SIX STEPS TO ORGANIZE A SUCCESSFUL MEET
“Do your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more , do more and become more?
One of the hardest jobs to accomplish is man management. Each person is an individual with original ideas, thoughts and behaviour. But in a group activity, it is often not possible for all ideas to be executed. And, when faced with a “ never before faced situation” whose ideas would work best?
So here we were in the middle of the Covid -19 pandemic, faced with the task of organizing an annual conference for all the members of district branch of doctors, with over 1000 members. We took up the challenge to curate a Virtual Conference, first of its kind in Pediatrics in India!!!
Here’s how we pulled it off!
I elaborate my Six steps to organizing a successful event:
1.Ideate:
Fresh ideas are always novel , but not always implementable.
The first round of team meeting will be filled with plenty of new ideas and thoughts. Team members will fall over each other with the aim of vying for the position of having the Winning Idea. This is not a competition. Stay grounded, listen to each and every idea, take notes, ask for the positives but search for the negatives on your own. No one wants to point any possible errors in his/ her ideas. Its always a good idea to list out the top three “ most viable suggestions” and high light them for further discussion and brain storming. Put in place a CORE team right from the start , and give it all decision making rights.
2. Conceptualize the event:
Try to look through the entire event. If this is a recurring activity, like ours, its much simpler because you already have the actuals in place. You just need to position them into your meeting and bingo- your conference outline is in your hands. However, if this is a first time event , you need to work your way across each and every component –start, middle and end of each session. While it’s a good idea to take team opinion for each component, once decided, its good to allocate responsibility to team members .
3. Allocate job roles:
Once the entire program is designed on paper, create teams to handle each area of work. Identify Team leaders who can manage to work through with defined time lines. . According to Steve Jobs “ Leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could do “ Most often , there would be only a few active workers, but the team leader should be capable of working through this challenge with his/ her leadership qualities . Allocate specific roles to the group and ensure that the allocated work is completed within the designated time.
4. Define time lines:
Ensure that you give deadlines that are at least 7-10 days before the D-Day. This gives a leeway , in case any corrective actions or revamping needs to be done. The core team must review the work of all the teams at regular intervals. It is a good idea for the team leaders to provide updates every so often, to ensure all work is going as per schedule.
5. Raise required Funds:
No conference can every happen successfully without adequate funds. An important component in the initial planning would be to prepare a budget for the entire event, with allocations for every component. This acts as a template for raising funds. A strong finance committee will go a long way in ensuring that all budget goals are met and some surplus. Tap into all the known sources, make sure you provide adequate information to all your sponsors as to what they would get for whatever they invest. Return on investment is absolutely important for any company that could be a sponsor. Make sure to give them what you promised, so you don’t lose your credibility in the market.
6. Support and Empathize with team members
Last, but not the least, ensure that you support all team members and listen to all that they say. Empathy with the team , inspires them to work harder and deliver the required results. Getting a sense of an understanding leadership, makes people want to go out and do better than they would ordinarily do. This is indeed the sign of a good leader.
Good luck and enjoy the Successf of your Conference/ Convention/Event/Meeting.
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