In the third part of The Venue Success Guide, we dive into the world of time management. As every event and venue professional knows, time is your greatest asset, especially when you are a smaller venue and running things on your own. Smaller organisations often don’t have the luxury of having separate sales and operations teams, which means venue managers are often selling and delivering events – two activities that can consume the other. If one member of the team is delivering both elements then one of those outputs could suffer. This is why it is crucial to be on top of your time management, and here are our top tips for doing so.

1. Set aside time each day for responding to enquiries

Try and plan each working day so that you have time that is put aside to answer sales calls, emails and conduct site visits. We all know how a tricky event happening next week can be a distraction but don’t forget that you need to carry on getting new business in.

2. Find a balance between delivering a great event and securing new business

Try to strike a balance between good delivery of an event and bringing new business in. The delivery of an event is obviously the ‘product’ that the client has purchased and as a venue you’re only as good as your last event. However, try to remember that throwing yourself into an event and being present for the duration may not be the best use of your time. Before an event, plan ahead and set aside blocks of time or the odd hour here and there where you get back to your desk and check up on emails or get that next proposal sent out.

3. Delegate and drop what you can

If you are struggling to find time for desk duty during event days, have a think about whether senior members of the team need to be at an event for its whole duration. Could you get a more junior member of the team or some event stewards to be on call instead.

4. Don’t be afraid to ask for help

If you are the junior member of staff, don’t feel worried about asking for support or cover from your manager. Being able to be specific and saying that you need time for a particular client proposal will be much more tangible and understood than a simple cry for help with a few minutes’ notice.

5. Listen to your team

If you are a manager, be receptive to your team’s needs. You should also have the overview of what future business development is due to take place and when. This may mean getting your hands dirty and offering to cover the event whilst the junior member of the team gets some desk time.
Alternatively, it could be just sitting down before an event with your team member and going through the event, highlighting points in the day where their presence is needed less; something they may not feel they have the authority – or experience – to do.

6. If nothing works, look into hiring extra manpower

Juggling several job roles is difficult and time-consuming, and time management will always be tricky. Once trying to find a balance between everything becomes too much, it is time to look into hiring more staff and more sales support. Make sure you hire people that are bringing something to the team that you don’t already have.