Finally, after five years – the greatest show on earth is underway! Of course I am talking about the Olympics in Japan. Tokyo 2020 has had a lot to contend with to actually get off the ground and create a stage for the greatest athletes on the planet to compete. 

What does this have to do with the working well fortnightly feature I hear you say? Well, there are a lot of lessons we can learn from all the preparation that goes into an Olympics, and while our company events most certainly are not on such a grand scale, we can still apply some of their trials and how to overcome them to our own organisations. 

Even the best laid plans… 

So yes, fans of plans – you have everything in place, your build project is hitting the timelines, your marketing and PR teams have been busy making sure everyone knows about the spectacular you are about to put on. Everyone working behind the scenes is trained and raring to go… then BAM! A completely unforeseen circumstance hits. You’ve got your crisis management plans in place and various plans Bs, Cs and Ds in case of bad weather, transport issues, and keynote speaker drop out. But this is something, dare I say it, (that overused word of the past 18 months) unprecedented.

This is where you need your best crisis management minds to come together to work out what happens now. It is not a time to lose your head and panic, though that would be a perfectly natural reaction. No, now is the time to regroup and rethink. 

Tough decisions

Making an early call on what to do in the event of an unprecedented occurrence is very tricky, you will never have all the information you need to hand, especially if situation is still evolving. There are so many aspects to think about that it could become overwhelming. So make sure that your top team are assembled (virtually if necessary) on a daily basis, at least to begin with. 

In order to make those tough decisions, make sure that each member of your team knows what they are responsible for looking into/finding out and reporting back. Be that on:

-       Government information

-       Local health and safety advice

-       How your attendees feel about the occurrence

-       How your employees feel about the occurrence

-       What the financial implications could be 

-       What the reputational implications could be

First and foremost – it’s the safety of all involved that needs to be considered. Your health and safety team will be key advisors on this. If you don’t have a subject matter expert in-house, then it is certainly worth bringing in someone with this skill set to be able to advise you and your team.

Getting back on track  

The first thing I will say is that making sure you communicate regularly with all your stakeholders about what is going on. It is good to set up a regular communication rhythm so that everyone knows when to expect to hear more details. Even if there are uncertainties about if the event will go ahead or not, be honest and let people know that you are looking at all possibilities and taking the best advice you can. Also, even if there is no update from your last briefing, let your stakeholders know this, or they may think you have stopped communicating with them and their trust may start to erode. 

Remember, reassuring your employees, delegates, invited speakers etc. will give them confidence in your organisation and if/when your event is able to take place, they are likely to still want to be part of it. 

Crossing the finish line

It always feels great when an event has gone well and you have achieved what you have set out to. But you shouldn’t feel dejected if things didn’t quite meet your original plan. You’ve probably had to adapt to a different way of doing things in order for the event to take place safely. When you have a major unforeseen circumstance, you may well need to realign just what your goals are, remember to measure the success of the event against these new goals and congratulate your team for achieving them. 

P.S: If you want some other free tips for your personal life, check out the Relationship With Self Series blog – out fortnightly on Tuesdays, courtesy of Make Me A Plan’s Wellbeing Expert, Tamsin Cain. Browse the latest edition here:  https://www.makemeaplan.com/news/zentangle/