PUBLIC RELATIONS
Thursday 12th July 2018
How far can AI assist in account management?
By Maud Davis,
In the coming age of artificial intelligence (AI), a CIPR report predicts that people skills are the least likely to be affected by technological developments. Fundamental human traits such as empathy, trust, humour and relationship building can’t be automated – not yet.
Good news for those account managing public relations – there are some things they do which cannot be replicated by machines.
Yet other account management tasks requiring research, creating content, evaluating campaigns and tracking issues can and are already being automated.
I didn’t realise there are quite so many tech tools that can help managers research, plan, project manage, and manage written, audio and video content. And, I’ve no doubt the CIPR’s AI panel’s crowdsourced list of 95 tools to help PRs work smarter will continue to grow.
But could the rush to use technology mean that keeping information on a digital tool, App or a software programme means that some management tasks are hidden out of sight (so not always at the forefront of managers minds) and could this affect an account managers’ ability to develop mental agility?
There has never been a more exciting time to work in public relations and AI will certainly help reshape managers’ jobs to make decision making and tracking a lot easier, yet almost everyone agrees that technology can’t replace the human touch.
This is backed up by Professor Tomo of Shizenkan University at an IESE business school Future of Management conference in Barcelona in April who said that planning, budgeting, and organizing can be done by AI, “but establishing vision, aligning people, and motivating people requires people."
Account management of public relations is a people focused job requiring high levels of communication, emotional intelligence, sensitivity to confidential information and a service focused approach.
Managing clients call for strong influencing skills whether that’s getting a client to agree to an additional piece of work, managing their expectations if a piece of content is unfit for purpose because they want to make so many changes to it or getting them to approves things faster. All of this requires trust, effective communication, persuasion and relationship building skills that cannot (at least, not yet) be replicated by machines.
Motivating and delegating work to colleagues also requires good people management and listening skills. And this is made harder in a world where people are speaking less to each other and using email and other instant and team messaging tools for delegating tasks, checking progress and feeding back.
Whatever the future for AI in account management, one thing is certain - people handling skills will need a human touch.
Maud Davis runs her own food PR consultancy and runs courses for the CIPR, including Account Management (next running on August 21st in Leeds). You can find out more here.
Image courtesy of flickr user Matthew Hurst
In the coming age of artificial intelligence (AI), a CIPR report predicts that people skills are the least likely to be affected by technological developments. Fundamental human traits such as empathy, trust, humour and relationship building can’t be automated – not yet.
Good news for those account managing public relations – there are some things they do which cannot be replicated by machines.
Yet other account management tasks requiring research, creating content, evaluating campaigns and tracking issues can and are already being automated.
I didn’t realise there are quite so many tech tools that can help managers research, plan, project manage, and manage written, audio and video content. And, I’ve no doubt the CIPR’s AI panel’s crowdsourced list of 95 tools to help PRs work smarter will continue to grow.
But could the rush to use technology mean that keeping information on a digital tool, App or a software programme means that some management tasks are hidden out of sight (so not always at the forefront of managers minds) and could this affect an account managers’ ability to develop mental agility?
There has never been a more exciting time to work in public relations and AI will certainly help reshape managers’ jobs to make decision making and tracking a lot easier, yet almost everyone agrees that technology can’t replace the human touch.
This is backed up by Professor Tomo of Shizenkan University at an IESE business school Future of Management conference in Barcelona in April who said that planning, budgeting, and organizing can be done by AI, “but establishing vision, aligning people, and motivating people requires people."
Account management of public relations is a people focused job requiring high levels of communication, emotional intelligence, sensitivity to confidential information and a service focused approach.
Managing clients call for strong influencing skills whether that’s getting a client to agree to an additional piece of work, managing their expectations if a piece of content is unfit for purpose because they want to make so many changes to it or getting them to approves things faster. All of this requires trust, effective communication, persuasion and relationship building skills that cannot (at least, not yet) be replicated by machines.
Motivating and delegating work to colleagues also requires good people management and listening skills. And this is made harder in a world where people are speaking less to each other and using email and other instant and team messaging tools for delegating tasks, checking progress and feeding back.
Whatever the future for AI in account management, one thing is certain - people handling skills will need a human touch.
Maud Davis runs her own food PR consultancy and runs courses for the CIPR, including Account Management (next running on August 21st in Leeds). You can find out more here.
Image courtesy of flickr user Matthew Hurst