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.
