Conferences and other events are a major cost. So, in hard times it’s more important than ever for organizers to maximize their effectiveness. How can you get the most from your meetings?
Companies have many reasons for staging meetings. They might want to bring employees together for intensive training, create a networking environment that’s good for sales or simply motivate employees at an event designed to entertain. The size, scope and rationale vary, but these days almost all meetings have one thing in common: the need to show results.
“Events are a big cost, and the pressure is on to justify them,” says Matthew Wall (pictured below, left), vice president of operations in EMEA for BCD M&I, which services both strategic meetings management and event-level services in more than 40 countries across the globe. “The number of companies looking to measure their return on investment in meetings is growing.”
Measuring formal return on investment makes sense for incentives meetings, Walls says, because it’s possible to track success through quantifiable measurements such as increased Matthew Wallrevenue or new accounts. But results for any kind of meeting can be gauged using return on objectives—or return on event—which employs qualitative metrics such as participant feedback. Whether you’re looking at quantitative or qualitative factors, Walls says, four steps will put you on the path to a successful meeting.
Step 1 – Establish your meeting objectives
Companies must start by knowing why they’re having a meeting. As basic as it sounds, this crucial first step is often overlooked, Walls says. “When people start planning a conference, the first question they often ask is ‘Where should we have it?’ That means they’re already creating constraints around which they will need to fit the event.
“The first question shouldn’t be ‘where,’ it should be ‘why,’” he says. “What’s more, some companies are doing events simply because they have done them in the past and feel in some vague way that it would be good to do them again. Instead, you need to understand what you want participants to know, feel and do when they leave. There has to be a call to action.”
Once you know what you want your meeting to accomplish, you can determine the best way to measure whether you’re hitting those objectives. Then you can organize the event around reaching your goals and gauging your success. “You’ll be much more likely to meet your business objectives,” Walls says.
Step 2 – Capture participants’ attention
Wall suggests a few strategies for increasing the effectiveness of your meetings:
Train your speakers—“If I had to recommend only one thing to improve the effectiveness of any meeting, it would be to invest in professional training for all your speakers,” Wall says. It helps to find good speakers in the first place, but some subject matter experts need to be on a platform regardless of their oratory skills. A half-day of training can vastly improve almost anyone’s presentation skills, he contends.
Vary the format—Don’t make every session two PowerPoint presentations followed by a Q&A. Be creative and make sessions as interactive as possible. Use mobile devices for audience voting or to relay questions to a moderator. Try techniques that actually keep participants on their toes; ask participants to stand up for part of a session, or instruct them to throw a ball to one another during the presentation.
Create the right environment—Look for venues that offer lighting designed to match the mood you want to create. No matter the venue, avoid darkened rooms, which are liable to put participants to sleep. Think about room layout, too. For example, create a circle of breakout areas to improve audience interaction.
Change the diet—Progressive meeting planners are paying more attention to food as fuel that keeps meeting-goers alert and attentive. Reduce carbs at lunchtime, for example, and introduce energizing snacks like fruit smoothies.
Step 3 – Extend the engagement
The opportunity to engage attendees can go well beyond the actual meeting. Start before the event by creating an online forum that builds excitement and helps attendees connect with other participants. You also might try using social media such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to engage attendees, but don’t overdo it, Walls warns. “Some businesses try to engage on every platform they can think of because they want to be seen as forward-thinking, but unless someone is delegated to spend a lot of time creating interesting Twitter feeds, for example, it’s not going to work.”
Regardless of the media channel, pre- and post-event online discussions should be structured and managed as carefully as the event itself, he advises. Discussions need to serve a genuine purpose, and they should be finite. For example, if a meeting has generated ideas for improving the company, circulate those ideas online after the event and invite practical discussion to refine them. Then, after three months, end the debate. Later, report back to participants about how their ideas have been implemented.
Step 4 – Measure results with pre- and post-event surveys
Pre-event surveying is essential for benchmarking attitudes and behaviors of participants—and for determining whether the meeting accomplished your objectives. Ask the same questions at the end of the meeting to see whether answers changed—signalling results. Post-event surveys should focus on these kinds of results, rather than on simplistic questions about whether attendees liked an event. Consider polling participants again several months after the meeting to see whether the event yielded long-term results that demonstrate even more value.