When it comes down to brass tacks, PR is a people business centered on personal connection, both internally and externally. Although we often focus on the individuals and stakeholders outside of our organizations, it’s the ones inside who keep the wheels turning and the metaphorical creative fires lit despite the mounting pressures, fast-paced cycles, and dynamic landscapes.  Within a PR Firm, personality influences much more than just the vibe of the workplace. It impacts the team’s collaboration, ideation, stress management, creativity, client services, retention rates, and other key areas of focus. 

In the wise words of Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

Below, we’ll explore how personalities impact PR strategies, team performance, and company culture, as well as what building a personality-smart team culture looks like.

You Can’t Spell Personality Without PR

To gain a comprehensive understanding of the critical role individuals and their identities play in public relations, it’s essential to grasp how PR, people, and personalities intersect both internally and externally.

When it comes to external stakeholders, agencies prioritize putting their best foot forward and communicating openly, regularly, and strategically with clients, media contacts, influencers, vendors, and other key stakeholders. Many of the industry’s top professionals are adept at reading rooms, building and maintaining relationships, and remaining agile, always aiming to secure perfect placements and provide top-notch service.

Within a firm, team members regularly face tight deadlines, rapid pivots, and consistent collaboration, constantly engaging in dialogue with coworkers to reach a common goal. Teams that work closely together will undoubtedly face differences in personalities, which impact the way they approach various facets of professional life, from brainstorming and feedback to recognition and stress management.

Impacts on Performance and Culture

Individual personalities dictate many aspects of work life, such as whether someone is an extroverted or introverted thinker, a structured planner or a last-minute motivator, and whether they prefer direct or diplomatic feedback, public praise or quiet affirmation.

It’s crucial to understand your preferences and styles, as well as those of others on your team, because this awareness significantly impacts how effectively teams collaborate and communicate.

For example, when you understand and respect the fact that a coworker needs head-down prep time leading up to important meetings or that they do their best work when they receive written instructions, tensions can be significantly reduced, processes streamlined, outputs improved, and relationships healthier.

This type of recognition and communication also allows creativity to truly permeate the organization, placing focus on the immense value of diversity and establishing a greater understanding of how our differences make us stronger. Visionaries, quick thinkers, analytical planners, quiet processors, and more can feel valued and truly respected not just for what they produce but for how they work best. 

This supports a team’s retention rate, culture, and overall morale, which ultimately allows client service to become fresher, more tailored, and strategic. After all, as the saying goes, “you can’t pour from an empty cup.”

Cultural Integration

To reap the benefits of all personalities in the workplace, it’s critical that every person’s needs are respected equally and that personality awareness is integrated into a workplace’s day-to-day culture, rather than a one-off initiative.

Though many methods can be used to accomplish this, such as “working with me” guides featuring preferred communication channels, motivators, and feedback preferences, R Public Relations (RPR) is an example where personality tests have worked exceptionally well for a PR firm.

Founder Emily Reynolds Bergh recently led the company through a personality test. After compiling the team’s answers, she shared the results openly to help foster human-first, team-wide understanding.

This exercise equipped the RPR team with the techniques, knowledge, and language necessary to explain how they work best, enabling them to effectively assign roles and account teams in alignment with each individual’s strengths and styles. The result? A greater sense of empathy, stronger collaboration, and a more supportive and defined company culture.

Bergh states, “Today, we continue to reference this information and find a greater sense of community in our differences, allowing all personality types the space and authority to contribute without encouraging conformity. For example, pairing creative, big-picture thinkers with strategic, detail-focused executors has significantly impacted our client campaigns, helping our team achieve more than ever before.”

In the long term, it’s also critical to remember that people grow and personalities change, especially when it comes to professional development, stress levels, and role changes.

When considering how personalities influence PR strategies, team performance, and company culture, it is essential to remember that individuals—and their identities—are a vital, living part of every team and its culture.

Final Thoughts

Without a doubt, when diversity is celebrated, team members are respected, and strengths are recognized, personality is an asset in establishing healthy cultures and securing long-term success.

When learning what team members are capable of, we mustn’t lose sight of who they are in the process.