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Tag: Event Outcomes

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5 Easy Steps to create a ‘Lived Vision’ to Effectively Engage Stakeholders

Bringing a large-scale event to life that truly reflects your vision will always require buy-in from the various stakeholders involved. It can be very time intensive to manage competing stakeholders when running large-scale events and it can feel like you are being pulled in several different directions.

In this post you I’ll show you five easy steps to create a “lived vision” that will help pull everyone together and ensure that you get the best outcome for your event without always having to communicate separately with each stakeholder group.

Related content: Do you really know your event stakeholders?

Now, having a vision for your event is surely nothing new to you; however, having a lived vision is a step further. As the name implies, a lived vision is known and lived by all stakeholders. It also helps to easily attract more of the right people to your event – those who truly connect to your vision, and hence saves you valuable time while creating a bigger impact.

Managing competing stakeholder interests

Mitigating the great challenge of competing stakeholder interests means getting stakeholders to all work together towards your event’s success. Yes, they are all very different but the one thing that unites them is your vision for your event or organisation.

It is also much easier to manage these competing interests when you have your own cheer squad – or “A-team” of stakeholder ambassadors who share the vision for your event and can hence carry it through to their respective stakeholder groups. 

Creating an “A team” with vision

The easiest way to create your own A-team is to share openly and honestly the vision you have for your event. For example, if you are running an event benefitting health, you will want to use language that is attractive to stakeholders who share a common interest in healthy communities.

This way you will pull together a small group of people across all stakeholder groups, who are most enthusiastic about your event. They will see their involvement as more than a transaction and they will help you engage all stakeholders. See them as your advisory panel and your cheer squad.

Regardless of the type of event or its purpose, your entire team will function more cohesively when united by common goals, and the same goes for all stakeholder groups. This calls for a clearly spelled-out vision at the centre of all your event planning, around which your A-team will rally and take everyone else along for the ride. Do this early!

Your event’s vision statement

Write up a single vision statement for your event. Leverage this vision statement to engage potential stakeholders around the common interest. Use this vision statement as the basis for a “pull strategy” designed to attract stakeholders who share your vision.

Often, event leaders create different visions for each stakeholder group, such as sponsors, staff, suppliers, volunteers. This segmentation limits the stakeholders. However, a well-articulated vision attracts people across all stakeholder groups to your event and you never know how people may want to get involved. For example, a ticket holder can also be donating and volunteering; they may also own a company and may be interested in sponsoring the event.

So, it’s important to not limit yourself; create a single vision of how you want your event to be perceived and what you want it to achieve – this alone will attract the right people once you share it.

Five simple steps to creating a lived vision statement

The best way to instil a sense of purpose in your stakeholders is to write a vision statement for your event and then help them to own it and share it. To do this, follow these five steps:

  1. Answer three questions to determine the value proposition of your event:
    1. What is the main purpose of the event?
    2. What type of person is this event for?
    3. What is their incentive for attending this event?
  2. Write a rough draft of your vision statement.
  3. Share the vision statement with your A-team of stakeholders for input.
  4. Write the final draft of your vision statement.
  5. Share your vision statement in all appropriate channels (website, local media, social media).

A vision statement is emotional; it’s about positive change. This is what people will connect to and that’s when it becomes a lived vision.

Health triathlon

Darryl (not his real name) belonged to a triathlon club and was tasked with organising a public triathlon.

Particular challenges

While Darryl had organised triathlons before, this was especially challenging as it was ‘tri-purpose’, which he delighted in telling people was appropriate for a triathlon club. Its purpose was:

  • Increase the number of club members
  • Raise funds for the local hospital’s oncology ward
  • Raise fitness levels of the citizens of the half dozen or so suburbs that were his target

Finding his A-team

It was obvious that this was going to be a big, complex task and that planning would take the best part of a year and involve many volunteers. Fortunately, Darryl quickly recognised a small number of community members from various stakeholder groups who were as enthusiastic as he was – so these five people became his A-team.

Writing the vision

Darryl had written vision statements before, but it was crucial this time to formulate a single vision that would be relevant to all stakeholder groups: contestants, individual clubs (swimming, running, cycling), hospital auxiliary, sponsors, volunteers, race directors, coaches, team leaders, vendors, retail outlets, council staff, police, ambulance … the list seemed endless.

He liked the idea of a lived vision that would pull everyone together to ensure that he would get the best outcome for his event without always having to communicate separately with each stakeholder group.

He drafted and redrafted many versions of a vision statement that he felt would appeal to all of these groups, then finally felt ready to share it with his A-team.

Sharing it with his A-team and beyond

After some minor revisions by the A-team, the vision statement was finalised – less than a page of their why. This became the basis of some very effective advertising, including social media, television, newspapers, leaflets and posters.

(And yes, it was hugely successful. Darryl and his A-team were immediately booked for a repeat performance the following year.)

A vision for your A-team

Feeling stuck? Writing your own vision doesn’t sound as easy as it was for Darryl? You can always schedule a consultation with the team at Eventeamwork who can assist you in developing a lived vision for your event.

If you’d like to up-level your stakeholder engagement, download our free checklist “How to manage competing stakeholder interests when running large scale events”.

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Do you really know your event stakeholders?

stakeholder management

If you’re planning a large-scale event, you’ll already know that they don’t ‘just happen’. And of course, the more stakeholders you have, the more potential there is for interests to compete and for you to struggle to satisfy them all.

In this post, I’ll show you why it’s important to really know your stakeholders and share some easy tips to help get to know them better.

No doubt, you already know your stakeholders are important and you are already thinking about them and their interests. This simple process will help you clarify how you can engage them more effectively.

Who are your stakeholders?

Large-scale events usually involve a staggering number of stakeholders from advisory boards to suppliers to temporary staff and volunteers (the latter can constitute up to 85% of the event workforce). There are many different people with whom event leaders must interact to successfully stage the best possible event. The best advice here is to really know your stakeholders and (perhaps even more importantly) to understand what’s in it for them.

Why it’s important to know your stakeholders

Don’t assume that all of your stakeholders are anxious to just be part of a big happy family. Getting to know your stakeholders helps you balance different priorities and competing interests, make use of everyone’s strengths and talents and help everyone feel valued and engaged. It’s the first step in getting everyone to work together for that common goal – a successful event.

List your stakeholders

To get to know your stakeholders, the first step is to list them. That may sound like an easy task, but many event leaders skip this simple step, which can not only mean that they fail to engage with key stakeholders, they can accidentally ignore them completely. Naturally, this can make them feel neglected, disengaged and more self-interested as a result.

What’s driving your stakeholders?

To make sure you engage with all your stakeholders, in addition to listing their names and contact information, add something even more valuable: your stakeholders’ motivations.

Consider what interest each stakeholder has in the event. Ask yourself, “What’s driving my stakeholders?” The answers may vary depending upon each stakeholder’s unique situation, but they are certainly worth knowing and including on your list.

Various stakeholders will have different motivations which may or may not align with your objectives. A politician involved in your event might want to drum up good publicity. A bureaucrat may be looking to capitalise on the potential for your event to attract new business to the area. An operations team member might be using the event as a stepping stone for their next gig. Volunteers may simply be looking for meaningful experiences and personal fulfilment. The list goes on and on.

Determine ‘what’s in it for them’ and add this to your list. Doing so will help you to build a more meaningful relationship with each individual stakeholder as well as to mediate their competing interests when functioning collectively.

Simone and the big top

A colleague of mine (I’ll call her Simone) was helping to stage a major student music event in a town in Victoria. Without a major concert hall, a big top was used for the event and was erected on the town’s showground. The old adage ‘never work with children or animals’ was frequently playing in Simone’s mind, reminding her of what she was taking on.

She described her list of stakeholders as ‘more than a little bit lengthy’. Apart from the obvious – students, teachers and parents – there were many others on her list, such as the owners of the big top (who were wanting to use this event for promoting their company and to ensure that their prize possession wasn’t ruined by all those kids), the Showground Trust (who were wanting some publicity for the showground but were also concerned that their oval was going to be ruined), suppliers (who provided everything from trapeze swings and sound gear to toilets, and who managed everything from ticketing and parking to crowd control), the local ambos, the state and federal members of parliament (who were from different parties, but both wanted to speak at the event), local newspaper and television film crews … every woman and her dog.

Even though Simone thought she was across all her stakeholders, once she had taken the time to list the stakeholders and their motivations, she thought it was absolutely worth it. It enabled her to engage with all of the stakeholders effectively and to streamline communication, but most of all to ensure that their seemingly competing interests were harnessed. The result was that stakeholders were very engaged across the entire event, which lead to a successful three-day event and happy stakeholders who are all likely to return next year.

Ready to get to know your stakeholders?

Create a list of your stakeholders, their contact information and their motivations. Use these tools to help you be more effective in managing their competing interests.

If you’d like to up-level your stakeholder engagement, download our free checklist “How to manage competing stakeholder interests when running large scale events”.

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Why to Focus on Event Outcomes when Managing Volunteers

focus on event outcomes to create outstanding experiences

The operational focus naturally is on our next event but there is a need to also focus on event outcomes to create long-term benefits. Many of us fall into the trap of focusing on outputs rather than outcomes, not because we don’t know any better but because it’s so easy to. Hence there are literally thousands of articles written on the topic. So it’s not a new concept at all. However, let’s be honest we all are creatures of habit and we are looking for the best way to prove what we are doing is worthwhile or of value and usually the easiest and most tangible way is to show outputs.

Let’s have a closer look at the difference. Outputs are controlled and immediate results of a product or service and therefore can be measured very easily. Outcomes on the other hand cannot be fully controlled and are a longer term and less tangible result. While outputs are necessary to achieve outcomes, it’s not always a straight path.

For example, recruiting 500 volunteers for an event is an output, but it doesn’t mean the event outcomes are achieved simply by having 500 volunteers on site. In fact, it is still possible to have negative outcomes such as poor customer service due to lack of engagement or lack of training.

Creating experiences

I believe there is a need in the event industry and particularly in volunteer management to focus more on outcomes. We see measurements such as ‘this many people attended’, ‘this many volunteers came’, ‘this many programs were handed out’, ‘this many surveys were filled in’ etc. Usually these are impressive figures, however they don’t say much about the quality aspect of the event experience. The experience is what determines the event outcome and more importantly determines if people return to the event, the image of the event in the public arena. These are important aspects for events with a long-term impact on time, money and operations.

We all know that the customer experience is more than watching a show, installation or fireworks. It goes far beyond the “show” and it will in fact influence the experience of the show. If you go to a large outdoor event, the show may be great, but you have been pushed around by event staff to make room for more people and keep certain areas free, been told they can’t help you when asking volunteers a question and were sent the wrong way when looking for the toilets. A simple example, but it is highly likely that your experience of the show will be greatly diminished by your experience as a customer at the event.

Similarly sporting events need to look after the participant’s experience all the way. It is not enough to take the entry money and leave participants on their own. We need to look after people for their entire experience from start to finish and even beyond.

The experience with an event is essential to bring participants and customers back and influences the public image of the event. We all know that, but often there seems to be a disconnect between the vision and the operations of events. The operational focus naturally is on the next event but I believe there is a need to keep an eye on the long-term vision and involve the team in it to make better decisions for long-term benefits.

Why is it relevant for managing your team?

We ourselves were guilty on focusing too much on outputs. Our volunteer program reports showed how many volunteers were recruited, what tasks were performed, what was trained, how many newsletters were sent and what policies and management structures were created. All of this just shows that we successfully implemented the volunteer program.

But what did this achieve? While we were telling clients that the number of volunteers is secondary to the quality of service, our reports still consistently showed outputs we produced and not outcomes we achieved.

The volunteer program is not a supporting function of an event but integral to achieving the event outcomes. Therefore we shifted our reporting to show the impact on the outcomes rather than how many volunteers were recruited.

We clearly didn’t ask the right questions and were surprised we kept getting the same answers. We believe that real change can be achieved by focusing on outcomes rather than outputs. Event organisers who take responsibility to drive their teams towards achieving outcomes will produce more successful events. The outputs produced are part of the equation but by shifting our focus to the outcomes, we may even create better outputs. Ultimately, we will create better event experiences.

For us this means bringing the volunteers on board to be part of achieving the event outcomes. The focus on the outcomes also creates a better volunteer experience and ensures a higher engagement. The result is volunteer retention, saving time and money in recruitment, training and advertising. Most importantly, engaged teams that are focused on the event outcomes will keep creating quality experiences for patrons and participants and as a consequence create more successful events.

What are your thoughts on this? Are your teams involved in the vision and outcome focuses? Are your reports focused on outputs or do they include outcomes?