When it comes to managing your event responsibilities, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by who does what and when? Without a system for determining roles and responsibilities, you risk undermining your efforts before your event even launches. In this blog post, we’ll share some strategies for how to simplify the complex, including how to effectively embrace the RACI model.
For those who already have, we’ll also offer some insight into how you can overcome any struggles you might have experienced with the RACI model.
Ultimately, we want to empower you with the event management expertise required to make the complex simple and create events that are memorable, meaningful, and easy to replicate.
Who does what when?
No matter how capable or talented your team, without clearly defined roles and responsibilities, you’re likely to encounter some challenges with event management. This is particularly true for sizable teams.
You’ve heard the expression, “too many cooks in the kitchen,” which essentially boils down to an abundance of talent and not enough tasks to go around. With all hands on deck, it can be difficult to assign meaningful roles to everyone.
That’s why it’s imperative to have a proven system that makes it easy to detail and delegate tasks, complete with appropriate deadlines, to the right people.
This is where models like RACI can be invaluable for those eager to establish a structure for their event management.
How to leverage the RACI model
Before we offer advice on how to make the RACI model work for your team, let’s review what it actually stands for.
What does RACI mean?
Designed to help streamline, organize, and clarify the details required for successful project completion, the building blocks of the RACI model are represented by the following:
Responsible:
Simply put, this signifies the person who will do the work
Accountable:
The person accountable for the end result (think management)
Consulted:
Any person who needs to be contacted prior to decision making
Informed:
Those individuals who must be updated upon decision or task completion
The purpose of using the RACI model, also referred to as a RACI chart or RACI matrix, is to increase productivity by clarifying who does what and when throughout each phase of the event — before, during and after.
Another valuable aspect of the RACI model, according to Forbes Advisor, is that “RACI charts can help prevent that sinking feeling when a major decision-maker comes at the end of a project and complicates things with a large number of changes because they weren’t consulted throughout the project.”
Who should use a RACI chart?
Ideally, this method of project management and organization is best reserved for very large teams and complex projects.
Smaller teams may not realize tangible benefits of the RACI matrix because, as monday.com explains, “Small teams move faster and can play to individual strengths, so a RACI matrix in this situation may throttle performance. The RACI matrix is best for complex projects involving several company departments, or even when external companies are working alongside you on the same initiative.”
Asana isolates another drawback of using a RACI chart, which should resonate with event managers everywhere. They explain, “Worse, if your project changes in some way, your RACI chart would immediately become outdated. That can make it hard for you to gain real-time clarity about where each task is in your project workflow. RACI charts are limited because they aren’t able to adapt to your project needs in real time.”
Last minute changes to an event schedule? Yes… those happen and event managers need to be prepared and empowered with the right tool to accommodate and effectively communicate those changes.
So, what is the ideal solution for detailing and delegating event tasks accurately?
Simplify the complex
The goal for any effective event manager should be to simplify the complex for everyone involved in their event. From the staff, volunteers, sponsors, exhibitors, and attendees, the working theme of any event should always center around ease, accessibility, and convenience.
What does this look like in action? How can you unlock these kinds of benefits?
By relying on what most everyone relies on to make work — and life — easier: technology.
Event technology should be the most impactful tool in your event management arsenal. Used correctly, event technology can save you time, staffing, money, and resources that are then allocated elsewhere or reserved for future events.
Since event technology has become such a game changer for so many professionals in the events industry, the market is becoming more and more crowded with companies who claim to have the perfect solution.
At Attendee Interactive, we don’t believe in perfection because we know it doesn’t exist. We do, however, believe in proven systems and solutions that have adapted with changes and developments in the industry.
When you shop for an event management solution, you should look for specific features that make simplifying the complex a cinch, such as:
- a comprehensive platform that empowers administrators, speakers, and stakeholders to keep organized and on top of their unique content
- robust capabilities that allow you to leverage event content management solutions with comprehensive capabilities
- easy configuration that makes it easy for users to customize, brand, and tailor their experience
- dependable support from a responsive team that has its fingers on the pulse of industry developments
Once connected to these kinds of capabilities, your team will quickly unlock greater opportunities and the potential to seamlessly manage better events for all stakeholders.
Meet your ideal content management system
When you join forces with Attendee Interactive your team quickly becomes a force to be reckoned with. Our software optimizes your educational offerings, improving the experience for all involved.
Some of our clients’ most favorite features include:
- Accreditation Management & CE Credit Issuance: Empower your team with a more efficient way to assign accreditation and issue credits.
- Learning Management: Simplify educational content delivery with easy documentation, tracking, and reporting.
- Abstract Submission & Review: Establish stronger workflows to better manage the collection and review of abstracts, papers, proposals, and speakers.
- Session Management: Wield a single tool to organize all event content, reducing unnecessary emails and spreadsheets.
- Speaker Management: Keep all speaker details, including pre-planning and future invites completely organized.
- CE Credit Claiming: Provide event attendees with the ability to automatically claim credits for completed sessions.
From an event planner and administrator standpoint, Attendee Interactive really shines with respect to our connected solutions from Community Brands, including functions and features like:
- Lead retrieval: Accessing, saving, and retrieving critical contact information has never been easier
- Check-in: Skip the lines and impress attendees with contactless event registration, check-in, and badge printing
- Badge printing: Access Badge[On]Demand and allow attendees to print their badges on-site, at their convenience
- Attendee tracking: Keep track of both attendance and engagement for every session at your event
- Floor plan management: Empower administrators and planners to organize every aspect of the event space
- Exhibitor management: From registration, participation, payments, and asset organization, this feature makes managing event exhibitors and other key stakeholders simple and streamlined.
“Attendee Interactive is a game changer. It’s so easy to input all the information you need to communicate to the vendor.”
— Anthony Maggiore, Senior Director of Conference and Meetings, American Academy of Physician Associates
