Running your own business isn’t easy regardless of the industry, but it’s especially not easy when it comes to events. You’re constantly juggling from the moment you decide to step onto the wild ride of entrepreneurship, and working in the event world means managing resources, scopes, and so much more in a quickly-changing landscape. After nine years in business for myself, I wouldn’t have it any other way, but I have had certain learnings that took more time than they should to truly come to fruition.
There is a lot of “business-speak” out there that can be difficult to interpret, especially for those of us that don’t have a formal business education. I’m a self-taught businesswoman, and I’m going to share one of the biggest keys to business success that I’ve uncovered: Set expectations. Say what you are going to do, and then do it.
This applies to clients, staff, attendees – any stakeholders at all that you may interact with through your work. It is a great key to success in business, and in events. And though this is really no secret, it is something that is not always as front and centre and generally obvious as it should be.
Setting expectations is a lesson that I figured out myself along the way, but that has been reiterated many times through my journey. I have one client where this is a very clear internal corporate direction, and hearing them discuss the ways that they enact this with their membership has only reinforced my belief in the importance of this approach. I have seen it head off issues, keep people happy, and create magical experiences for their attendees. My dad has been running a business in my hometown for almost all of my life, and one of the discussions we have recently had was around saying you are going to do something and then doing it; this is one of his favourite approaches to business too.
The key concept of setting expectations and being accountable is incredibly important when it comes to managing clients. I’ve had amazing relationships with many of my clients over the years – people that I’ve built friendships and fantastic working relationships with that keep coming back to work with me on the next event they are cooking up. Being able to have excellent client relationships comes down to building trust, and there’s no better way to achieve that than to communicate what you are going to do, and follow through on it… over and over again.
I’ve had success in setting expectations with clients from the contracting phase, into planning and management. Ensuring that all important stakeholders are clear on what you will be delivering in the end ensures smooth delivery on-site without any surprises that might derail execution for the big event. Can’t afford the fancy chairs? Make sure your client has seen pictures of the chairs that will actually be in the room. Have an unconventional room set up? Be sure floor plans and even photos if possible have been shown to anyone that will have an opinion on the day of the event in advance and get the sign-off on it. All of this will save headaches on the big day and limit extra troubleshooting.
When hiring and managing staff, setting expectations is also a bit of a secret weapon. I haven’t always been perfect at it, but I’ve learned many times over that being clear about employment, roles, and even specific tasks helps people to be at their very best. If I owe my team something, I prioritize it as much as possible so that they are free to keep moving forward on their projects and getting things done.
All of this doesn’t mean you never need to backtrack or reassess your approach to something – this definitely happens. But when you are going down this path, if you are communicative with your stakeholder about why this change is happening, they will be far more able to understand the adjustment and still trust that you’re getting the job done. This also means that when you set expectations by communicating that something isn’t possible, the client will have more trust and acceptance for that answer and likely make it easier to be agile throughout the planning process.
Ultimately, when people trust you, they want to work with you – whether it’s clients, staff, or other stakeholders. Building that trust is one of the most important things you can do, and setting expectations is one of my personal keys for making this happen, in business and in events.
Kristin Glass, CMP is a Canadian event professional planning events locally and internationally across North America. She leads a creative team at her own company, Kristin Glass Events, which is based in Edmonton but works remotely on events ranging from conferences to teambuilding to fundraising. Kristin thrives at exercising creative planning and problem solving for her clients, always looking one step ahead to deliver exactly what they are looking for.
