Events whether big or small need to be created, planned and guided effectively for their organized execution. This process of planning and managing events is known as event management.
So many things need to be considered for planning and organizing an event. An event has to be managed within limited time and budget. Improved communication is needed among team members. They have to be assigned various tasks. Progress made at their tasks has to be monitored. Members need to be updated about activities being performed for planning an event. All this cannot be achieved manually.
For streamlined management of an event, it has to be treated like a project and right tools have to be used for managing it. A web based project management tool enables smooth and organized management in event management projects. So these can be executed as planned and can be held successfully and timely.
Things needed for organizing an event:
Let us see what does a business need for organizing an official event. A business intends to hold its annual anniversary where it wants to applaud its employees for their good work, connect with its clients, highlight its high points and promote the event among media. To make the event an engaging and memorable experience, there is provision for fun-filled activities, drinks, music, decor, etc. All this calls for elaborate planning.
Appropriate time and budget have to be allocated for the proposed event. Vendors need to be contacted, so they are able to provide necessary services on time. Venue has to be chosen for the event. Electricity, water, food and other arrangements need to be made. Route to the venue has to be decided. Guests have to be formally invited. Transportation and lodging facilities have to be provided to the guests. Licences for drinks need to be applied for. Bands or DJs have to be contacted. Event venue decorators have to be approached. Elaborate safety arrangements are needed. Backup plans have to be in place if the original event plan fails to materialize. Clean up of the venue needs to be done after an event has been held.
Remembering and organizing so many diverse tasks and duties cannot be manually done. This calls for enhanced planning which can be done properly with the right tool. Only then an event can be successfully conducted.
Significance of events:
For businesses, events serve as a great platform for promoting their brand and highlighting their achievements. They employ events for launching products, building relationships with clients and others and for achieving various other objectives of theirs.
A business may organize an event on its own or hire an event management company for the same. For an event’s proper conduction, a lot of planning and organization is required. This calls for defining all the tasks to be performed for an event. These have to be assigned and delegated to respective team members and employees. The tasks need to be performed within their deadlines. Progress made at tasks needs to be measured from time to time. Enhanced communication and collaboration is required among team members for successfully organizing an event.
Challenges faced in managing events
Due to an increased number of tasks to be performed for an event, tasks cannot be tracked manually. This may result in some of the crucial and important tasks getting missed. It can affect proper conduction of the event. Thus a business would not be able to gain the intended mileage from its conduction.
Team members need to participate in face-to-face meetings for planning an event and for working out its finest details. This proves to be a financial burden for a business as it has to arrange flights, hotels, conference halls, etc. for members and provide various facilities to them for such meetings.
Emails are used in a big way by businesses for communication. But these have a downside. It becomes difficult to find important contextual emails from the inbox which can waste precious time and effort. Designs used in events for brand promotion cannot be reviewed and approved fast through emails.
Solutions for proper event management
The above mentioned concerns can be better addressed through enterprising solutions. Web based project management tools enable businesses to better plan and organize their events. So these can be smoothly executed. With these aids, team members are able to communicate and collaborate quickly and accurately from different geographical places they are based in. They need not meet physically for planning and discussing over things. So businesses need not spend more for arranging meetings.
An online project management solution provides a centralized location for all the conversations, files, data and other important things associated with an event management project. These can be accessed effortlessly from anywhere through the web. All members participating in a project remain at same page over a project. They remain updated about various developments taking place in the project. So no doubts remain over project matters. They are able to access the latest and updated information.
Advantages of using a project management tool for organizing events
There are many benefits of using an online project management tool for organizing and managing an event.
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Team members are able to conveniently discuss and brainstorm over matters. They are able to share ideas and views. So matters get addressed quickly and comprehensively. This saves time and boosts their productivity. They are able to bond better as a team.
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Experts and people who are not part of a project originally, but whose advice can be valuable for guiding a project, can be looped into the project with the help of a project management tool. They are able to temporarily participate in a project, communicate and leave when no longer required.
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Tasks get elaborately described and assigned to respective team members. They develop a clear understanding of their tasks. They remain aware of the schedule of their tasks.
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Milestones associated with an event can be precisely tracked with the help of a calendar. A business is able to know its completed, upcoming and delayed milestones. Important events like meetings, conferences and others can be held in a timely manner. Team members, delegates, speakers, clients and others can participate in them as scheduled. They receive notifications about proposed events in advance, so they do not miss them. By holding its premier events on time, a business is able to put the right impact on people. They value its professionalism.
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Representatives of a business highlight achievements of their company at the conferences and events. They need the relevant facts and figures with them for sharing the right information with delegates and for impressing them. The representatives can access with ease relevant files and documents within their project management tool for getting the required information. As all the files associated with a project lie at a single centralized location, these can be found conveniently and promptly.
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Through notes, team members can collaborate over writing and develop great content which can be used for promoting a business. This content can be deployed in brochures, magazines, booklets and other platforms for projecting a favorable image of a business. So it can gain more from its marketing efforts.
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Designs are used by businesses for promoting their services and products at events. These designs have to be created within limited time and budget. A proofing tool within a project management system enables a designer to seek fast, effortless and accurate review of designs from businesses. Through this tool, a designer shares a design with a business’s team member after adding comments over it. The member receives it in least time and can highlight errors and modifications needed in the design through text or markup tools. Thus the designer can work on the design as per the member’s feedback. This corrected design gets approved fast by the business. These approved designs can be effectively employed for boosting a business’s brand presence.
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Progress made at projects can be precisely measured with Gantt charts. Any delaying of tasks can be known early, so prompt and effective measures can be taken for their speedy execution. This helps to avoid delaying of projects and facilitates their timely accomplishment.
Conclusion
With the help of a project management tool (like ProofHub, basecamp, trello, asana, etc) a business would be able to appropriately plan and organize its event-related tasks and activities. Thus an event can be held at right time and at right place with mandatory participation of delegates, clients, stakeholders and other important persons. The business is able to smoothly communicate and collaborate with its vendors. So they can perform their assigned duties as scheduled. Thus necessary facilities can be impeccably extended to the delegates participating in the event. Business representatives can duly share with the participants the business’s achievements and interact with them over various business matters. Thus message of the business gets delivered impactfully to the concerned people and the event becomes a success.
Images: ”Speaker at Business Conference and Presentation/ Shutterstock.com“
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