My Take Tuesday – Lean PR (Public Relations)

I was having a conversation the other day on Twitter with @LeanBlog and @flinchbaugh talking about St. Luke Hospital System’s Lean efforts that were publicized. The article is a just a press release that is pretty much just bragging. Fellow Lean practitioners will attest that Lean is about serving the customer and adding value. How does barging about Lean efforts help the customer and in this case the patient?

My counterpoint is that it does add value for the patient but just not immediately. There is value in bringing the benefits to the lime light. When other hospital systems see the benefits they too will improve. By educating the marketplace you move the market to be more efficient just to be competitive with others. In the end a patient will be given better care at any given hospital.

Lean is traditionally found in operations but is very applicable in PR. What does the customer find valuable when it comes to PR? Here are some Lean PR ideas:

-Make yourself visible. If you are better serving the customer then let them know.
-Don’t brag but educate
-Educate the customer how your operations will benefit them (less wait times, less errors, higher satisfaction)
-Get feedback from your press releases. By getting feedback you can change future PR campaigns.
-Above all put the customer first

What else would you suggest? How would you add more value to PR?