What it takes to be a successful event planner
If you did a psychometrics test on any event planner or anyone working in the events industry; there are almost certainly a few traits that they would all share. Here are a few we think are required to be a successful event planner.
An organised multi-tasker – those two things go hand-in-hand. When you are working in the events industry, you are likely to be juggling a number of projects at the same time; often all with the same pressing deadlines. You need extremely strong organisational skills and also the ability to be able to prioritise each task, ensuring that you still pay attention to the finer details in everything you are doing. The devil is in the detail, as they say.
Logical and analytical (problem solver) – this industry can be fast paced. But, even with the tightest of deadlines, you sometimes have to stop, take a breather and make sure that what you are doing is the best way to do it. You have to think about the impact of what you are doing, is it the most efficient and straight forward way? Is what you are doing now going to affect something further down the line? Are your colleagues /clients going to understand your methodology?
On the flipside of this, you also have to be instinctive and make decisions very quickly and calmly when you’re put on the spot. This is something that comes with lots of experience and usually applies when you are on-site and the event is live.
Customer Service focused – a great thing about Bracken is our loyal client base. We are attentive, without being intrusive and we genuinely care about the end result as much as our clients do. We are part of our clients’ extended team.
Being customer service focused, also includes being perceptive. Working with different clients, you have to be adaptable, understand clients’ differing needs and anticipate their needs.
Any new recruit must have that same desire to please, give outstanding customer service and be slightly obsessive about getting things perfect! This extends to all aspects of events, making sure event attendees have the best possible experience and that every person working on our events gives that same level of service.
Disciplined – with a live date set for an event, there are multiple deadlines in the planning process. Diligent time keeping and steering a project schedule, including guiding colleagues, suppliers and clients, being disciplined is essential to the success of what makes a great event.
It’s not just about the project in hand; good all-round time-keeping is a trait all successful event planners have. If you find it difficult to turn up for work on time, event management isn’t going to be the career for you!
Excellent communication – communication is key in events; you’re communicating with lots of different people, on the telephone, by email and creating marketing materials. Being able to interact with people in a positive, clear and concise manner is extremely important.
Being part of a project team, you also need to make sure that your colleagues are well informed and are regularly updated on the progress of the project and what tasks are required to meet the project plan deadline.
Great bakers – okay, well not literally; but knowing the right ingredients and which order they go in, event management is kind of similar to baking a cake. It’s the same concept, but you sometimes adapt the recipe and throw in a few extra ingredients to make the cake extra special.
