go wrong.

Water-cooler type conversations are hard to have over video, so make a point of asking colleagues how they’re doing whenever you have the chance. And stay engaged as meetings start or when they end a few minutes early. Find five virtual minutes to connect with colleagues outside of regular meeting times, and you’ll soon feel like you’ve been working together for a long while.

I was recently able to meet some of my colleagues in person for the first time since starting with The Reis Group, and was so happy to find that we were easily able to pick up in person where we’d left off over video screens. The effort that my colleagues and I had made to get to know each other virtually was definitely worth it.

It may seem intimidating to start a new job remotely, but remember that you’re not alone. If you’re prepared and have a smile ready for everyone you meet, you are well on your way to making a good impression and succeeding as a colleague and a public relations professional.

The Three Ps for a Successful Presentation

Written by Lauren Musiol on April 12, 2022. Posted in Elevating Reputations.

In the world of health care public relations agencies, presentations take on many forms – sharing findings from environmental scans and landscape analyses, presenting patient education and awareness programs, and providing updates on thought leadership efforts to name a few. This can be a daunting task for those of us who aren’t natural public speakers, but it’s an essential skillset you can build and improve.

No matter what the presentation is – big or small, internal or external – proper preparation is the key to ensuring your ideas are conveyed in an effective and confident manner and that the presentation is ultimately a success.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

Outlined below are the three Ps for ensuring a successful presentation.

Preparation

First and foremost, always know precisely what is expected of you going into any presentation.

From a content perspective, will you be responsible for providing an update or two? Are you owning specific PowerPoint slides as part of a larger presentation? Are you leading the entire presentation?

From a logistical perspective, for an in-person meeting, do you need to ensure a specific document is up on the screen in the meeting room or materials are printed and laid out? If the meeting is virtual, does your backdrop showcase professionalism and do you have the necessary documents open, with any distractions minimized?

Regardless of your role, arriving or logging on a few minutes early for any presentation is always important. Make sure you have your notes ready and get yourself a glass of water. This may seem obvious but taking those extra few minutes will allow you time to collect yourself and prepare mentally before the presentation begins. It will also provide a cushion should any technical difficulties arise.

Planning

Outlining your presentation and associated talking points is another way to ensure your success. The purpose of this exercise is not to provide a finished document to read from. Writing out your talking points will help you gather and organize your thoughts, as well as help you highlight important points you want to hit home. It’s OK to glance at your notes periodically and use them to jog your memory and keep you on track during your presentation, but don’t use them as a crutch. Your audience can tell when you are reading, and it takes away your credibility as a presenter.

Practice

Don’t underestimate the importance of practicing your presentation ahead of time – both on your own and with a colleague. Even if you are completely confident on the topic and have developed your notes to guide you, actually speaking your thoughts out loud is a different ballgame. Practicing your presentation will help you identify any sections that are causing you to stumble and will ultimately help you convey confidence on the day of your presentation.

It’s also important to rehearse with any technology, such as advancing slides or playing video clips, that you plan to use during the real presentation. This will help you avoid any unexpected mishaps and will be one less thing for you to worry about during the presentation.

Remember, building your presentation skills takes time and won’t happen overnight. Ask your colleagues for feedback after each presentation so you can use each opportunity as a chance to learn and grow. And keep these three Ps – preparation, planning, and practice – top of mind to ensure your success!

Deploying an Unexpectedly Powerful Tool in Public Relations: Empathy

Written by Beth Casteel on January 12, 2022. Posted in Elevating Reputations.

Public relations and communications professionals have many skills in our toolboxes that we develop and refine over our careers. One of the most important—and one of the least discussed—is the power of empathy. It could be called a skill sharpener because it can make every other tool we deploy more effective.

Seeing the world from the point of view of others, even those we passionately disagree with, is essential to every aspect of communications: writing, editing, working with media, crisis communications, and even collaborating with our colleagues and supporting our clients.

Writing and editing require us to put ourselves in the position of the reader. As we write, it is essential to think about how words will look, sound, and feel to someone else. Is the writing clear and readable, even for someone who isn’t familiar with the subject? Does it set the right tone and pace for what you want to accomplish? Good writing comes not just from picking the right words and structure, but from stepping back and reacting to the words as a reader coming to it the first time. It requires checking your own reactions as you read, write, and review from a place of empathy.

Media pitching can be much more effective if you have an in-depth understanding of the journalist’s viewpoint, including insight into how news organizations work. Thinking about your audience for pitching can be like a funhouse mirror because you must consider the reporter’s point of view as well as the viewpoint of their audience and the perspective of the editors that the journalist certainly has in mind in deciding what to cover—or not. When planning a pitch, keep in mind what it’s like for a reporter to be on the receiving end of dozens or even hundreds of pitches a day. Empathy and some research into the reporter’s beat can help you highlight what’s in your organization’s or your client’s interest that is valuable to the reporter and their readers.

Crisis communications should start with putting yourself in the shoes of the intended audience. A wise communicator once told me that in a crisis you should remember words attributed to Teddy Roosevelt, “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” The first step in communicating in a crisis is understanding and acknowledging the pain or difficulty that other people are experiencing due to the crisis. (Recall, for example, the BP oil company CEO who memorably complained, “I want my life back,” in the aftermath of the massive 2010 oil spill that killed 11 workers and destroyed the livelihoods of countless Louisianans’ who relied on tourism and fishing for a living.) Without that first attempt at empathy, no one cares what you have to say.

Empathy also makes you a better colleague, consultant, and client. It is easier to understand the views of people you work with if you’ve been on multiple sides of these relationships. Even if you haven’t experienced it all, it is important to ask sensitive questions and listen carefully to the answers. Remembering what it was like to be new to a job or just learning a field, or trying to understand the pressures your colleagues or bosses are under, can go a long way in building relationships. Recognizing others’ desires to be recognized and understanding the full scope of all the demands that your clients face make everyone happier and more effective.

Developing empathy takes self-awareness and an effort to deliberately seek and understand other viewpoints. Watching and reading news that presents opinions opposing your own can be disconcerting, uncomfortable, and even painful. Persuasion theory, and our experience in the current pandemic, tells us that bombarding people with facts doesn’t change minds. Asking questions, listening, and sharing are the more effective first steps.

There’s No “I” in Team, but “Client” Belongs in Great Teamwork

Written by Beth Casteel on July 21, 2020. Posted in Firm Culture.

One of the pleasures of working for a boutique health care public relations agency is the teamwork that is possible or, in my view, required, to do top-notch work for our clients. The Reis Group has small teams dedicated to each of our clients, but we readily reach outside assigned teams to tap the strengths and expertise of colleagues. For instance, I might grab a co-worker to brainstorm a subject line for a media pitch, and another colleague will ask me for feedback on a commentary or news release for another team. Or when there is an urgent deadline, we may pull a larger team together to get a job done.

This collaboration is even better when we work in this same team spirit with our clients.

Recently, a client asked us to expand a short article we had written with them into a substantial piece for a professional journal—with a deadline just three days away. Since the journal only publishes twice a year, this was the only chance to get their timely story and insights onto this forum for their peers.

This was a significant effort in a short time. We told the client that to meet the deadline, we needed answers to a list of questions and links to supporting research by the next morning. Internally, my team cleared the decks for me for a day and a half so I could dig into the background, do additional research, and draft an article that would meet the standards of the target journal.

We feared the client would be discouraged by the timeline, but instead, they responded, “We’re on it!” By morning, we had detailed responses and great links to additional research to support the main points of the article. They had divided and conquered with their own team effort on this part of the project.

The client’s can-do enthusiasm jacked up my motivation. Eager to make this a win for them, I doubled down and completed a draft ahead of schedule. My team covered for me in meetings, helped juggle other projects, and created endnotes, a cover letter, and bios required for the journal article submission.

Our internal editor cleared his schedule to give the article some final tweaks, and we had a well-researched and well-written 1,300-word draft that was enthusiastically received by the client in plenty of time for them to review and submit.

Positive attitude and enthusiastic teamwork changed a daunting project into a fun and rewarding effort.

5 Tips for Health Care Public Relations During COVID-19

Written by Stacy Skelly on May 18, 2020. Posted in Firm Culture.

COVID-19 is overtaking news coverage and overturning every aspect of health care public relations. This unique environment presents new challenges, as well as new opportunities. As the account manager for two health care clients directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, I have learned first-hand that navigating clients through this atmosphere requires taking risks, being flexible, and savoring the small victories.

With that in mind, here are five tips for managing health care PR in the time of COVID-19:

1. Take Risks, but Be Realistic

This is a time to try something new and not be afraid to get creative. Every organization is wondering how they can break into the news cycle. One good step forward is to host a brainstorming session with your full account team (and then client) to rethink your strategy and pull out the biggest ideas you can think of. Don’t let reality hold you back when thinking up new media angles or even large shifts in messaging!

After getting all the ideas on the table, take some time to think about what’s possible in this environment. Given the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, not all good ideas are going to shine. Think about how the ideas might land with your key audiences before taking them to the next level.

2. Make the Shift to Digital

Whether you are inside an organization or agency, communications professionals can proactively encourage our peers to get ahead of the curve by moving health care events and traditional meetings online. One of The Reis Group’s clients quickly organized an online policy briefing to increase awareness of an important issue that drew more than 300 virtual attendees—for an event they were hoping to attract 50 people to when held in person.

Thought leadership platforms can also work well digitally. Many media outlets are offering digital events and speaking engagements online. This increases the pool of possible engagements that will build credibility, with no worries about time and money for travel.

3. Share Expertise

Many of us in the health care industry have expertise to share. By exploring what an organization can add to the current public conversation, communications professionals will find new avenues for growing their organization’s voice. Perhaps your organization wanted to promote telehealth previously but couldn’t get any traction. Now is the time to re-engage. This is the time to capitalize on sharing expertise that can support good health.

4. Enjoy the Victories

Let’s support our clients and our colleagues when we have a victory, big or small. Keeping morale high is challenging these days but encouraging others can help produce better results for everyone. Perhaps your organization traditionally has been shy about entering the media fray, but they finally are engaging. What a great reason to celebrate and encourage a new behavior!

Perhaps you successfully modified a communications strategy based on the current environment—all from your kitchen table while homeschooling. Good job!

Or maybe you’ve seen cultural transitions in your organization such as remote working or flexible hours. Let’s celebrate those too. Staying positive will help our mindset during difficult times.

5. Lead with Grace

We’re all under a lot of stress, clients and organizational leaders included. While some states are lifting stay-at-home restrictions, we still have a long road ahead of us.

My final guiding principle for health care public relations is that we should lead with grace. When we start to feel like we’re struggling, trust that everyone is doing their best to answer their emails, join video conversations, and meet deadlines. And, of course, this means giving yourself some grace too. You’re doing great! Keep it up!