Introduction
Modern business players are aware of the potential benefits of cooperating with one another, as well as of pitfalls that such collaboration may hide. To avoid emergency situations and lead one’s organisation effectively, company owners exploit strategic planning, project management, and risk management on a daily basis. Each of these components plays a unique role in the establishment of a healthy atmosphere within the company. However, recently, another crucial element of success has gained popularity. Business events, which can take different forms, have become an inseparable component of any respectable organisation’s activity. The present paper argues that successful business event planning is not possible without careful strategic planning and project management along with risk management.
Types of Business Events
Business events have become an integral part of any serious organisation’s functioning. By means of corporate events, companies can enhance their goal achievement, increase employee dedication, and gain customer loyalty. The arrangement of such events may take much time and effort, but in the long run, all the endeavours are justified. A common abbreviation for such events is MICE: meetings, incentives, conventions, events (Fenich, 2015). There are various types of business events depending on their purpose, the number of participants, and the venue.
Networking Events
This type of events presupposes gathering individuals from different groups, including current and potential employees, employers, potential clients, advertisers, and others. With the help of networking events, all of the mentioned parties can discuss business issues in a relaxed atmosphere (Mitchell, Schlegelmilch, & Mone, 2016). At such meetings, one needs to demonstrate excellent communication skills to make a positive impression (Lopata, 2016). This type of business events allows showing one’s products and services and engage potential partners and workers.
Trade Fairs
This type of business events allows companies to show their products to potential buyers or investors. Usually, trade fairs involve a large number of participants, so organisations have to be inventive to arrange their booth in the most attractive way (Tech Smartt India, 2018). Trade shows present a significant motivation for relationship development (Sarmento, Simões, & Farhangmehr, 2015). Hence, companies that want to expand their business or find new constructive partnerships participate in such events.
Business Dinners
This is one of the most popular and traditional kinds of business events. Business dinners do not take much time to prepare, but the effect gained with their help can be considerable. At a business dinner, such goals as meeting a new employee, celebrating a milestone, and letting employees socialise are reached. Furthermore, a business dinner may serve as a favourable basis for friendship development (Foley, Edwards, & Schlenker, 2014).
Holiday Parties
This type of business events is aimed at showing employers’ appreciation for their employees. A holiday party is a kind of a treat for those people who work daily to expand their organisation’s business possibilities and frequently sacrifice their personal time to meet the set objectives. A well-planned holiday party allows employees to feel relaxed for a brief time that is necessary to prepare for reaching new peaks. These events are a great opportunity to improve employee relationships and increase workers’ loyalty.
Seminars and Workshops
These events allow sharing and gaining knowledge and expertise on important business topics. Currently, hardly any seminar or workshop is held without the use of technology (Canfield, 2017). With the help of various audio and visual applications, it is possible to provide participants’ flexibility and gain a better understanding of the material presented. At seminars, employees and prospective workers can be educated about the specifications of a particular business and ask questions about the aspects that interest them the most.
Charity Events
The major goal of these events is arranging the interaction of a business organisation with the community. Charity events can be represented with a variety of kinds, including concerts, sports tournaments, auctions, ceremonies, and dinners. Sports matches are some of the most popular charity events (Football Central, 2018). However, not every company can afford to engage famous athletes in their event. However, using sports stadiums for business charity events in a less complicated endeavour (Lee, Parrish, & Kim, 2015). This type of business events involves much preparation concerning entertainment, decorations, and music. However, the result most commonly justifies all the efforts involved.
Product Launches
This kind of events is aimed at presenting a new product or service to the media and prospective users. Usually, companies invite journalists and bloggers to such launches so that the event would be fully covered in the press. This event type allows boosting the branding endeavours and increasing the recognition of one’s business. Personalising the experience for each person attending makes it possible to reach a higher interest and loyalty of customers.
Strategic Planning
Creating a strategic plan is a crucial phase in any organisation’s development and work. Strategic planning enhances a company’s ability to use resources wisely and create a competitive advantage in the market (Dibrell, Craig, & Neubaum, 2014). The process of strategic planning involves setting the organisation’s vision, mission, and goals (SME Strategy Consulting, 2017). With the help of these milestones, the business can define its strategy and decide where its resources could be best allocated.
The significance of strategic planning is justified by the necessity to make decisions that are based on logic and solid data. Strategic planning promotes flexibility and clarifies the pursued strategy for all the stakeholders (Dibrell et al., 2014). Additionally, in a situation when a manager has to make a critical decision, the strategic plan serves as a means of evaluating whether the decision is worth taking or declining.
The scope of a strategic plan incorporates short-term and long-term goals on the achievement of which each employee should focus their efforts. Without clearly stated vision and mission, the workers’ understanding of their managers’ objectives may not be gained. Short-term goals are concentrated on the nearest few years and involve the backward movement from the expected outcomes to the current position (SME Strategy Consulting, 2017).
Meanwhile, long-term goals start with the present situation and build the way up to meeting future objectives. Upon defining all the tasks that are to be included in the strategic plan, a manager creates a network diagram displaying them. An important step in such planning is setting the timeframe for each activity in particular and the whole plan in general.
There are four principal phases in strategic planning: analysing the current situation, outlining the future direction, developing the strategy, and evaluating or measuring success. Along with the benefits of strategic planning, there may be some challenges that a manager meets on the way to success. Firstly, there may be an insufficient level of alignment between the goals and measures employed to reach them. Secondly, some employees or other stakeholders may not find the plan feasible. Thirdly, there may be too many aspects to concentrate on, which inevitably leads to the loss of focus. Finally, employees may lack empowerment to participate in the process of change (SME Strategy Consulting, 2017). Therefore, it is evident that successful strategic management is vital to gain a company’s success and promote its effective functioning.
Project Management
Project management plays a role not less important in organisations’ success than strategic management. Project management may be defined as a disciplined utilisation of knowledge, tools, skills, and approaches to project activities with the aims of meeting project requirements (Hornstein, 2015). It is of utmost importance to make sure that each of the stages involved in a project is completed in time and in accordance with the set objectives (TEDx Talks, 2018). An effective project manager arranges the work of the whole team in such a way which allows fulfilling the expected targets.
Projects have several important characteristics, some of them being a clear goal and deliverables. This aspect means that prior to initiating work on the project, a manager has to state its purpose clearly and explain it to the group of employees working on it. Additionally, it is crucial to bear in mind that projects consist of different interdependent tasks. While different teams are working on different parts of a project, the integrated functioning of the whole endeavor is not possible if one of the chains in this process fails to complete its work on time.
What is more, a project manager needs to make the so-called “whole body decisions” (TEDx Talks, 2018). This approach presupposes using one’s brain, heart, and gut to make excellent decisions. Therefore, project management is both a highly responsible and promising dimension of organisations’ work.
Risk Management
The third principal element of the successful development of any business is risk management. Although there is no unanimity in defining risk management, the majority of professionals agree that this process involves the assessment of a company’s work with the aim of identifying its flaws that might interfere with its progress (Aven & Zio, 2014). Risk management has become a vital component of organisations’ work since there have been too many sad examples of underestimating this aspect (TEDx Talks, 2017).
Sometimes, an organisation is so well-established and successful that it neglects the need to evaluate its weak points and identify the probable challenges in its future. As a result of such negligence, dramatic changes, including bankruptcy, may occur. A risk manager should be able to analyse the company’s work and diagnose its deficiencies promptly. Further, the task of risk management is to prioritise risks and deal with them in order of their priority. When risk management is applied in a company successfully, it is possible to identify potential complications at early stages and avoid them as soon as possible.
The Relation of Strategic Planning, Project Management, and Risk Management to Business Events
The effect of strategic planning, project management, and risk management in arranging business events cannot be overestimated. First of all, when arranging any business event, it is necessary to take into account the company’s mission and vision (SME Strategy Consulting, 2017). Corporate events are also known to boost the organisations’ possibilities of achieving their business goals (Davidson, 2014). Hence, without the clear outline of the mission, vision, and goals, no event can be successful or lead to desired outcomes.
Project management is also closely related to business events since the techniques and approaches of the former may be useful when organising the latter. Furthermore, both of these elements of business have some features in common. Specifically, business events, as well as projects, are time- and effort-consuming. Also, both of the entities involve a several-phase approach and various activities. Finally, projects and business events are limited by time frames and require financial support.
The association between risk management and business event planning is obvious. When planning a business meeting, holiday, or conference, one needs to predict the possible emergencies and find effective solutions for various scenarios. Thus, a risk team should be created for each business event. Such professionals write a risk management plan and prepare the ways of mitigating problems that may occur during any kind of organisational events.
Conclusion
Strategic planning and project management are vital phases on the way of reaching organisations’ business goals. Risk management also plays an important role in this process since without evaluating one’s challenges, it would be impossible to mitigate the risks following them. Business events are popular means of getting together employees, clients, and investors with the aim of communicating and sharing ideas in a relaxed manner. A successfully arranged business event, however small or brief, has the potential to increase the business’s popularity among competitors. However, it is necessary to incorporate project management ideas in the process of preparing to business events. Moreover, the organiser needs to evaluate the risks and create a clear strategy for each business event in order to gain the most beneficial outcomes.
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