You’ve done just that in this post, and I’m going to share this with our team of analysts who read and monitor blogs/MSM, just to remind them of how important these things are!

Thanks for the reminder. I truly believe that the strongest PR practitioners are the ones who can see the big picture, but never seem to lose track of the minor details. You can’t build a strong structure with weak building blocks, after all!

Jen

P.S., I would never call a junior staffer a peon–I’m hoping the above commenter was joking!

I don’t have much experience in the PR field. In fact, I am a senior at Towson University in Maryland and I am pursuing my first internship over the summer. As a student, I have been blessed with some professors who really have taught me a lot, but I have also been less than blessed with professors who have managed to teach me nothing in a 15 week period. My take on all these “boring tasks” is a little bit different. I would be honored to watch a senior member brief a client because I have a burning desire t learn all I can. As a young adult making my way into the workforce, it is important that those people who say these tasks are “boring” realize that is how everyone started out and how everyone has learned and that without the bloging and the meetings and the briefings, how would the organization ever communicate?

I am currently a Mass Communication student on the PR track at a university in Maryland. After reading your blog, I must say, you made some very interesting points that I had not thought of before.

I recently finished my second internship, and I remember account execs pushing these “boring” or “little” things to the side. However, after reading your blog, it seems that these “little” and “boring” things are more important than I thought.

I am sure they can get old after a while, but anything can. Because of this blog, I will make sure that in the future, detail is paid close attention too, since that is what seems necessary when working in PR. Every little thing matters.

Lauren

“The Defren” thinks you may be over-reacting to my so-called over-reaction, Connie.

The best PR people understand the importance of this detail. And they apply their brilliance to getting it done right, quickly and in good humor.

Incorrect dial-in details, wrong address, missed feature – these are the things which can bring a stellar campaign to its knees before the most senior client contact.

That’s why it’s important and why the team doing them are the most important in the firm.

I agree with you that the small stuff is important. I tend to be a detail oriented person and when looking at a task, I’ll break it down to all the little bits and pieces. The hardest part for me is when I need to then share the importance of the little pieces for peers and colleagues that do no necessarily “work” the same way I do.

Managerial or corporate leadership comes from the ability to motivate others. In this case, it would be the ability to motivate the junior staffer to see the bigger picture and therefore the value of small Briefing Documents. If someone can see the why, they usually find their answer to “how come?”

James Connors