Event management is a pretty varied role, to say the least.
It’s an intricate, time-sensitive, and complex process with conflicting deadlines and last-minute changes.
But what exactly does the event management process involve, and what skills does an event manager need to deliver a successful event?
In this article, we’re going to take a look at the skills required for event management, how to plan your own event from start to finish, and how event management software can streamline the entire process.
What is event management?
Event management is the process of planning, managing, and hosting an event.
Whether that’s organizing a corporate convention for 100s of people, or smaller social events at a local venue, event management is the glue that holds everything together.
And in the world of COVID-19, virtual events have become more prominent in the events industry. In fact, the use of online events doubled from 2019 to 2020.
Virtual event management involves a slightly different process to face-to-face events, but fundamentally it involves planning and managing all of the elements of an online event.
Ranging from a Zoom webinar to an entirely virtual conference, the possibilities with online events are endless.
What skills do you need to manage events?
Trust us when we say there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes, and the event planner is right in the thick of it.
Event planners need to have a wide skill set to successfully plan and execute events.
So let’s take a look at what some of these skills are.
1. Organization
Let’s start with the most obvious attribute of every event planner: organization.
There are a variety of moving parts in event planning. Ranging from sorting the location and managing the invites to arranging the marketing and social media ads — the list goes on.
To successfully deliver an event, the event planner must be organized.
But we all know that even the most organized event planner can still miss a deadline here or there.
And that’s where using event management software can help.
With the help of event management software, event planners can make sure they don’t miss a thing and that every task is accounted for.
2. Communication
Internal and external communication is vital in event management.
Without effective communication, details can get overlooked, deadlines can be missed, and the event itself could suffer as a result.
Let’s use an example to put it into context.
Imagine you’re the event manager for an upcoming event. When anyone signs up to your event, they’re asked to provide their dietary requirements.
You’d been meaning to ask the event coordinator to send these requirements to the caterer, but time ran away from you, and you forgot to relay this information.
As a result, the caterer doesn’t receive the dietary requirements.
Unfortunately, you didn’t communicate effectively. As a result, some of the attendees are unable to eat the food provided.
So communication is pretty important. Without it, event planners could find themselves in a bit of a sticky situation on event day.
To avoid any communication mishaps, you might want to think about using event management software to track and manage all of your tasks and correspondence.
With the right software, the event organizer can easily keep track of tasks and communicate with members of their team as well as external service providers.
3. Problem-solving
We’d be lying if we said that managing events is a smooth process.
There are often unexpected hurdles that make the process harder to manage than initially thought.
Whether that’s one of your speakers pulling out last-minute, or a glitch in the sound system, event planners need to be thinking 2 steps ahead at all times.
As a result, they’re able to act quickly, solve any unexpected issues that arise, and use their resources as efficiently as possible.
Event management software is extremely useful for last-minute changes, particularly if the event planner needs to see what resources they have available.
If everything’s in one platform, the event planner can quickly identify what resources are available and how to get things back on track.
Take a look at monday.com’s resource management template to see for yourself.
How to plan your event from start to finish
Now for the moment you’ve been waiting for: how to plan, manage, and execute your event from start to finish.
We’ve narrowed the process down to 5 simple steps, so let’s take a look at what you need to do.
1. Brainstorm your thoughts and ideas
Before any official planning begins, you and your team need to brainstorm ideas.
This allows the event management team to flesh out the details and gives you a solid starting point from which to plan your event.
You’ll likely need a mix of people from different teams in order to get all the perspectives you need, so make sure you invite the right people to the event.
The agenda of the session should generally cover the following topics:
- Logistics: where and when will the event take place?
- Purpose: why is the event happening, and what is the desired outcome?
- Budget: what is the budget for the event, and are there any restrictions?
- Measures for success: how will you determine if the event is a success?
After the brainstorming session, you’ll need to collate all the information, notes, and feedback. This will allow you to review what was discussed and put your team’s ideas into action.
And ideally, you should host all this information in an event management platform.
By doing so, it’ll make it much easier for you to pull this information into your event plan. Not to mention, it’ll also allow everyone in the team to access the information.
2. Collaborate to make the event plan
How many people does it take to plan an event?
Definitely more than one.
Event planning is undoubtedly a collaborative effort. While you might have one person in charge, there’ll always be a team of people working to bring the event to life.So when you create your event plan, don’t forget to use the people around you. Their input will guarantee the plan is realistic and achievable.
Ranging from your internal event planning team all the way to the external hospitality team, collaboration is definitely at the forefront of event management.
And if you’re looking for a way to streamline the collaboration process, you might want to consider using event planning software.
With the right platform, collaboration will be easier than ever. You can even invite internal and external people to collaborate with you on certain tasks.
3. Delegate tasks
A key part of event management is knowing when to delegate work.
As we’ve already mentioned, planning an event isn’t a one-person job. So when you’re working through your event plan, make sure you assign tasks to other members of your team.
Tasks are usually delegated based on the following:
- The skill and experience of the individual
- The capacity they have available
Effective delegation is certainly a skill that takes time to master. But, as the event manager, it’s your job to identify which team members are best suited to certain tasks.
Using software — like the monday.com workload capacity planning dashboard — can be a big help when delegating work. It can help you visualize the capacity of your team, and it allows you to easily assign tasks.
You can also keep track of task progression without asking for an update every few hours.
4. Delivery of the event
Your event management program is finished, work has been delegated, and it’s time to get this show on the road.
There’s no one formula on how to successfully deliver an event because every event is different.
You’ll overcome some last-minute challenges on the day, but so long as you have your team in place and your plan is solid, you’ve done all that you can to prepare for the big day.
And if you’re using an event management platform, you might consider getting the mobile app on your phone.
Trust us when we say it’ll be helpful to have it handy on the day.
5. Measure success
The event might be over, but the event management process isn’t quite finished.
When everything’s wrapped up, it’s time to reflect on the success of the event. By doing this, you can identify any areas of improvement going forward.
This is an incredibly important part of the event management process. Without understanding how the event was received, it’ll be hard to make sure your future events get any better.
Spend some time reviewing feedback, attendance rates, and speaker engagement to figure out what went well and what you can do better next time.
As a result, you can make informed decisions about how to improve your events going forward.
And a great way to visualize all this information is with monday.com’s post-event opportunities template.
It allows you to collect feedback, manage new leads and opportunities, and identify any common trends following the event all in one screen.
Using monday.com to plan your next event
As we’ve already mentioned, using event management software makes the event planning process much easier to manage.
But, with so many options out there, how do you know which platform is right for you?
Well, we think monday.com is the perfect event management platform — no matter what event you’re hosting.
With our software, event planners can streamline the entire event management process, keep on top of progress, and collaborate with their team.
You can even keep track of any last-minute changes in real-time and measure the success of your event.
But that isn’t everything monday.com can do.
So let’s take a look at some of the other features we provide to make your life easier.
1. Visualize your entire event
Being able to see your entire event plan is a great way to see how things are progressing and spot any areas where things might be falling behind.
And with monday.com, that’s exactly what you get.
Our platform allows users to view their event plan in its entirety. You can even take a look at one of our high-level boards to see for yourself.
You can also use statuses to visually track each step of your planning process and stay on top of all your work at a glance.
Sounds too good to be true, right?
We assure you it’s not.
2. Customize your event plan
At monday.com, we want all of our users to create the perfect board for their event plan. And that’s why we provide 100s of customizations for all stages of the workflow.
With our software, you can add columns, automations, and even view your event plan by category in our low-level board.
Not to mention, you can also create your own custom event dashboard, choosing whichever widgets work best for you and your team.
3. Use our sign-up forms
Looking for a way to streamline your RSVP process? monday.com’s sign-up forms could be just what you need.
To confirm their attendance, participants sign up using a form that’s linked to your board. When they submit their form, they automatically get added to your board.
As a result, you can instantly collect all RSVPs and keep track of your guest list in real-time.
You can also add custom automation that notifies the event team whenever a new person signs up through one of the forms. So you won’t have to worry about missing any new sign-ups.
Have you got an event coming up?
By now, you should now have a pretty good idea of what’s involved in event management and the skills event planners need to successfully plan, manage, and execute an event.
If you have an event coming up, whether it’s a large event or a virtual meeting, why not give monday.com a whirl? Our software is sure to make the process easier to manage and all from one central location.
We’d recommend taking a look at our event planning and operations template to get started.
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