Well it seems that everyone else is having a really good time with their internships. I must congratulate those who are enjoying themselves and are closing their academic chapter with such enthusiasm.
Meanwhile I echoe similar sentiments with a colleague of mine regarding the state and rate of our internship compared to others. Honestly, internship was a very rough road especially with the absence of a PR supervisor who has time to work together with you. After being told that ' we had to begin from scratch' was a statement hasn't really dawned on me until i realized how difficult and confusing it could be when unecessary obstacles just happen to appear along the way. I cant deny that people here are really committed in what they do, and i believe strongly in what they're doing .
Our relations as employee -employer has relatively been welcoming however as a fellow colleague pointed out office politics can be such a pain. Well we've experienced first hand how office politics seriously cap limits on organisational capacity to consider new options. We're more than willing to do more for the organisation if only it has more time to follow up on the proposed plans and elaborate specifically what it needs. And because people are so busy around here, i understand why they have little time for the plans and sketches we propose.
3 comments:
You have made a very valid point, Izham. I remember having this conversation with you, and a number of other students, who have chosen organisations where they won’t have a supervisor with a PR or marketing background, before approving the placements.
Being the only PR/communications person in an organisation can be quite daunting – however, it can also be an exciting challenge….and extremely rewarding once your own templates, style guides and plans have been put into practice. You are in a position where you can demonstrate the value of PR – and the potential – to the rest of your colleagues. Most of them would have never thought about issuing a media release or investing time in a detailed PR plan.
Your situation is definitely not uncommon. More and more small to medium sized organisations are considering to invest in public relations by bringing in a designated member of staff on a part- or even full-time basis. Believe me, I have been there a number of times, and I fully understand the frustration…but also enjoyed the highlights. Yes, you may lack guidance and implementing plans and new ideas can be an absolute struggle. However, when people, who initially may have been very sceptical about you and your new role, come up to you weeks or months later with a big smile on their face, thanking your for raising the profile of the organisation and implementing exciting internal changes – then it was all worth it!
Keep in mind: PR is still a very young profession (some believe it isn’t even a profession yet) and making your voice heard won’t always be easy. However, at the end of the day you have managed to raise the profile of Cat Haven. You have introduced some exciting changes..and many of those will live on. ..and you’ve been exposed to your first dose of “office politics” – which you unfortunately will never be able to fully escape.
Hi Izhizm,
I experienced office politics in the organisation I was working with as well. Being a government body, they had many departments and levels of hierarchy, which we had to take into consideration when working on projects.
My team regularly had meetings with other departments to discuss projects, only to find agreement & solutions were difficult to come across due to conflicting interests and office politics.
When I started there, I was shocked to find that there was no PR department or component, that PR was a relatively new concept to the organisation, and that even the marketing department I was working in was fairly new.
I have to congratulate the people who work in that department for overcoming office politics to prove to management that marketing is an essential and valuable component to any organisation. I have also been told that they are seriously considering incorporaing more PR work into future projects- through maybe hiring external consultants.
Hi Izhizm,
I totally understand what you mean about the issue of office politics! It is frustrating when a chance is missed or projects stall simply because of different hierachies or internal conflicts. At my organisation it was mentioned that there are no job titles because they do not want to create hierachies, however these levels are still there they just aren't made official, meaning people don't know who to answer to and as work experience students (obviously at the lower level of the food chain) we get conflictng messages from differnt people and don't know who to follow. When I have questioned whose task to do first, or whose instructions to follow there is quiet undermining of other staff.
At the very least this is confusing, unprofessional and unproductive. I understand that the problem of office politics occurs everywhere so from that angle I have appreciated gaining an insight.
I hope the rest of your placement works out for you Izhizm!
Michele
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