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How to win at constantly staging bigger and better events?

The month of September always marks the anniversary for Eventeamwork. This year we are celebrating 8 years and I have taken a moment to stop and reflect on the journey.

I am extremely proud of my amazing team that I got to work with over these years. I am grateful to our clients for trusting us and the process. I am inspired by the amazing outcomes our clients achieved. I am grateful for the incredible experiences and learnings along the way.

Being in business has its own various challenges but the most challenging part for me has been to keep standing for a different approach to leading people in our fast paced and process-oriented industry.

As Event Managers these days, we are not taught people management and leadership except for basic HR principles. The focus is on learning about operations, which is important but not enough. Once we enter the industry, we quickly see that people form a large part of the industry and even entry level roles often need to supervise teams of casual staff or volunteers.

It is no wonder then that the operational focus that requires short term thinking and efficiencies often dictates how people are managed in events.

The downside of efficiency

The operational phase of events tends to be tactical and task focused, including a constant search for immediate solutions – hiring structures and stages, using systems, automating tasks – and in amongst all of this we will see the search for immediate solutions to cover tasks to be done and this is where the search for help often comes in and with it the well-known “Call for volunteers”.

This approach stands in direct opposite to the principles of effective engagement, which focusses on long-term benefits through creating stronger bonds, not only with staff and volunteers but also with customers, participants, suppliers, sponsors and other stakeholders – in short with the event’s market, with everyone the event touches.

Yet the operational approach prevails because that’s all we get exposed to through education and through the people we work with in the industry. It tends to treat the people who willingly give their time for an event as a commodity, basically treating them the same as the marquee we are hiring. But it’s just what we have been taught to do.

However, this approach doesn’t just negate the value people who volunteer for your event bring to you, it also does a huge disservice to the event.

The result is that people who volunteer are not engaged, meaning they don’t turn up or they don’t return, which then cements the idea that volunteers are unreliably – closing the circle. A common request then is to find other or new volunteers.

But the same approach will always just lead to the same outcomes.

We need a new leadership approach

Event volunteers make up 60+% of any event workforce and they are predominantly engaged in customer facing roles. They talk about your event not only to your customers and participants, but also to their friends and the wider community – basically creating the event brand. If they feel engaged, they will happily share that but if they don’t feel engaged, heard and supported they will also share and create a potentially unfavourable image of your event in the community.

Events are always looking to be bigger and better, typically with the vision behind to create a bigger impact, the very reason why they were created in the first place.

This immense drive and the hard work people put in to create events is what attracted me to the industry in the first place.

What I learned is that to achieve a greater impact we need to engage our people. We can’t do it alone. The 60+% of our workforce can be so much more than bodies implementing tasks – if we allow them to and support them to – essentially leading them effectively.

Effective leadership creates higher engagement and retention, which reduces costs, but it also elevates the event community building, allows for a greater reach, attracts more of the right people and it impacts people and their communities.

Leadership is taking responsibility and involving people strategically rather than as a short-term fix. If leaders are able to look inward and recognise their role in this, they can significantly change the culture of an organisation and accelerate the impact they make. It always starts at the top.

So, yes it can be sometimes challenging to challenge the status quo, but what I love is seeing leaders succeed and achieve the big impact they want to make. Here is to many more years of transforming event leadership.

Why we need people centric leadership in events

We see varying levels of system approaches and people centric approaches in volunteer management. One approach is relying on a volunteer management system (software) to solve the recruitment problem, the other is reluctance to use a system out of fear to lose the connection with volunteers. I believe the solution is a combination of a system approach AND people centric leaders to run a volunteer program effectively.

We often get asked one of the following two questions “Why do I need a system, I am just fine doing the rostering in my head?” and “How much is it to use your database?” Then the other day I listened to a podcast where an accountant spoke about their service and the impact of accounting software on the service they provide. Now everyone can basically do their own accounting but it doesn’t replace the service that is provided by professional accountants. I could see so many parallels to volunteer management in event and community organisations.

Seven years ago when we started Eventeamwork there were very few volunteer management systems on the market. Back then volunteer management typically involved many manual tasks around rostering and communication, particularly for volunteer programs involving hundreds of people over multiple days. These days there are literally hundreds of software solution to assist with database management and rostering on the market and there are more appearing every other week.

The search for efficiency and automation is changing the volunteer management field just like in the accounting profession. The system is really important to assist with the manual tasks, avoid errors and provide a better and faster registration experience for people. Coordinators save time and do their jobs more efficiently. They can now concentrate on planning and improving the volunteer program, focussing on communication and engagement, all of which will make the program more effective.

However the thread of having a system, particularly if it includes automation such as automatic confirmations and reminder messages, self-scheduling, self check-in etc, it can also be easy to lose touch with your volunteers. Where previously there would have been many emails and phone calls to determine availability and confirming rosters, we now need to find other ways to stay connected and have real communications.

Engagement is important and can get lost in the process of relying too much on the system. This unfortunately results in low attendance and low retention rates. The missing engagement and connection also contributes to volunteers at times being seen as a commodity rather than a valuable team member.

Interestingly the system approach is often experienced in event volunteer programs, whereas volunteer coordinators in community organisations tend to be fully aware of the importance of the engagement piece and the organisations often shy away from systems.

Just like in the accountant example, volunteer management systems cannot replace a volunteer coordinator. They cannot replace the building of relationships and connections between people and organisations. However systems can indeed add convenience and efficiency to the profession that allows volunteer coordinators to focus on planning and improvement rather than being bogged down by manual tasks.

As with everything, it’s about finding the right balance.

An effective volunteer program combines system and people centric leadership

While a good system helps volunteer coordinators be more efficient, to be able to really engage people and to retain people over time we need to go beyond systems. Engagement is key to achieving positive outcomes for organisations. Creating positive experiences for volunteers and engaging them in the outcomes will have a ripple effect on creating positive experiences for clients or attendees.

Volunteer management is more than allocating bodies to positions and the aspect of managing people, having conversations, ensuring well-being and satisfaction cannot be replaced by even the greatest systems.

Your engagement determines your culture, it is how you interact with staff, volunteers and people in general. Your culture will determine if your organisation can reach a competitive advantage. Anyone can replicate products and services. Anyone can get a volunteer management system but it’s what you do with it that will make all the difference. Nobody can replicate your unique culture.

So yes, systems are great in making our life easier and saving time on manual tasks but considering people and engagement will set you apart.

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?

5 Tips to Boost your Event Volunteer Recruitment

Volunteer Recruitment

Volunteer recruitment is the most obvious part of the volunteer management process. That is likely the reason why it is often interchangeably referred to as volunteer management.

Volunteer management however is a lot more complex with planning, engagement, training, support and communication. Volunteer recruitment is a part of this system – a crucial part of course in ensuring we get people involved with our event. Understanding its interdependency with the other areas of volunteer management is the key to succeed with volunteer recruitment.

The recruitment process can be challenging and stressful as many events heavily rely on volunteers but struggle with attracting enough volunteers. I have put together a few tips to help boost volunteer recruitment for your next event.

1. Preparation

Planning your recruitment is essential. Otherwise the recruitment drive is random, likely resulting in a poor outcome. It is key to plan how people will reach you and sign up. You can have the best recruitment call in place but if you don’t have an effective registration process you will lose people along the way before they even register.

Make registering easy. If you put yourself in the shoes of the potential volunteer during the process, you will be able to identify any obstacles that may prevent people from signing up. You could also test your process with a few colleagues.

Beware that the devil is in the detail. Think of a clearly structured volunteer registration page, an easy-to-navigate form and a phone number available for people to call if they encounter difficulties as a great foundation for your volunteer recruitment.

2. Roles

It is very common in the event industry to manage volunteers on a task by task basis rather than creating roles. Unfortunately, the more basic the role the less meaningful it is to the volunteer. Consider that the more importance you put on a role, the more importance a volunteer will put on its execution.

People are looking to assist events and organisations in a meaningful way. In addition, often people who volunteer are highly skilled in their professions. Most of these skills are transferable, so why not tap into this resource of expertise if it satisfies the event’s and the volunteer’s needs at the same time?

Creating meaningful roles will make roles more attractive for recruitment but also create a higher volunteer engagement, which will impact the overall visitor experience.

3. Your Offer

Your offer determines whom you attract as a volunteer. Incentives can be part of your offer but the most important is the experience you offer to a volunteer. In other terms what the volunteer will get out of volunteering at your event. This can differ from person to person but generally this may include skill development, being involved with a cause they care about, pro bono skilled work, meeting people and numerous others.

Consider the volunteer roles you need to fill and who would be your ideal person to fill these. Your ideal person may be part of a specific interest group or a specific industry. And your ideal person may be looking for different experiences and incentives than what you are currently offering.

Considering your target volunteers and their needs will help you create an offer that if delivered will keep volunteers motivated and committed to your event.

4. Channels

With email being less and less effective for recruitment conversations, it seems obvious to turn to social media. Social media hugely assists volunteer recruitment as it opened up opportunities to target specific groups, interests and locations.

However, it is also important to review where you find your ideal target market. There may be easier ways to reach them more effectively at a local club or at an expo for example.

Choosing the relevant channels will save you time and allows you to craft a tailored message.

5. Communication

Communication is key, both to events and to working with people. The more you can communicate and keep people informed along the way, the better engagement you will achieve.

The message you are trying to get across needs to be very clear to be effective. In marketing, going out to everyone is the most expensive way of promoting an opportunity. The same is true for volunteer recruitment. Going out and asking everyone dilutes the message.

A clear, targeted message lays out the benefits and requirements relevant to the target market before people register to volunteer.

Communicating more clearly before people register will achieve two things. It will show the commitment required, which will attract people who are serious about helping out. It will also cut out the ones who were not serious in the first place but just sign up in case it could become interesting. A clear message will save you a lot of time in the recruitment process and beyond.

Want some help?

How effective your volunteer recruitment is largely depends on how well you prepare for it and the clarity of your message to your target market.

If you need help with your volunteer recruitment check out our 6-Step Checklist that will help you improve volunteer recruitment and create better events.  CLICK HERE for FREE download.