A Precursor of Planning
Taking the Time of Others Into Consideration
A precursor of planning.
This week, I intended to discuss the importance of planning as a tool for productivity. I must divert, for the moment however. This post has a lot to do with planning, but bear with me as I “rant” a little.
I attended a function this week for a company that will remain nameless. I will say that the function was a luncheon scheduled for two hours. When my group and I arrived, thirty minutes before the event, we expected to be seated. But, that didn’t happen because the event planners hadn’t arrived with the seating charts. When we were finally sat, after the scheduled start time, we waited patiently for thirty minutes before the event began.
I expected that because the event didn’t start on time, the program would be altered to make up for the thirty minutes. Not so. The program went on as scheduled. And embarrassingly, a lot of the attendees left BEFORE the key note speaker's speech.
When you set the expectation of attendees to start and end a function at a certain time, you have to deliver. If you don’t, then you have to communicate with your attendees about what’s taking place, and you should adjust your schedule to make up for the lost time. What does this have to do with planning? Lots! Although the seating arrangement thing was bad, I think that not altering the program was even worse. The best plans are those that involve lots of contingency, and communication to let others know what’s taking place.
I promise to discuss the many facets of planning in the next few posts. I had to get this off my chest because after leaving this event, I kept thinking about how unprofessional it was to hold an event in that manner. The following article, "Successful Program Agendas: Prior Planning Precludes Poor Performance", by Irene P. Zucker of VerbaCom, an executive development company, expounds on the topic of planning.
A precursor of planning.
This week, I intended to discuss the importance of planning as a tool for productivity. I must divert, for the moment however. This post has a lot to do with planning, but bear with me as I “rant” a little.
I attended a function this week for a company that will remain nameless. I will say that the function was a luncheon scheduled for two hours. When my group and I arrived, thirty minutes before the event, we expected to be seated. But, that didn’t happen because the event planners hadn’t arrived with the seating charts. When we were finally sat, after the scheduled start time, we waited patiently for thirty minutes before the event began.
I expected that because the event didn’t start on time, the program would be altered to make up for the thirty minutes. Not so. The program went on as scheduled. And embarrassingly, a lot of the attendees left BEFORE the key note speaker's speech.
When you set the expectation of attendees to start and end a function at a certain time, you have to deliver. If you don’t, then you have to communicate with your attendees about what’s taking place, and you should adjust your schedule to make up for the lost time. What does this have to do with planning? Lots! Although the seating arrangement thing was bad, I think that not altering the program was even worse. The best plans are those that involve lots of contingency, and communication to let others know what’s taking place.
I promise to discuss the many facets of planning in the next few posts. I had to get this off my chest because after leaving this event, I kept thinking about how unprofessional it was to hold an event in that manner. The following article, "Successful Program Agendas: Prior Planning Precludes Poor Performance", by Irene P. Zucker of VerbaCom, an executive development company, expounds on the topic of planning.
posted by CTD at
7:40 PM
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