Morgan McLintic on PR

Out of Office but not out of touch

I'm on the plane back to San Francisco following a week's vacation. As little as five years ago it used to be quite common for people on vacation to drop off the grid entirely for a week, sometimes two. We used to debate whether it was better to triage email while on holiday or to log off and let it await our return. Before that, we used to leave a contact number in case of emergency.

This has now changed. Communications have become so fast, that to most dropping off the grid would be unconscionable - it's integral to how they express themselves, connect with friends and family and do business. Smartphones have made it much easier to read and reply while away from base. Our Out of Office replies now apologize for sporadic access to email, rather than zero contact.

As our work and personal lives blend, this change was inevitable. The technologies are now there to avoid the jarring return to work, an overflowing inbox, fizzing issues and catch-up meetings. Instead, we can slip straight back into the flow of work.

The skill now is in knowing what to respond to when out of the office, and for our co-workers to know when to elevate things to our attention. Recreation is re-creation, and that can't happen if the icy finger of our work pressures repeatedly reaches out to grab us. For me, it's more relaxing to know things are under control and that I have fewer than 200 emails to consider on my return. Others may prefer to be more active while on vacation or hands-off. I'd suggest setting an expectation with your team about the types of issues you want to be involved with while away so they know your boundaries and expectations. Then you won't miss something vital or be pulled into minutiae. Perhaps that's what we should be putting in our Out of Office replies?

What does your desktop say about you?

Given I normally have too many applications running, it says that I'm probably trying to do too many things at once (productivity red flag). Looking at the number of documents stored directly on my machine, it says I still haven't learned to save stuff to the server and to share what I'm doing properly. I am however good at filing those documents away, deleting extra files and emptying the wastebin which reflects some affinity for order. My desktop image is a picture of my son, which helps me keep a perspective.

If someone sat at your machine, what would it say about you?

At LEWIS PR for 13 years

Today I celebrate thirteen full years at my agency, LEWIS PR. No joke.

When I joined there were ten people. Three of those are still with the firm (Chris Lewis, Ilona Hitel and Andy Oliver, who joined two weeks before me). Now the company has 300 staff.

I've worked with and met some brilliant people over that time - coworkers, clients, competitors, media, analysts and partners. It really has been a privilege. One day you'll catch me and throw me out. But until then, thanks.

The time of your life

You may not realize it, but this is the time of your life. Deep in the depths of the darkest recession I hope we will all face in our lifetimes, you will discover your true mettle. How you respond to the waves of bad news which crash onto us on a daily basis, may well define your future. The seeds of success are sown in adversity.

Will you rise to the challenge? Find within you the strength to redouble your efforts, rethink your approach, cast aside the way that used to work and embrace a new one? Or will you be the victim, controlled by external factors? It's not your fault.

This recession will be long and hard. Even now we may only be nearing the end of the beginning. If the dotcom bust is anything to go by, many will flee the industry and seek sanctuary elsewhere. They may return when dawn breaks. But they will have missed the lessons learned in the darkest hours. The recession will temper those who have the resilience to get up each day and to give their all. Some of those lessons will be professional, but most will be deeply personal. When daylight comes, you should bear your scars with pride, they will be well-earned.

Recessions are good for our industry. Like a hard winter, they weed out the weaker players and they improve those that remain. This one comes amid changes in the practice of PR - sweeping changes of globalization and disintermediation. No firm will remain untouched - many will struggle but that does not make them bad. If they survive, it makes them stronger.

For emerging agencies, the recession is the opportunity they have been waiting for. Their value shines out. They can zig while others zag. Their management can show how they are different. All the preparation they have done during the boom - developing new techniques and services, building their roster, salting away profits, building the infrastructure - will start to pay off. For them, the recession was the opportunity they wanted, and for them it was fought and won before it began.

Yes, the recession is difficult. Hard decisions will have to be made. These are uncertain times. But uncertainty brings opportunity - for brands, agencies and individuals. So this is the time of your life. You just have to realize it, embrace it and act on it. Good luck.

The big O - organized

When most people think about getting organized, they immediately think of their To Do list. Most PR consultants are pretty good at managing their daily To Dos. Whether they use an online system, a PDA or written lists (often with various florescent codings), they tend to keep on top of their daily actions.

As a sweeping generalization, women tend to be better at action tracking than men, and more experienced staff better than more junior staff. If you're a young man then, you need to write things down more than you think you should. Essentially though, you don't last long if you can't keep the plates spinning.

But being organized does not stop there. Stand up, step back, and take a good look at your desk. Aside from today's coffee cup and the papers you are working on, what else is on it? Does everything that is there, need to be there? Is it all in the right place or does it need filing? Better still, can you throw it out?

You probably sit at your desk for a large part of your waking life while at work. During the course of battle, it will get a bit untidy and accumulate 'stuff'. But it's important to wage war on that stuff - the piles of mags you haven't read, the freebie crapola you were given at a show, all those conference passes, that folder of reference information, and... the filing. There should not be things written on parchment written with a quill at the bottom of that pile.

I openly admit to being anal about having a tidy desk. An untidy desk increases your stress since it reinforces feelings about loss of control. All that 'stuff' will constantly attract your attention, get in the way and ramp up the pressure. It's amazing how cathartic spending just ten minutes clearing the decks can be - and that's often all it takes.

Plus your coworkers will make judgements about your organization from the cues given off by your desk. Some people are so bad it becomes an office joke. You don't really want to be that person.

Now let's look at your work area. If you are fortunate to have an office, what's in the filing cabinet, those drawers, on the walls? Can you sling any of that out? Are you still filing stuff from an old campaign four years ago? Those clips from now defunct publications about a company which has since been acquired? What's in that box? [It is amazing how many people keep empty boxes for months under their desks - are they going to sleep there or something?]

Now what about the office? Walk into reception. What's the first thing you see (apart from Julie who manages front of house)? Probably some magazines and papers - are they recent? The clips on the walls current? Those awards still relevant? Is the paint chipped? The carpet stained or dirty? Like an interview, you've got 30 seconds to make that impression to your clients and prospects. Is it the right one or can you smell the cabbage someone is kindly nuking in the kitchen?

Time to go home. If you drive, what's in the car? The glove compartment, on the back set, in that handy door pocket? At home, is it all arranged to help you relax and re-energize? If not, then it's time to make a list of home To Dos as well.

In fact, few people track their personal To Dos as efficiently as their work ones. It's likely there will be just as many of them, and they'll be adding to your stress levels just like that burning work deadline. Again, it's cathartic to just write them all down. Work/life is a false delineation, they both impact each other. So if your personal affairs are disordered that will impact your professional performance and focus.

I'm not suggesting taking a Western reductionist approach to organizing your life to the nth degree. Life is inherently chaotic and impulsive. But it is important to acknowledge that 'being organized' doesn't stop at having an updated To Do list, or even a tidy desk - it needs to extend to other aspects of your life to produce a sense of control and calm. So get a bit obsessive about it, and it'll soon become a habit.

[If you haven't read them already, you can find practical advice about organization in David Allen's excellent books Getting Things Done and Making It All Work.]

Get fit, or get out

Beating the recession starts with you. You can make a difference for your company or agency. We probably all feel the pressure to excel now, not just for our own careers and job security, but for those of our friends and colleagues.

Let's assume that the recession will place tighter disciplines and more demands on you. Tolerances will be reduced, there will be fewer resources and you'll probably work harder than you ever have before. Under those circumstances, the first place to start is with your physical health. You simply won't be at your peak performance if your body cannot cope with the fresh demands you will place on it.

This means a healthy diet and a rigorous exercise regime. Exercise decreases stress and unlocks more energy to tackle the demands of the day. I have personally found this means at least 45 minutes of exercise four times per week in order to make a substantial difference on your well being. The challenge is to build this into your daily routine. It will take 10-12 repetitions of that behavior for you to make it part of your routine so it needs to be at a fixed regular time eg cycling to work, running home from work, or first thing in the morning.

For instance, I used to run the 4 miles to work every day. Now with other demands and while it's dark first thing, I've found it easier to get up and row for 30 minutes on weekdays before my son wakes up. Whatever works for you, but try to integrate it into your daily routine rather than grabbing ad hoc opportunities since that is hard to sustain.

On a blog about PR, it may be odd to talk about physical health (and I am no expert nor a shining example I'll admit), but fighting a recession is a marathon. In order to cope and do your best work, you need to make sure you are physically able to do it. There's no point missing days here and there, working at 80% in the afternoons, or suffering chronic stress. You need to feel good, strong and on top of your game. Ask yourself, are you fitter now than you were five years ago? If not, then you have work to do. Don't let your physical condition dictate your future - it's one thing you can control.

How to beat the recession

Today the Dow closed below 7,000 for the first time since 1997 as the recession really starts to bite. The impact on our industry over the last six months has been huge. Many good firms have already had staff reductions up to 20%. That's 12 months of growth under normal conditions, but I'd warrant they also went from under-staffed to over-resourced, prior to the reduction so we're looking at strong revenue downturn.

It's painful on those who are cut (I even had one staffer leave my firm to a competitor only to get whacked a few weeks later), and it's hard on those who remain. No doubt many will leave the industry as they did in the tech bust, and try to return later. They'll miss out on vital experience - a recession is a period of rapid learning, and personal growth. If you're only here when the sun shines, you have no idea what you are capable on. The fires of a recession forge stronger management, more innovation, and more discipline. You can't have heroes without a villain.

So how do you beat a recession? Ha - wouldn't it be nice if there was one silver bullet? A magic mojo or technical thingamy which every client wants and works for every company? But there isn't. A recession is beaten by a thousand incremental improvements. Sure some will be step changes, but most will be behind the scenes, late-at-night tweaks and extra hours quietly put in to move the business forward. And personally, there's not one single thing you should do to make sure you are a survivor. It'll take hundreds of improvements - mentally, technically, physically, spiritually and emotionally to pull through.

And, so that's what I'll be talking about here over the next few weeks. I've been deliberately quiet on this blog of late. But I do have some lessons to share about fighting a recession which might help - and no doubt the market will continue to teach me a few more along the way, so we'll discover them together.

Meantime, keep the faith and good luck. Recessions bring hardship, but they also bring opportunity.

Technorati Tags: PR, recession

Blog stress

Just wanted to reassure all those of you who have read today's New York Times piece, that my prolific blogging is in no way impacting my health. Running a PR firm's a killer though.

Technorati Tags: blogging, NYT, stress

Ten ways to reduce stress

PR is inherently stressful. It's highly task- and deadline-oriented, fast-paced, collaborative and rapidly-evolving. Any situation where a group of people need to cooperate with several other groups around detailed information within tight deadlines is a good recipe for stress.

Here are a few ways for PR professionals to reduce the stress levels:

1. Get organized - Stress normally peaks when you feel out of control. Take 10 minutes to write down all your actions and prioritize them. Which really need to get done today? You'll feel much less stressed once you can see the magnitude of the task ahead. Write down time allocations next to each if that helps.

2. Tidy up - A tidy desk will help you feel more in control. If papers are flying everywhere, and empty coffee cups encroach on your workspace, you'll subconsciously feel more tense and those items will distract you. Yes, you may know where everything is, and sure, you may feel you work better that way - but you're only kidding yourself really. Same goes from your computer desktop.

3. Get fit - I'm serious. Healthy mind, healthy body is absolutely true. If you are unfit, you are less able to cope with stress and the demands of the job. Plus, getting fitter will help you focus, be more productive and attack the root cause of stress.

4. Drink less - Stimulants, like your morning java, and depressants, like that ice cold beer or glass of wine, are like stepping on the gas and then the brakes for your body. They can contribute to stress over the long term, even though short term they give a boost. In fact, it's best to drink water - probably more than you think you need.

5. Share - Are you the burning martyr who turns the lights on, then off at the end of the day? Could be a sign you need to trust others, and share the load. Sure, your team members might not do it in the same way as you would yourself, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Stress and an inability to delegate are strongly connected.

6. Say no - Try it. Just say no to a few minor requests. Even from clients. It takes practice but not accepting a task when you have more important ones to deliver is perfectly legitimate. Much better than accepting it, and having it rot at the bottom of your to dos. If you explain why you are declining, we'll understand.

7. Say yes - Accept help when it's offered. I'm staggered at how few people accept a helping hand when offered and then stay until 9.00pm slaving on a task for the next day. People don't offer if they don't mean it. Together you'll get through it much faster.

8. Get out - Put your pen down, step away from the computer and just walk around the block. That big yellow thing in the sky will make you feel much better. You'll probably work better when you get back, or sit down with the answer to the vexing question if you get some perspective and fresh air.

9. Get in - Arrive early at work. Before clients, reporters and colleagues. These vital moments can be used to plan your day and do the real mental weightlifting. They can often be the most creative and productive of the day. Then leave promptly at the end of the day.

10. Get off - Close email, IM, Twitter, turn off your Blackberry or cell and put the landline on DND. These are tools to do the job, but they are also distractions and a source of incoming requests. What you need at present is to get across the current ones. Don't drop off the grid entirely, just limit your availability until you hit the deadline. If you have an office or cube, shut the door. If not, then book a room for 30 minutes and work from there. People will respect your space - we've all been there.

It's worth noting that not all stress is bad. No stress at all, can be unproductive too. People work best when under a bit of pressure - but too much can be debilitating. Hopefully these techniques will help you manage your stress levels a bit better. One final thing - smile. There's nothing like laughter and a few gags to reduce the tension.

The fiction of work/life balance

I'm not sure who first coined the phrase 'work/life balance' but it's an unhelpful misnomer. Work is an integral part of your life. If you don't see your work that way, you should find a role or profession which you are passionate about and which engages you. Until working becomes a manifestation and expression of who you are, you'll be unfulfilled. Extra vacation, shorter hours, flexitime etc all pale beside the importance of that imperative.

Those looking for 'work/life' balance are often looking for the wrong thing or something which doesn't exist. What they claim to want is a nicely confined role which is satisfying while they are there, and which they can switch off at the stroke of 5.30pm when they go home to get on with their lives. Sorry but if predictable hours are what you want, don't work in PR. The news never sleeps, and so crises can break at any time. Get comfortable with work encroaching on your personal time and vice versa.

Nothing worth having comes easily. Success in PR often means hard work and long hours. If you enjoy what you are doing, this isn't a problem. People who do any activity over a prolonged period, naturally get better at it. So to progress, you need to pump in the hours and improve. Experience isn't necessarily a function of age, but hours at the coal face. There are no short cuts, I'm afraid.

We all have conflicting priorities in our lives. Rather than see them through a paradigm of 'work' or 'life', I prefer to see them as either mental, emotional, physical or spiritual. You need to balance each of those four elements of your life through the activities you do. Your professional career can easily encompass all four, even the spiritual. Spending time with family, going to the gym, seeing friends, meditating, even listening to your iPod all hit different aspects of those needs. Imbalance or even ignoring one of them is what can lead to a nebulous sense of dissatisfaction. It's easy to conclude it's a 'work/life balance' issue when in fact it's something deeper.

Recognize too that no balance or equilibrium is static. Achieving a balance is a process, not a one time event. There will be times when work, family, church, friends etc become demanding and require attention. This is fine and natural. Chronically focusing on just one group, and hence just the one set of mental, physical, emotional and spiritual demands/rewards they bring creates imbalance.

So if your New Year's resolution is to get more 'work/life' balance, look at it through a different lens. Is your work truly satisfying? If so, how can you weave in other elements which you're not getting? That might be as simple as riding a bike to work to get more exercise, or it might be setting up a volunteer club after work to ramp the emotional payback. Blending the needs and rewards is what leads to balance.

Of course, consistently putting it into practice is another matter. And that's one we all face. Here's to health, wealth and happiness in 2008!

UPDATE - Cali and Jody kindly dropped me a note about their upcoming book 'Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It' and their blog which gives some excellent advice about work/life balance, together with their analysis of recent articles on the topic. Thanks - looking forward to reading it.