Conducting large corporate events can be very stressful. Just talk to anyone who has been in charge of managing this type of large events and he will tell you how many sleepless nights he has spent leading up to the day of the event. There are literally hundreds of tasks to take care of some months in advance and others right up to the event day itself. You also have to work under number of constraints some of which may be in direct conflict with each other. Just when you think you have everything under control, Mother Nature may decide to rain on your parade.
Now, I agree that not everything may be under your control, but with the proper planning you can make sure you are prepared well to face the challenges that may come your way. Even if everything doesn’t work perfectly you will be able to make the most out of the event and achieve major goals. Below we discuss 3-step approach that will help you do just that.
Step 1 – Planning before the event
The more planning you are able to do before the event the better you will prepared leading up to the day of the event. You should think about everything that needs to be taken care of and identify the right people who can take care of it. Delegating should be the name of the game during the execution of large events. You should keep the big picture in mind, plan accordingly and let the experts take care of taking care of it. If it helps prepare a detailed project plan using tools such as Microsoft Project.
You should also plan for potential contingencies and have Plan B, C and D in place. If you can think of anything that can go wrong, most likely it will per Murphy’s Law. Having those plan will help to deal with any obstacles that may arise during the event.
Step 2 – Execution during the event
When the event begins you should keep eyes on everything that is going on throughout the day. Having a pulse on everything will help you monitor in real time and deal with any problems that may arise. And believe me, they will arise no matter how prepared you are. You should set up a command center from where you can keep all the key personnel together so that you can deal with the situation quickly rather than having to consult with them separately.
Step 3 – Quick warp-up after the event
After the event is over your goal should be to wrap up as soon as possible. Even minor details such as keeping stacking chairs instead of regular ones can help you close out quickly. Another helpful hint is to conduct post-mortem of the event with everyone who was involved to determine what worked well and what needs improvement in the next event. It is only by learning from your mistakes and implementing changes in the next even will you be able to make it easy for yourself to have a better sleep in the future events.
As you can see organizing any large event is an enormous task, but with proper planning and execution you can do better job and be able to sleep better before the event and breathe easy during it. Do you have any other tips for us? Feel free to share with us in the comments below.
