Seeking feedback following an offsite meeting or event is common practice. It’s important to hear what worked and what didn’t from participants in order to improve future meetings. However, input from stakeholders can be all over the map, even though their intentions are good.
“The fact is that when your event seems to lack cohesion, it can usually be traced back to one thing: a lack of a clear objective,” states Sue Wigston, chief operating officer of Eagle’s Flight, an experiential learning and training company. In a recent opinion post for BizBash, an informational website for meeting planners, Wigston identified four important things that defining objectives will allow you to do.
1. Set the agenda with purpose.
When you define clear objectives from the start, your event’s agenda will take shape to reflect and support them. Critically examine how the line items that make up your agenda support the set objectives in the best way possible. Regardless of the situation, in order to maximize your time and the budget of every line item, you may have to step outside “how it’s always been” and throw something new into the mix.
2. Plan realistically.
Having a clear objective from the start will allow you to determine if you are appropriately allocating your time and money, or if something else may be better. For example, if your annual event budget has decreased, you will have to consider other options to achieve your objectives with less resources. Since you started by building consensus with the key stakeholders, when it comes time to make decisions or overcome a challenge, everyone involved can align around a common objective.
3. Get buy-in from everyone.
When you have clearly defined objectives, stakeholders such as potential sponsors or attendees can recognize the benefit of the event and use the objectives to explain why the event is worth their investment of time or money. You will find it is most effective to do this through pre-event communications such as email blasts or social media updates that focus on the relevance for attendees and get them excited and curious about what is to come.
4. Measure progress and adjust accordingly.
If you do not know what your objectives are and what success looks like, you will be uncertain what exactly you’re managing as all the elements of the event come together. By setting clear objectives, you will be able to measure your progress and act if any adjustments are needed to the strategy or execution along the way.
If you are truly determined to guarantee the success of your event, defining objectives is a non-negotiable best practice.
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