Even if you’ve had a great corporate event management, including planning and execution, there are cases when you can still encounter unexpected issues. When these things happen, the way you handle the situation reflects your overall corporate event management skills, which may significantly affect the reputation of the company.
Although it may seem like event management is easy, it’s not. For attendees, they may not realise the weight the management team carries every time an event is held. However, since they don’t know anything about it, you should be able to handle challenges well.
In this article, we’ll discuss some tips for handling event management crises.
1. Keep Calm and Assess the Situation
The first thing you can do is to stay calm and assess the situation. If you panic, it can just affect the other staff, and even the vendors and guests. So, if you’re still unsure about what’s happening, it’s best to assess it first before making the next move.
When assessing the situation, you should know who the people affected are, the cause of the problem, and its effect on the event. Once identified, decide on the level of urgency of the problem, and start planning how to solve it.
2. Have a Crisis Management Plan
While planning for the event, you should also take some time to create a crisis management plan. In creating one, you should know each part of the event and list the scenarios when you may encounter challenges, such as technical difficulties, late vendors, and medical emergencies. As you list these potential problems, you can think of the best solution for each.
Once you’ve come up with the possible solutions, don’t forget to share them with the team, including the staff of the vendors. This allows them to make the necessary changes as they inform you of what’s happening.
3. Communicate Clearly and Effectively
Clear and transparent communication among the team is a significant element in achieving a successful event. During the planning and preparation process, you can gradually inform the staff about the way to make updates, such as providing the right medium (like in-person or through chat). You can have a specific group chat where everyone can make daily updates, while setting a day for sending weekly or monthly updates.
In addition, in case of unexpected situations, everyone should also know how they’ll be able to inform you, as the head of the event management.
4. Rely on Your Team
During a crisis, you shouldn’t hesitate to rely on your team, especially if you’ve already talked about the protocol on how to handle certain situations. When you do, you can focus on the things you need to do and prevent yourself from panicking.
For instance, if the catering service is a bit late, there should be someone who’ll handle and inform the guests, and there are those who’ll contact the catering company. Once you assign someone to contact the catering company, you can focus on reassuring the crowd that the food may be slightly delayed and inform them about your plans in the meantime.
5. Have Backup Vendors and Resources
Having a backup plan isn’t a waste of time, but rather a great solution when you encounter unexpected situations. For instance, as mentioned, if the catering company is a bit late, someone should be able to contact them to confirm the time of arrival. Once the time has been confirmed, you can offer a light snack for the guests while waiting. On the other hand, if the catering company won’t be able to make it at the time agreed, you should have another option to provide food for the guests and staff.
6. Manage Attendee Experience
During the unexpected situation, one of the things you should prioritise is to ensure that the audience can still have a positive experience despite the circumstances. Provide clear instructions to prevent panic and discomfort. For instance, if the venue is outdoors, and it suddenly rains, there should be a place where the guests can start while the staff are sorting things out.
7. Document and Learn
Once the event ends, don’t forget to meet with the team and discuss the challenges the event encountered. Once you have the list of these challenges, learn from them, and take the necessary steps to ensure your team won’t encounter them again in future events.
8. Build Strong Relationships with Vendors
Another thing that can help prevent challenges in corporate events is to build a strong connection with vendors and venues. Since these businesses serve as the fundamentals of your event, having a great relationship with them can significantly help in solving challenges. The more connections you make, the easier it is to solve your problems.
Final Thoughts
It’s inevitable to encounter challenges in corporate event management. However, what you can do is to follow the tips listed in this article to come up with a better and faster solution.
Have you recently encountered challenges in a corporate event? Let us know how you solved them by commenting below!
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