21 Jul 10 Meeting Planner Self-Assessment
If you are a meeting/event planner that needs to have a way to perform a self-evaluation, consider the following points:
• Don’t look at success – The success of a meeting can, and probably will, be claimed by other parties. When an event or meeting does not go as planned, the onus of responsibility tends to land on the shoulders of meeting planner. This is certainly unfair, so look at the matter analytically and discover why some things and other things do not.
• Don’t look only for failures – It is easy to think that it is easier to learn from failures than success, but this is not necessarily true. Learn from everything you can.
• Create checklists – Create checklists and try to quantify the steps to what your organization considers to be a great meeting. Isolate those factors that you can control, and focus on those. Keep records in case the blame starts to roll downhill in an unfair manner, but be wary of pointing fingers uphill.
• Compare notes – Ask others for honest feedback and ideas for improvement. Remember that doing a good job is less important than finding subtle ways to remind others that you do a good job. Show your professionalism by looking for ways to improve your performance and add to your job-related skills.
Knowing how you stack up in these ways can help you negotiate raises and bonuses more effectively.
Tags: Event Planner, Good Job, Honest Feedback, Meeting Planner, Onus, Pointing Fingers, Professionalism, Rsquo, Self Assessment, Self Evaluation, Shoulders, Subtle Ways, Success
19 Jul 10 How to get planning help by asking for it
If you are in charge of planning meetings and/or events for a company, you might quickly discover that is seems impossible to please everyone. This is certainly true, especially when those people all have wildly different expectations. There are ways to navigate this potential minefield, such as:
• Ask participants for feedback and suggestions on how to implement that – Sometimes people expect their meeting planning budget to go further. Show them the figures (if appropriate) and ask if they have any suggestions on how to do more with less. Be honest and do this without any emotional investment or hurt feelings for the best results.
• Always remind people of budget concerns – If participants wonder why the Starbucks coffee got replaced with a Cuisinart and some Folgers, just explain that resources are limited and ask for suggestions on further cuts or ways to do more with less.
• Anonymous tip box – Sometimes people are wary of leaving negative feedback, especially if their name is attached to it. Find a way to make an effectively anonymous method for providing feedback and chances are good that honest feedback will start flowing.
• Thank those with helpful hints and tips – Anyone that does take the time to provide tips should be heartily thanked. Anyone that has to swallow their pride and admit that their gripes were unfounded should be similarly comforted.
Tags: Anonymous Method, Anonymous Tip, Budget Concerns, Cuisinart, Emotional Investment, Feedback And Suggestions, Feelings, Folgers, Gripes, Helpful Hints, Honest Feedback, Meeting Planning, Minefield, Negative Feedback, Participants, Pride, Providing Feedback, Starbucks, Starbucks Coffee, Swallow
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