Most people think the whole point of event planning, after all, is to plan an event and that’s it. But there is more to event planning than what most people think. We live in a world where crisis happens often, people only think of weather disasters and news reports, such as, hurricanes, tornados, earth quakes, shootings, kidnappings, terrorist’s attacks, plane crashes, etc. But most people do not acknowledge crisis in organizations, whether it is profit or non-profit companies, crisis happens more often than expected. Luckily, there are many of these organizations and companies that respond quickly when a crisis emerges. However, this is not always the case, but as an event planner there are countless disasters that can happen while planning for an event. Therefore, to be a successful event planner involves not only planning an event but also planning for the absolute worst case scenarios.
The purpose for this paper is to combine leadership and event planning in crisis and to provide successful strategies, for professional event planners to follow. The four main strategies of leadership in crisis are (1) Crisis Types (2) Crisis Stages (3) Crisis Management Plan (4) Effective Communication. Event planner leaders must be aware of each of these elements.
Research has indicated that being a leader in event planning is important and to begin this, you must prepare and plan ahead for crisis event rather than falling victim to them. Hackman and Johnson (2009) claim specific categories, types, and stages of a crisis, stating that knowing your enemy “is the first step to effective crisis in leadership. Leaders cannot prepare or manage a crisis until they have a better understanding of what crises are at hand and how they unfold. Crise...
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...each party of their responsibilities and “be prepared to convince your organization that the event is very important (poses a great risk), is an immediate threat and can’t be solved through ordinary measures and procedures. Put the crisis management plan into action and mobilize the crisis management team” (Hackman & Johnson, 2009).
In conclusion, research has indicated that there are several strategies to become a strong leader in event planning and in general, the event planner should plan ahead way in advance. After this, the event planner should check and double-check and be constantly aware and prepared for a crisis event to occur. Leaders are the face in an organization and knowing the crisis types, crisis stages, creating a crisis management plan, and knowing how to lead during the crisis event are strategies essential to being a successful crisis leader.
Waugh, William L, and Gregory Streib. "Collaboration and Leadership for Effective Emergency Management." Public Administration Review, 66.6 (2006): 131-140.
...g by; First, I would make sure that their is plenty of feedback for the employees. As our text suggests, "Without feedback, learning can not occur"(Crandall, W., Parnell, J. & Spillan, J. (2013). Secondly, I would make sure that I have a great crisis management team that are well trained and drilled. Thirdly, we would have a strategy and plan for crisis events. Also, It is very important to make sure that your team members are all confident in their ability to make good decisions for the company. So many times, people are afraid to make decisions. This leads to scapegoating within the departments, and the whole blame game. That doesn't get anybody anywhere.
Haddow, G. D., Bullock, J. A., & Coppola, D. P. (2014). The disciplines of emergency management: Preparedness. Introduction to emergency management (Fifth ed., ). Waltham: Elsevier.
In order to understand the thought process of leadership during a crisis, the authors state that we must first understand a conceptual model that is theoretically grounded, (Combe & Carrington, 2015). The conceptual model is divided into two elements, the descriptive and prescriptive mental models, (Combe & Carrington, 2015). The descriptive mental model focuses the external changes that occur during a crisis. The prescriptive mental model concentrates on future actions that need to be implemented to derail the cognitive overload due to continuous external changes as the situation unfolds. The prescriptive model aligns objectives, providing clarity to future implications related to the crisis, (Combe & Carrington, 2015). The authors, Combe & Carrington, (2015) have noted the importance of longitudal research perspective to capture the thought processes of interaction, communication and problem solving in a crisis. This type of research method is instrumental in depicting the challenges to incorporate better solutions to evolving situations. Sense making in a crisis defines these issues to ascertain the complexity and provide meaning to the event, (Combe & Carrington, 2015). Sense making entails the filtering of excessive data to identify the areas of importance. This perspective provides a means of taking a negative, that being disruptive and changing it to a positive or opportunity for
The fourth stage of the crisis management plan is to establish post crisis communication rules. They should choose who would meet with the staff for the debriefing and also who will address the media after a crisis situation. The crisis manager must make sure there is an accurate, and appropriate response created in a timely fashion to be given to the media. It is obvious that the media will want a swift response after a situation that is why it is essential that the response be delivered in this manner. All of the staff members must be educated on the situation so that every employee will be able to give a response when asked by the public or if they receive phone calls concerning the crisis event. When this step is complete the staff that is apart of the crisis planning team will be asked to send cards, letters, and phone calls to the fans, newspaper editors, and to others who are associated with Cinco Jefe Memorial Stadium.
Every dilemma and difficult situation we face will have different factors and require an altered approach. This can only be achieved through initiative. When managing a crisis we cannot allow ourselves to become stoic and rigid in our thinking – this is the quickest way to be defeated by the situation. We need to allow ourselves time and space to thinking creatively and act with ingenuity because these are the cornerstones of successful crisis management. Observe great leaders and learn about their approaches. Read about the great strategists in history and educate yourself constantly on new ideas and
Every organization goes through crisis at some point in time, and it is imperative for the leadership of that organization to handle the crisis effectively. In times of crisis, people need leaders more than ever. The leader’s expectations and actions can help the company recover, hurt the company, or even lead to its failure (Chadderdon, 2001). That is why it is important for leaders and organizations to plan on what to do before they are ever in the crisis situation. Planning before the crisis, actions during the crisis, and what to do post crisis are all equally important. Therefore, the three most important concepts learned throughout this assignment are related to crisis leadership. This paper will focus on the concepts of vision, organizational
Britton, N. (1999). Whither the Emergency Manager? International Journal of Mass emergencies and Disasters. 17(2): 223-35.
Leaders are definitely suffering heavy pressures and challenges in 2008’s crisis, such as keeping business and summarizing after. Solutions are also asked on that crisis. First challenge is reacting rapidly during the global crisis. Because of the crisis expend to whole world quickly in 2008, under that situation, leaders are hard to control well. Whole production line effected and it is hard to find out the single reason of this crisis. What the leader to do is trying to keep the production stable, they need to stop the business drop dramatically. Summarizing after the crisis is also another serious challenge on leadership. Leadership is definitely pushing to in front after the crisis. People would b...
Due to the horrendous events of terrorist attacks that have taken place over the last ten or so years, emergency management now, not only prepares and trains for natural events, but includes planning for terrorist/weapons of mass destruction events in greater detail. New responsibilities are being placed on emergency management managers and responders. More communities, states, local governments and businesses are seeking assistance in planning for terrorist attacks.
There has been a great deal of changes regarding emergency management since the time it was originally started over 30 years ago. Its evolvement has been as a direct result of learning from mistakes and a desire to have a strong process in line to help our nation handle disasters quickly and efficiently. Many people may believe that being prepared is all that it takes to get through a disaster; however, this could not be further form the truth. Preparedness does indeed play a huge role in managing disasters, but what other key factors should we pay attention to?
Ulmer, RR, Sellnow, TL & Seeger, MW 2007, Effective crisis communication, Thousand Oakes: Sage Publications.
Every organization if is not prepared properly in crises Management situations can be vulnerable. Crisis is any situation that can threat and/or damage, any business and can significantly ruin its reputation. Public communication from Malaysia officials was initially based with confusion. First of all, to measure and evacuate Public Relations efforts from Malaysia Airlines prospect, we have t determinate the steps for dealing a Crisis Management and check n a checklist what is done and not, in what extent.
The communication process is not something that begins when a crisis rears its ugly head rather it is a process that takes place in preparing for a crisis before it happens. While the term crisis represents a blanket term used to describe many situations, each situation is unique, thus presenting different obstacles to overcome. However, with a well-established advanced plan in place an organization places itself in a position to overcome and work around obstacles. The development of a comprehensive crisis management plan is one achieved through effective communication where each member of the crisis management team has an advanced shared understanding of his or her role and responsibility during a time of crisis (du Pr'e, 2005).
The job of an event planner is much more than hanging up streamers, laying table clothes down and checking the quality of the lights. Event planning requires tedious work and strenuous planning. Also called meeting and convention planners, they do everything involved with making sure these events go as anticipated. This includes, working with the client to choose a fabulous and affordable location, hiring quality caterers, selecting perfect entertainment, and even arranging lodging and transportation for attendees who are visiting from afar (McKay). The goal of an event planner is to make sure the event runs very much as anticipated, which includes multiple plans to combat what-if scenario, because no event will ever run exactly as planned.