Claim Your Seat at the Table
Business Event Professionals have heard for years that they need to get a seat at the table. So one would think that after all this time, that’s happened. Right? No. How many planners or suppliers had an active hand in the actual decision-making process of your events? From planners I’ve spoken to, not that many. Instead they were left with the fall-out, the decisions that were made without understanding of the events or how to roll the goals and objectives of those meetings into an alternative event or focus at all.
So why is it that many meeting planners are left out of the important conversations that impact their daily work? And how do we help to resolve this disconnect? I’d encourage all meeting and event planners to think through these few questions:
Do you feel that your leadership understands the scope of your work?
Do you even want to have a seat at the table and have the extra responsibility that goes with it?
Are you ready to work a bit harder to be viewed as someone who is a serious business partner and can professionally present your opinion based upon facts and information?
Does your leadership view you or the leader of your group or department area as critical to the organization or company’s business outcomes?
Would you rather just plan the parties, the food and the fun stuff and leave the risk management to someone else?
If you answered yes to the first four, I’d say you’re in a prime position to move that desire ahead. If you answered yes to the last one though or no to any of the others, you may want to re-evaluate if you want that seat. And it is OK if you do not want it. Everyone has their own career goals, their own timing and priorities in their life. You do not have to focus on the business aspect of the meeting or event if you don’t want to. And as long as you can find employers who are willing to have you perform that role, you don’t have to change nor want more.
However, if you DO want to get that seat at the table and be viewed as a strategic business partner, then you are going to want to start moving the needle in the areas mentioned above. If your leadership doesn’t understand the scope of the work, then the responsibility is on you to help educate them. If you want to be viewed as a serious business partner, then make sure you are speaking the same language and you understand the goals and objectives not just of your events but also of the organization, and can clearly communicate them. And if your department area is not viewed as critical to the organization’s goals and outcomes, why not and how do you work towards fixing it?
There is no easy single fix solution to each of these scenarios because each company or organization is arranged uniquely and has its own unique culture. One area that Build Better Meetings would suggest focusing on first ties into bullets 3 and 4, learning to communicate in ways that leadership will respect and understand. No more talking about how much fun a party is or how good the food will be. Instead, sharing real facts and data in areas that matter to your business. This will not only help you to be viewed as a subject matter expert and business professional but also will help leadership re-evaluate not just your seat at the table but also your department’s value to achieving goals.
It’s important to remember though, that unless you actively commit and work towards these areas, nothing will change. If you haven’t spoken to your immediate boss about your role and where you want it to go, nothing will likely change. If you haven’t taken the time to learn the company’s strategic goals, and thought through how meetings and events can influence those goals and help achieve them, then nothing will likely change. It’s up to us to do the hard work to help your organization understand the role meetings and events can play and help move company objectives forward. It’s up to us to do the work so that the industry is elevated and viewed as something more than just planning a good party or picking out good food.
If you are ready to take the next step on that journey, be sure to check out the first course being launched in Build Better Meeting’s new Business Events Academy, “Harnessing Data for Success”. Start the year off right with a commitment to growing your career opportunities!