Blogging: Is Your Organization Ready?

As I’ve posted earlier, I studied under James Grunig, author of the Public Relations Excellence Study (among others), at the University of Maryland. He preached the value of the two-way symmetrical model of public relations and used his own research as proof of its effectiveness in the classroom.

Here’s a brief run down of some of the main tenets of the two-way symmetrical model taken from the 1992 Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management textbook:

Two-way symmetric public relations ...

• requires organizations engaging in public relations to be willing to make significant adjustments in how they operate in order to accommodate their publics;
• relies on honest and open two-way communication and mutual give-and-take rather than one-way persuasion;
• focuses on mutual respect and efforts to achieve mutual understanding;
• emphasizes negotiation and a willingness to adapt and make compromises;
• seems to be used more by non-profit organizations, government agencies, and heavily regulated businesses such as public utilities than by competitive, profit-driven companies.

Many of clients I work with on a daily basis are looking to us for advice on how to connect with the Web 2.0 generation. Our clients know blogging has enormous potential as a communications tool. Many of these companies are eager to launch themselves into the blogosphere, but nearly all of them struggle to adapt to some or all of the points of two-way symmetrical model of public relations.

Blogging seems to be the new litmus test in determining whether or not organizations can become excellent communicators. Earlier generations of PR pros who wanted to adhere to this model may have conducted focus groups or held speakers bureaus to get real feedback from consumers. Now it’s the blogs serve as the vehicle.

When clients ask our firm whether or not they should respond to or start a blog I simply point to a theory developed over 20 years ago and ask:

“Blogs will ‘require organizations engaging in public relations to be willing to make significant adjustments in how they operate in order to accommodate their public’ is your organization ready….?