What are the roles of a liaison?

Often a member of the public relations team, a liaison fills the role of a company representative who streamlines operations and handles public communications, coordination efforts, incident response, and conflict resolution.

The roles of a liaison vary depending on the organization they work for. Liaisons may work in the public and private sectors and are often employed by educational institutions, governments, law enforcement, militaries, and large organizations.

For example, at a university, a school liaison may negotiate among the superintendent, the board of education, and the broader community of teachers, students, and parents for conflict resolution.

Other common roles and responsibilities that a liaison takes on include the following:

• Acting as contact points for all agency or organizational personnel;

• Keeping lists of the agencies or personnel representing the person, agency, or organization;

• Facilitating meetings and cooperation among people, agencies, and organizations;

• Identifying problems in communications among these groups;

• Collaborating and communicating with necessary constituents and the public; and

• Conducting post-mortems when an incident is wrapped up.