What skills do you need to run a high-profile team building event?
Teambuilding is just a simple term and most event organizers take it for granted. For those who are serious about this activity, team building is one of the most stressful jobs in the event management, there specialized skills are required. Here SAM INSPIRE is pleased to share some key skills that you need to develop yourself frequently to meet the market need of the event success.
1- Public Speaking Skill
As part of the communication skill, Public Speaking is a must to deliver the event to the most successful. Teambuilding facilitator must be ready to take the role of a Keynote Speaker, Master of Ceremony, Meeting facilitator, Presenter, Lecturer and Sightseeing Guide… All these jobs require public speaking skills. Without a competent skill, we can not be always lucky to have a good audience and who know if a dead nervure would attack you. Bear in mind that Public Speaking is the most frightening thing even beyond unplanned death.
If you want to develop this skill Sam could come over to your event and share how he developed himself from a super introverted person to an outgoing facilitator.
2- Organization & Management Skills
Just like an event planner, Teambuilding organizer have to hold great organizational skills. You need to keep every information and communication with the customers on track and get your involved team updated and well understood. This required a proper processing system, don’t have to be super fancy just Excel that the team can access and update is ok. A well-executed event doesn’t happen by accident. It requires sharp organizational skills and attention to detail – right from planning to post-event analysis. Having a great total customer satisfaction is on top of everything, but any add-on supplements invoices should be approved otherwise all your effort will be ended with a cheated feeling from the costumers. Don’t reply on your belief, get the clients to believe too for anything additional keep the record well.
3- Travel and Event Knowledge
A true teambuilding expert plays beyond the game itself. Through the long service in the event and travel field, Sam shared that 80% of his clients ask for assistant on the travel and event logistics.
Having a good knowledge of the host destination and how travel logistics work is crucial for your career and business in the event management spheres. Travel knowledge is extensive; it is impossible to master it at once. As a destination adviser, at least you know the flight operation. What the airport like, where to welcome, where to drop off and what special arrangement could be made. What sightseeing tours could be done. What is the restriction of the sites and if team building activities could be incorporated in the tours. What even more important is the special dining and event venue. As an expert you need to know and gather all the facts about these indoor and outdoor. For instance, what is the capacity of hotel accommodation, meeting venue, dining facilities etc. And for offsite dining venue like Temple Gala Event, are the activities allowed there… if not what are the alternatives. All these basic knowledge is a must, if you are not ready yet, please build it, then your profession will look much easier and proper.
Furthermore, another must-have knowledge and who to ask is the Audio Visual System (AV) and Staging. This for sure that you can not do it by yourself so a third party is needed. But as a destination expert you need to know the terminologies and glossary of all those tools. It is an artistic job that requires a deep understanding of what is realistic and what isn’t. These skills require learning and practice over time. Sam was spending years with different AV and Staging companies in his careers but he still find it hard to be move the level up, but getting good relation with those folks was everything.
4- Leadership Management Skill
In the event management field Agile Leadership styles could be an ideal direction that you could move to. To play this game in a sustainable way, a true leadership is absolutely essential. Fake leadership could lift your event success one, so if you are there all the time, build a good leadership is a must. Sam was always very careful with his leadership and he remind himself over the time that “Leadership could turn to be Cheatership swiftly”. With a good leadership skill help you to work with your team and all contracted stakeholders to execute flawless events. It is all about trust, delegation, and getting the work done. Reliable leadership is not a born leader, therefore develop your skills over time. You don’t need to be extrovert to be a great leader. Your natural personality along with your passion for event management can help you develop leadership skills.
5- Sales and Marketing Skill
Great product, competent people and top execution are in place but without investing correctly in the marketing, who is going to know you. Again, skill and knowledge again, even though there are thousands of marketing experts who give you hints to hunt your interest, Sam still insist to build yourself and own team. Keep your eyes and heart open, you may only take for specific elements, example a website theme that you find it best for your company, one-time design of your corporate identities where you can develop it by yourself later on. Be independent on the marketing will release a lot of tension and more responsive. You don’t have to be presence in a super high-end appearance, people trust more natural and people-orientated in this section of Human-driven business.
Here are a few bespoke points that you can look in on your marketing plans:
- Overview of your business: Write a great introduction about your business but don’t be over exaggerate. Benchmarking is a norm, so be careful in how your rewrite in your own language. This section should include About page, Impactful mission and vision statement.
- Products of your business: Your competitors would sell the same products, therefore USPs (Unique Selling Points) is everything of your growth. Disability to make yourself different from others in whatever perspectives, your chance of winning is pretty low. Clients are looking for those who in a specific expertise, not here and there. Above all, your marketing team must understand these well.
- Target customers of your products: You have to be clear who is your customers, geographically and demographically as well as financially. Without specifying your customers, it will result in a waste of marketing budget and make your business flaw.
- Competitor of your business: Overseeing your competitors on their strength and weakness is very important to stay emerging in the market. This will help you build your confidence and wisdom in dealing with your clients.
- Marketing Approach: Once you are ready with all above, here are some online and offline strategies that you can take to market our products and business including but not limited to (Email, Blog, Guest Blog, Social Media, Influencers, Your contacts, Partnerships, Webinar, Events, Listings, Press Release, AdWords, Phone Call…) Sam would like outline his experiences here:
- Presenting your business as the fully legal company is very important. This should be the first and foremost important thing that you should describe your company especially for the startups. What documents should you tell and where to show? All your company official documents such as the certificates from Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Economy and Finance and Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training. Then another very important document especially for DMC / Tour Operator is Public Liability Insurance. Read this article about Insurances for Tour Operator or DMC in Cambodia
- Website: Website is not just about an electronic online brochure; website can help generate a lot more if you do it well. Choosing the right CSM (Content Management System), Blogging, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Booking Engine, PPC… are all in one place. Sam generate close to one million dollars’ revenue with only a few hundred dollars a year investment. Read this article on how to build a Professional Website in 5 Easy Steps by yourself.
- Social Media: With the rapid growth of Social Media Channels like almost 2 trillions of Facebook users, Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter, YouTube… Social media is really what you as the marketers can’t ignore. Properly place your brand and contents on Social media will quick burst your business presence. Read this article about How to Develop YouTube Videos for Business Marketing & YPP Monetizing
- Email Marketing and Press Release: It is true this could be costly to contact professional media like online magazine and newspaper company to do this job for you. Therefore develop your own channel are free of course using some free plan like your own website plugin or MailChimp.
- Partners Outreach and Networking: You are not alone, there are likeminded people to you on the corners. Networking is an essential event planning skill since the events industry is based on relationships and is heavily people-driven. Talk to people, present your attractive Business-to-Business plan them. Teambuilding expertise is very narrow, therefore anyone could be your partners including your competitors.
At least but not last, Sam regularly advise that, there is no good business on paper, plan it, do it and review it; make changes to your need. These are only some tips to open up your ideas, you can still become a successful event professional since most of these can be developed through determination and willingness to learn. It is all about continuous learning and improving with each event.
Good luck in your business!
Note: This article is for information purpose only, no liability will be taken for legal or official reference. Revisions could be done at the author’s discretion.
SAM INSPIRE family hopes you find this information useful to your research. This article is the reflection of Mr. Sam’s findings with zero political touch. If you need further support, please feel free to contact Sam, he will be so happy to do more steps to help you out.
If you find value in this article and wish to support Sam to do more, please feel free to pay him a coffee to his bank below. Thanks for being part of Sam’s journey, Sam Inspire – Cambodia Travel and Event Blogger – the Power of 3 E’s, Energize, Educate, Empower.
