Step 2 - Identify - Do things different in 2017: Align your next meeting or incentive with your Corporate Strategy and see the results.

Happy New Year! January 2017 has approached and you are looking at your calendar of meetings and events for the year. You tell yourself, it’s time to do it all over again. You start the planning process by contacting hotels, and the suppliers ask you that dreaded question: Why are you having this meeting? “Because we’ve done it every year.” Is that really a good reason to run a meeting? Is that what your boss wants to hear?

Now more than ever we need to get a greater return from our events. As event planners we have a responsibility to ensure the events we run align with organization strategy.

We made it to Day 2 where I will share with you “Step Two” of our seven steps to help you align your next business meeting with the corporate strategy. 

Let's do a quick review: Monday I started with how we can have a missed opportunity by just doing the same thing/same program every year just because "we do it every year". I covered how corporations are spending millions of dollars hiring bright management consultants. and mobilizing senior executives’ time to develop a strategy. However, when an opportunity arises to align and engage employees on the objectives to be reached through a conference or some other type of event – these same intelligent consultants and executives never harness the power of the face-to-face meetings that they are planning. 

I also shared the responsibility we have as Meeting Planners to ensure that we are asking the right questions and thinking more strategic vs just operational. Asking better initial questions and not just the "how many rooms do you need?”. We acknowledge that asking “what do you hope to accomplish by the end of this program?” or “what is the most critical take away from the attendees?” will give us a better understanding on what the "Boss" wants and how you can drive a the company strategy with the meeting.

Yesterday, I shared with you our First Step – Understand. I shared a dialogue that Eric Rozenberg my business partner used for his "Meeting at C-Level" book which came from Lewis Carroll’s Allice in Wonderland:

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”

“I don’t much care where - ”

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”

It is essential for the success of any organization that everyone understands its vision and objectives, and it is just as crucial to keep that vision and objectives in mind when planning a meeting. Every meeting should take you one step closer in delivering those goals and must have a specific place in sales, marketing, and/or communication strategies. It is by asking key questions that you will understand the context in which you need to execute the face-to-face. Asking the right questions will not only get you the information you need but it will also position you at a different level in the planning and execution. See yesterday's article for example questions.

Step 2: Identify

Understanding the strategy of an organization and the why of a meeting, is the first essential step. Next, you want to be able to identify your stakeholders. There are three main elements that you need to identify:

• What are the objectives of the meeting?
• Who are the attendees and the various stakeholders involved?
• What does success look like, and how are you going to measure it?

Over the years, we have developed a template of questions to guide us with our projects. Regardless of the industry and the type of event, we have found these to be successful.

1. Organization's Goals and Objectives: What is the positioning? What is the strategy? What is the competition like? What part of the strategy do you want to focus on for this meeting?
2. Proposition: What is the key message you are trying to convey?
3. The Attendee: Who do you want to convey the message to? What do you know about that person(s)? What are his/her ambitions at work? What are their aspirations in life?
4. Emotional Benefit / Insights: What will convince the attendee? What will make them change their behavior? What moves them? What makes them click? What are their fears?
5. Unique Experience: Where will the experience take place? In which circumstances? What unique experience did the attendees enjoy in the past? What worked? What didn't?
6. Definition of Success / Business Objectives: What are the quantifiable results that will determine the success of the meeting? What will success look like? How are you going to measure it? What are the tangible and intangible results expected?
7. Mandatory: What must absolutely be included or absolutely avoided?
8. Resources and Scope: Who should be involved in the project? Who has the decision power? What is the timeline? What are the deadlines? What is the budget?

Once you've decided to have the meeting and you understand the why behind it, then you must identify the meeting's objective, the stakeholders and the expected outcomes of the meeting.

Tomorrow, I'll go over Step 3. If you can't wait until tomorrow, then you can pick up a copy of "Meeting at C-Level" written by my business partner Eric Rozenberg, available on Amazon.com. In the book Eric illustrates the seven steps and much more. Otherwise, if your patient, stay tuned for tomorrow. Until then...keep it productive!