5 skills to improve your PR in 2012

When December starts to roll into January the expected lists and ‘what to watch for’ blog posts come flying from all directions.

And I’ll add to the list if not for anything but for my own personal accountability.

As I start thinking about how the year just flew by, what I was able to accomplish and how I can make improvements in the new year.

In 2012, here are 5 skills to focus on improve on as a public relations professional.

Get back to basics when faced with dramatic change

One of the most difficult things I have experienced as a communications professional is working in a very, VERY uncertain environment.

When budgets are cut to the bone, it creates anxiety and uncertainty about how effective you feel you can be in your career. In my experience, even though my job was saved at the very last second, times have been tough to figure out just where I stand in the grand scheme of things.

It has been very difficult to figure out what our identity will be in the face of a direct assault on the job we are trying to do to protect residential utility consumers. I was optimistic that we could make lemonade out of our heaping pile of lemons but then my CEO jumped ship saying she could no longer in good conscience serve under the heinous conditions set up by the legislature and the governor, my optimism waned.