Event managers will only too-well know the problems that arise when, for example, academic speakers bring 50 slides for a 15 minute presentation; or when venue / service providers have a mindset of just doing ‘their thing’ and couldn’t care less about any changing variables on the day.
Successful collaborations focus on win-wins, making sure everyone is getting a tangible return on the resources they are providing. Supplementing your preparation will increase your worth in the eyes of your clients, and here’s five quick tips to boost that process:
Unpacking motivations
Do you know what’s driving everyone’s interest and involvement? It’s always valuable getting the answer to that question from their perspective (not yours). Sometimes we make assumptions, whereas the real story is quite different.
Connecting on a meaningful level
By drilling down further into people’s motivations, it’s worth finding out what success (or underperformance) means for them personally. Connecting at an intrinsic and more emotional level helps you when you have to persuade or influence their approach.
Scoping out success
What does success look like for your collaborators or partners? You might find there are diverse views. For example, as a speaker, the main question I ask event organisers and sponsors is, “What transformation in the audience are you seeking as a result of my presentation?”. It allows me to construct a clear and measurable way of proving success.
Finding the Elephants in the room
People may be overlooking obvious problems, possibly because they don’t feel empowered to control them. It’s amazing how many times you frustratingly hear “I knew that would happen” after something’s gone wrong. To prepare and manage those risks, be sure to ask your collaborators what they think the main risks are.
Assessing whether the win-wins are achievable
Having ascertained what success looks like from multiple perspectives doesn’t mean it will magically happen. You might discover discrepancies in people’s views and come the conclusion that you’re between a rock and a hard place. Thats okay. The point is you’ve identified the problem, and can therefore make a conscious decision about rectification or management plans.
These preparation steps don’t just work for events, they work for collaborative corporate projects, improving team work, forming joint ventures, facilitating multi-sector collaborations and many more situations. Happy collaborating!
