Prepping for the Future

As event attendance increases or your organization expands the number of events it hosts, the infrastructure of the organization needs to be prepared to grow as well. Actually, organizations who are future-focused are already planning how they will develop their staff and structures now before their growth happens. If there is no strategy for expanding foundational systems and structures such as best practices for hiring qualified staff, budgeting , marketing and advertising, and event planning and logistics before expansion occurs, creating healthy processes or having time to hire the right people for the right positions will feel almost impossible. 

Forward-thinking stakeholders need to be intentional about creating an internal growth progression plan now so when the time comes, each leader knows when and how to grow their team. As leadership envisions what the future looks like in five or ten years, it is crucial for them to construct the model for how to develop teams to support changes, anticipate the budget to fund them, and expand processes and structures to keep operations functioning. This will help to set the organization up for success. Those who don’t take the time now will find themselves playing the inevitable “catch-up” game when business takes off.  

There are five basic areas where an organization can strategize now as they are contemplating what the future holds. Keep in mind the solutions to these could be very different for each organization, but the need for each one is there. They may sound simplistic but I would anticipate some organizations have not considered these yet. 

• An Org Chart. What would your organization need to look like if the attendance at your largest event grew exponentially or you added 25% more events? Does your current association structure allow for enough levels of leadership or do you need to shift to a corporate structure? Perhaps your stakeholders need to redesign how departments are broken down, what each one is responsible for, and what the optimal number of staff members is to accomplish upcoming goals and objectives. This doesn’t mean you have to hire all of these people now but knowing what a future team looks like will allow you to make the best hiring decisions when needed.
• A solid CRM. Select a good, reputable CRM (Customer Relationship Management) database platform. In order to continue to grow your business, you need to capture your audience’s information. Then, you can understand who they are, how to reach them, and what they are interested in to strategically market your events to them. Finding a CRM that has the flexibility to add modules as your organization expands will save you money. It will also save time in the future by not having to migrate your data to a different CRM later because the platform you currently have doesn’t offer the features you find you now need.  
• Flexible Online Platforms (Registration, Project Management, Point of Sales, Virtual Events, and more) These digital platforms are critical to the success of any event. Depending on the needs of your organization, some platforms offer a free or low-cost version to start and move up pricing tiers as you add more services and support. Finding platforms that can accommodate your growing needs will again save money, increase efficiency, and allow you to keep the infrastructure organized throughout the process. Maintaining the same database consistently also lets your organization retain historical data on your audience.
• A Shared File System. Especially if the staff members in your organization are not in the same location, being able to share information and documents efficiently is important. Using a shared file system, creating a standard folder and file naming convention, and training each team member how to use it will allow everyone to access what they need quickly, saving your organization time and money. Having a system like this can also reduce the number of meetings required as information can be shared in a living document.
• Timeless Processes and Procedures. When creating processes and procedures for your event operations, use job titles instead of a specific person’s name. This way procedures won’t need to be updated as often as the organization expands and people are promoted or move on. These should also be reviewed annually by those who use them. Reviewing them for accuracy and updating them regularly makes training new employees much more efficient as your team is onboarding additional employees.

Thinking about the future of your events and organizations can feel like a daunting task, especially if you are in a planning season. When you’re not, making sure your organization is ready for what lies ahead will make getting there much more fun.

Have you worked with an organization in a season of growth? What key takeaway did you learn? Share it here or email me, I’d love to hear about it!

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Schedule a consultation with Tracy Baer, CMP, at tracybaer.com.