Top 15 Event Planning Skills to Stay Top of Your Job

This post provides exhaustive information and list of important event planning skills and qualities that you need to have to succeed in your career as an event planner.

Please, read on:

Different events are being held for different reasons and are meant to achieve different purposes.

For example, there could be events meant to celebrate success and some others to have a housewarming party.

This is not the major concern of people out there.

The major concern is always bothered on the planning and the costing of the events.

This is where the worth of an event planner is brought to the fore.

People can pay to make sure that their events are planned and achieve the success it is meant to achieve.

What is Event Planning?

Event planning is the act of managing the course of an event; it involves budgeting, personnel management, and the execution of the management plan put in place for a given event.

Events are planned and they involve the budgeting and execution of the budgets in regards to the event.

Top 15 Event Planning Skills to Stay Top of Your Job

Here are major skills and qualities to develop to be a top performing event planner:

1. Cost management
2. Time management
3. Budgeting
4. Creativity
5. Risk management
6. Plan B
7. Communication
8. Organization
9. Team management
10. Failure management
11. Persuasion
12. Relationship building
13. Authenticity
14. Detail oriented
15. Stress management.

1. Cost management

Sometimes when people are in need of an event planner/manager, one thing that may turn them off from you is if they perceive that you don’t have the ability to manage resources.

Sometimes they allow you write your budget and compare it with what others have budgeted and that can make a difference in you landing the contract.

Though you may believe in giving your potential client the best event planning experience they can ever get, however, understand that one thing they may likely look at is your budgeting ability.

People ordinarily appreciate those who can work with small budgets.

So, try to cut down on unnecessary expenses that will not play a key role in the event you are working on.

Remember, there are other people in the industry desiring to handle the same project.

So, you have to be good at managing costs.

2. Time management

As an event planner or manager, you need to understand the principle of time management.

You have to plan the event in such a way that you accomplish much within the shortest possible time.

In planning the events, you have to be sure that you take cognizance of what is needed and something the visitors or guests will enjoy, rather than fielding in activities not needed by the guests.

This is comparable to outright mismanagement of time.

So to this effect, you should know how to plan the program of events to ensure that the stipulated time is adhered to.

One thing you wouldn’t like is for you to be tagged a bad event planner due to your inability to manage an event within the stipulated time.

3. Budgeting

From your elementary school days, you should have been taught the subject matter budget, what it’s all about and the importance of budgets.

So it is with you in this job. No one will like to leave the care of their event in your hands without knowing your budgeting ability.

This means that you should be able to make budgets which should reflect how you intend to use resources that will be made available to you by your clients.

The budget should be simple to understand without ambiguity.

Also, note that you should be well skilled at cost management to be able to woo potential clients to consider you for the job of event planning or management.

If you quote unnecessary and outrageous figures in your budget, you are more likely to lose the contract.

So be moderate in your costing.

4. Creativity

Creativity is the hall mark of any good event planner. The truth is that this is what makes you distinct from other event planners.

This means that you should be able to think of giving your client a reason to ask for your services in the future.

You should think of giving your client something that is hard to find somewhere else, something special and something that will leave a lasting impression in the mind of clients.

You don’t need to be stuck in the old ways of planning events.

As long as you manage your time well, creativity is permitted.

In fact, it is one thing that can advertise you in the eyes of other potential clients.

This is the basic difference between professionals in the field and amateurs.

Your creativity is your personality.

5. Risk management

The truth is that no matter how good you are in event planning sometimes things may not go according to your plans.

So, what do you do if that is the case?

It is better you make provision for that rather than hoping that it does not happen.

Risk management is what you need to minimize the chances of bad uncertainties from happening.

You have to consider the risks associated with the job and find out what possible means you can employ to reduce the chances of those uncertainties from happening.

The various risks can be financial or other factors that may not allow the planned event to take place.

So, you have to put all of those things into your budget and have a backup plan to deal with the situations if they arise.

6. Plan B

As stated earlier, you may not be in a position to stop some things from happening but the best you can do is to have a plan to make up for the discomforting situation.

This is why you need a supplementary budget to help put uncertainties in check.

Working without a plan B can result to a catastrophic failure in event management.

You don’t pray for failure in plans but you have to be sure to make a good plan B to minimize the damage.

When you have a plan B for events you cannot control, you put your management skills into light.

It shows that you are capable of handling adverse situations and also, you have problem solving skills.

This is sure to endear you to clients.

7. Communication

Be detailed enough in whatever you do in the process of your event planning.

You need not work alone or keep your team of workers in the dark over what you want from them or what the job entails.

You need to be vocal and straightforward in your communication.

You should be able to deliver information when it will be easy for your team to work with it.

Delaying some information can somehow handicap your team from expediting the necessary actions, especially during the events.

During the course of the events too, you need to be exquisite and intentional in your information dissemination.

You have to be sure of whatever information you pass across without ambiguity.

8. Organization

You may be able to handle the contract planning process alone, but carrying out the event planning process will definitely demand the input of other people who are likely going to be part of your team.

This is your team and working with them is sure to be your priority.

However, to be able to get the team to do what is expected of them, it is important for you to state the different roles each person is expected to play and what to do should anyone find it difficult before or during the event to perform at full capacity.

Activities and order of events should be systematic in order to achieve the aim of the event.

This is why you should be well detailed and intentional about any activity that should be considered in the events. Remember to always have a backup plan in place.

9. Team management

Before and during the event, it is assumed that you have set up your team in such a way that everything should run smoothly.

And remember that the success of the event is largely down to the capacity of your team to make things happen.

Your team should be well lectured and oriented on what their individual roles and possibly how they can improve the service they render.

Make room for contributions as well as questions so that you don’t assume they are okay with the whole idea.

Also, try to create a team spirit within your team.

Remember you are not working alone and the success of the team is dependent on their ability to work together.

You have to create that atmosphere of unity and healthy competition.

10. Failure management

This also has a little to do with having a plan but this point is related to both you as an individual and the team.

There is always the tendency of finding yourself or the team on the low due to a failed project.

This is normal but demands a lot of failure management skills.

One way to improve your team is to teach the principles of resilience and dealing with failure.

It is a personal management skill to have.

The team will need to be motivated in order to be at their best again. So you need to instill that spirit in them.

Part of failure management is to analyze mistakes and what really led to the failure of the event.

This will give you a clue as to what to avoid in your next event management job.

This is very important for you to remain relevant in the industry. You need to learn from your mistakes and grow from there.

11. Persuasion

Persuasion is one way you can land a lucrative contract of event management.

Persuasion is your ability to make a potential client believe in your ability to manage their upcoming events.

That is what persuasion does for you as an event planner.

Persuasion starts from your personality and your past record of the successful events you have handled for other clients.

This is one powerful tool to get more clients who might need your services in the future.

That means you have to make every opportunity and contract count in your career.

Also, your ability to use persuasive words is another way of convincing potential clients that you are capable of handling the task needed.

This is somehow difficult, especially if you are new in the industry.

However, you stand a chance if you are skillful in your presentation and realistic in your budget.

12. Relationship building

There are a lot of people you need to build relationship with in this industry.

You have your clients, your team, and other important personalities in the industry.

You will need these three set of people if you want to succeed in the event planning career.

The first you have to develop a working relationship with is your team.

They are the best working tools you have in your job.

You may not understand how important they are until you establish a good relationship with them and allow them make meaningful contributions to your job.

Secondly are other important personalities in the industry.

There are many things you need to learn and that is dependent on your ability to work with other stakeholders in the industry.

This is in a way more of collaboration in the industry.

13. Authenticity

It is important to be authentic to succeed as an event planner.

You have to understand that and work towards becoming a household name in the industry.

This means that you have to develop your own brand of services and also create a niche for yourself.

Authenticity implies that you do not solely depend on other people’s idea to carry out your job.

It is good to listen to people especially in the form of suggestion but you have to trust your instincts and do what you know how best to do.

You do not have to worry about that.

All you need to do is to stay motivated together with your team and increase your creativity.

Work hard and think outside the box. Think of what others are not thinking and have a good foresight.

With these, you should be able to be authentic in your method of event planning.

Stealing other people’s ideas won’t help you much in your career.

14. Detail oriented

As much as your creativity is allowed to play a key role in the job, you should also take note of what the client wants to achieve in the course of the event.

You should pay rapt attention and do your best to get into the thought line of the client and know where your creativity comes in.

Also, you should be able to be well-detailed in your assessment of what the event planning entails and what you should do at every point in time from the point of budgeting to the time of execution of the project.

The details you have should guide you.

Also, you should be able to communicate the details of the event with the client and know what they think or want.

This will also guide you in your planning; the interest of your client should be the main thing you consider in your plans.

15. Stress management

Event management is not an easy task. It is one hell of a job that can give you undesirable stress, but the pay is worth it.

So managing yourself against stress is the best you can do for yourself if you really want to have a wonderful event planning career.

Understand that when you are stressed up, it might likely affect your output in the event.

So, what do you do?

First, engage in extensive planning together with your team and be proactive in whatever you intend to do in the course of the event.

Also, it is understandable that you have little or no time to rest during the course of the event, so what you do is get more capable hands to work with you.

If you have more hands, you will minimize stress but if you have lesser hands, the stress will be much.

Event Planning Skills for Resume

If you are writing a resume or CV for an event planning position, you can apply the skills and qualities discussed above in making the Skills section of the resume/CV.

By learning that you have some of the above skills and qualities, the recruiter/employer will be more likely to offer you an appointment for interview and possibly the job.

Conclusion

People have different reasons for holding events and that is what you should have in mind as the event planner when deliberating with your team on what to do and how to organize the event.

With great event planning skills and qualities, you will be able to bring to reality the aim of your clients.