School PR Workout – Planning For K12prWell

Give yourself a school PR workout

A reflection from Shawn:

You’ve heard the expression, “Work Smarter. Not Harder.” In school PR, our jobs can only be described as hard, so working smart is all we’ve got!

At this time of year, colleagues have started school or are getting close to the first day. Our suit of armour that protects us is on; we’re ready for the hard work ahead.

While sometimes we feel differently, we can control how we plan our district communications. A well-run comms operation promotes a healthy balance between professional excellence and personal wellness.

Like any muscle, your school PR practice requires a good workout to stay fit. So what exactly is a school PR workout? It’s as simple as regularly scheduled time segments you use to plan your work.

Workouts don’t happen by accident. Your school PR planning workout must be intentional, with quality time protected. You can hold them daily, weekly and/or monthly. They can be done alone, in huddles with your team or during meetings with district colleagues.

The best school PR work needs muscle behind it. YOU give it that strength!

You know a workout regimen requires discipline and motivation. For school PR, you supply the discipline and let K12prWell provide the motivation!

It’s not always easy to carve out time in a hectic schedule for planning. But when you protect your planning time, you’ll be rewarded with more time and space to do what matters most. Leaving work on time. Going for a walk over lunch. Spending a little (or a lot!) of vacation time to celebrate a loved one’s special day.

Consistency in scheduling and planning will give you the structure needed to sustain your communication efforts. Here are some things to consider when you’re thinking about your K12prWell workout:

• Don’t reinvent the wheel. Document recurring practices to save yourself annual fumbling to remember what you did the year before. You know there’s convocation, parent-teacher conferences, holidays and graduation. A simple plan to reference will make life easier for you.

• Calendars are your friend. Draw yourself a roadmap to support your work plan. Keep an editorial and/or program calendar to guide your planning. Pull up the calendar each workout, and modify it as needed.

• Keep an eye on the prize. Identify key goals and objectives in your district and/or strategic communications plan. Align your work toward these goals and objectives, and use your workout time to evaluate and monitor progress throughout the year.

• Get a seat at the table. The best way to know the pulse of what’s happening in your district is having a seat at the leadership table. Even if you don’t have a cabinet seat (yet), schedule regular meetings with your boss, as well as district and school leaders. The more informed you are, the better you can plan and execute strategic communications.

A firm commitment to planning time makes life easier for you. When the hard can be done with greater ease, your brain can focus on doing good work, instead of trying to sort through a dozen details at the same time.

And like any workout, the greatest wellness benefits come through consistency. Don’t wait – schedule this time so you don’t forget.

— Shawn

PS — If you need samples of calendars, internal practice documents, or strategic communications plans, let us know. If you have planning tools you love, please share!

Be well,

Shawn McKillop, APR  //  Twitter  //  Email
Kristin Magette, APR  //  Twitter  //  Email
#K12prWell