Actual article share: Feb 3, 2015

Events are a time-limited affair that require a period of intensive work and preparation. Having worked with event organisers from all over the world I’ve noticed a common denominator that most organisers seem to have — a micromanagement style of operating pre to during event, followed by their ghastly disappearance only to have them materialise again when they are required to prepare for their next event.

Pre-registration, RSVP, food caterer, accommodation, WIFI, speakers materials, sponsors, venue logistics, event app, business matching… the list goes on. It is no surprise that event organisers have an endless list of tasks that needs to be completed, as well as a seemingly endless list of customers that require pleasing. Like most of us who have been burnt by an incompetent colleague or vendor whom we had trusted with some of our responsibilities, the problem lies with us wanting to do everything perfectly. Basically, we want to be in full control.

Event organising is known to be one of the top 10 most stressful jobs in 2014.

While there may be separate reasons for your obsessive compulsive control-freak behaviour, I still do not support working on your event alone and here are 5 reasons why you need to learn how to let go of certain projects.

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1. You cannot do everything

I’ll say it for the benefit of those who think otherwise, it is impossible to do everything. The work require in an event is dynamic, which means it is ever-changing. When you understand that you cannot do everything, delegation would come second nature. The trick now is to learn how to instill a sense of ownership into your staff to be as competent as they can be.

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2. You can finally spend time actually talking to your customers

Don’t forget the most important facet about doing business — you have to talk to your customers! Being the lead of an event puts you in all sorts of positions that would allow you to build valuable relationships with your customers, the participants. To foster connections and to ensure continual support requires sincerity. Nothing speaks sincerity as much as taking the time to personally speak to his customers face-to-face.

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3. Share your workload with trusted partners

Imagine taking on the additional role of being the food caterer at your event — ridiculous! In that same light, there are other portions of your event that you can offload and outsource to partners who can achieve the best performance and service for your event. The crucial part about this option is in choosing the right partner to work with. That requires some homework. Do not get distracted by anything else other than the performance and deliverables when reviewing your option. Also remember, if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

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4. Eliminate a lot of stress for yourself and for your team

Stress is like a toxic virus that spreads throughout the team. It is caused by taking on too many tasks and reaching a tipping point when some part or another gives way. It could be a prolonged physical tiredness, an honest overlook, or shoddy performance etc. Once you learn to share your workload, you will become easier to work with and better at what to do. It is difficult to be entirely stress-free and everyone has their own methods of dealing with stress. When I feel stressed, I spell it backwards and it helps. Try it!

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5. Your events will become better and better

By sharing your workload with your colleagues and outsourcing key projects to partners who specialise in specific niche areas of events, you can be more confident that your events would improve. A superb event exists when all its components are working in sync and in tandem to achieve full optimization. Instead of achieving mediocrity across your event offerings alone, strive to achieve excellence through and with others.