WordPress Event Ticketing

„If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself.“
It’s a common phrase in event management if there ever was one. An irritated statement from the producer. A wry comment from a seasoned technician. Coming from your own mouth after an outside vendor has failed to deliver on time or in line with specifications.
We have all heard it at one time or another, usually when things aren’t going quite as planned, which happens more often than most of us would care to admit.
There are plenty of situations in our line of work where a hands-on approach seems like the best sort of approach. In every company or organization there are those (usually at the management level) who really care about delivering the best product or service possible. But as you get down into the nuts and bolts, chances are the number of people who see their job as, well, just a job, is going to increase exponentially. And please don’t get me started on outside vendors.

Still, overseeing every minute detail yourself is often not really reasonable or simply not possible

Still, overseeing every minute detail yourself is often not really reasonable or simply not possible. Getting back to the most obvious example, those pesky outside vendors (what can I say, it’s a pet peeve): by definition, they are hired because an organization does not have the internal capacity to handle a specific aspect of the project - and this is ever painfully true in event management.

For example, it would be nice to be able to get the lighting crew to set up the rigs the way the client imagined, but do you really know enough about stuff like backlighting and color wash to confidently take the matter into your own hands? Didn’t think so.

Managers today have almost universally been taught not to micromanage, but rather to be good judges of character and have the soft skills necessary to select the right people and motivate them to deliver.
That’s all nice and well, but it does not take into consideration the finer points of event management.

Like when the aforementioned lighting crew consists of a stoner kid and a guy who’s experience consists solely of metal concerts and you are there (trying) to organize a major sales conference. Do you let your producer handle it and hope for the best? Or do you try to find a lighting consultant and personally brief him on what exactly needs to be done?

If you have chosen option two: congratulations, you are micromanaging. And that’s a fact even if you believe you are just “delegating” to a “consultancy role.”

But that in itself is not necessarily a bad thing.

Through my personal experience, I have come to believe there are three rules on micromanagement in event production that should be applied to every challenging situation that may come up, in order to lighten your decision-making load and ultimately save you both time and energy better used elsewhere.

The first rule is: know when to micromanage.

It may sound a bit vague (“OK, but how do I know that?”) but it’s actually very clear. The answer is already in front of you, more specifically, in the above paragraph: you should do it only in challenging situations. When everything is running smoothly, there is no need for the event coordinator to hound every step the crew makes in order to set up that textbook perfect medical conference every gynaecologist in the Tri-state area will talk about for months afterwards.

When problems arise – and they will arise as sure as the sun does – it is your job as the coordinator to handle them. If there is no other available solution except for you to step in and take the reins of a specific aspect of the project for the time being, so be it. Just make sure you do it in such a way that makes those who were in charge feel that they still have a useful role to perform. And of course, don’t make it into a point of conflict, not when there is a job to be done. There will be plenty of time for constructive criticism in the post-event survey phase.

The second rule: the devil is in the details

This rule is probably the most obvious but that does not make it any less true. You’ve also probably already heard it a million times...

Another worn-out phrase, but this one is not in the least ambiguous, by virtue of it not addressing the “proper” way you should be doing things, but rather describing the reality we are all faced with - at least in the field of event management.

In order to sift through it all – and it’s your job as the manager to do just that - you will have to know all the details. But here’s the catch: you don’t have to get into them. You only have to know what they are.

Organizing an event sometimes can seem as a never-ending carousel of check lists; overflowing streams of attendee data; matryoshkas upon matryoshkas of interdependent deliverables. So many details to handle, so little time and manpower. In order to sift through it all – and it’s your job as the manager to do just that - you will have to know all the details.

But here’s the catch: you don’t have to get into them. You only have to know what they are. Together with your team, create a master checklist consisting of every single minute aspect of the event - and then unleash the collective might of your well-coordinated subordinates to handle each and every one in a structured and efficient manner. Remember, event management is above all a team effort.

Finally, the third rule, because all good rules come in threes: know when it’s outside of your control.

Stuff happens whether it has anything to do with you or your event. And I’m not talking only about obvious things like power outages in the middle of the opening presentation or snowstorms that whittle the invitee response down to a couple of locals. It could be bad client input, a banal oversight in well-established procedures or a small accident that sets off a chain reaction.

You need to improvise - which basically means to think on your feet while maintaining your cool

When “stuff” happens, it’s crucial to recognize it for what it is and not waste time on assigning blame or reconsidering procedures. The most important thing is to quickly create a workaround that will keep the event running, and for that you need to improvise - which basically means to think on your feet while maintaining your cool.

Those ubiquitous KEEP CALM posters are popular for a reason. I’m not saying you should consider putting one on the wall in your head office. But do keep them in mind as you dive into your next project and you will make the first step towards being a master of micromanagement – one who, like any true sensei, knows that his skill is to be applied in the field cautiously and only in dire need.