Organizing corporate events is one of the key activities of an office manager. The preparation, planning and execution of any event requires a lot of communication and task management and that is not easy to maintain. For most events, you not only need to think about the attendees, but also coordinate all the logistics - vendors, booth, refreshments and much more. It doesn't matter what type of event it is - whether it's a Christmas party, conference, training or other educational event. The process of preparation and coordination is almost always the same.
How to plan a corporate event and what to start with
There are 5 key questions for any event. WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHO, WHY. So the first step should be to specify these five pieces of information. The next step is then to create a list of all the things that need to be taken care of. From the basic logistics of the event, to arranging accommodation, transport, catering, to confirming speakers and securing attendees. Use event tasks to break everything down at the beginning of the planning process and assign responsibilities to each team member.
Creating an event and basic information about it
Create an event and fill in basic information
- WHAT - a basic description of your corporate event
- WHEN - the date from when to when the event will take place
- WHERE - is the event being held by either entering an address or providing a link (if it is a webinar)
- WHO - is attending the event
- WHY - reasons
- Use the tasks to plan all the things and activities you need to do
Organizing the event
It's really important to stay organized throughout the planning process. For each activity you need to plan create a new task and give a deadline by which it has to be completed and a responsible person. That way you'll have all the tasks under control and updates - you'll see the status of completion from one place, without having to hunt around for emails that are easy to get lost in. A task overview as your visual planning tool is essential to stay organized. Like many other tasks, corporate event planning is most successful when all the information is organized, clear, and visible to everyone.
Here's a checklist of typical event planning tasks.
- Arranging accommodation
- Arranging catering
- Arranging a booth/stand/marquee
- Arranging transport
Logistics of the event
Contact and manage food and beverage vendors and everything else you need to create the desired environment for your corporate event. Again, you create everything through tasks.
Participants, speakers
Another important point is to secure participants for your event. This involves making a list of all the people you want to invite. You can use another tool that is specialized for this purpose to market and invite participants.
Evaluation of the event
Employee evaluation of the event is done through a poll asking participants for their satisfaction or other feedback on the event.