The ten biggest time wasters in the PR industry

Coordination loops cost PR professionals by far the most time. This is the result of a survey by news aktuell and Faktenkontor. In second place among the biggest time wasters are administrative tasks, closely followed by unclear objectives. The sda subsidiary asked PR specialists and managers which factors slow them down the most at work. Almost 290 communications professionals took part in the PR Trend Monitor.

According to the survey, it is above all unnecessary coordination processes that most frequently cause the respondents problems (41 percent). Communicators are also troubled by too much administration. Thirty-eight percent of respondents said that reporting, database maintenance, accounting and the like eat up too much time. They are similarly annoyed when goals are not clearly defined from the outset (36 percent) or when meetings, which cost time per se, are also poorly structured (35 percent).

The top ten biggest time wasters show that inefficiency in companies is primarily caused by deficits in internal communication and organization. Furthermore, despite progressive automation, there is still often a lack of digital PR tools to optimize work processes. For example, 28 percent of survey participants say they have to post PR content individually on many channels using different tools. And one in six complains about too much manual maintenance of journalist contacts (15 percent).

The biggest time wasters in PR (top ten):

1. Too many tuning loops 41%
2. Administrative tasks 38%
3. Unclear objectives 36%
4. Unstructured Meetings 35%
5. Poor briefings 30%
6. Need to post PR content to many channels with umpteen tools 28%
7. Changing task in the middle of the project 23%
8. Poor project management 19%
9. Not assertive enough with other departments 18%
10. Too much manual maintenance of journalist contacts 15%