The difficult we do immediately – the impossible takes a little longer, is a memorable U.S. Armed Forces slogan, which I believe meeting planners would recognise as a feature in their daily routine. But why, in this age of instant communication and our “always on” culture, should global meetings be so challenging to organise. There are many aspects involved in planning a global meeting; dealing with time zones; understanding cultural differences; having up to date information on people and space availability;
bringing together all aspects of a meeting into a seamless and cohesive schedule and very importantly, appropriate communications. With the forecast of a significant rise in global meetings (including virtual meetings), I would like to offer some perspectives based on my experience in working for an international company.
What Are The Right Tools For Planning Global Meetings?
Well, this depends on the nature of the meetings being planned, but the “core” tool kit generally comprises the following:
• Availability of participants
• Availability of space
• Being able to book/request resources required
• A communications approach with feedback, linking all service providers
• Activity management, with prompts and reminders to deal with the plethora of tasks to be undertaken
Today, Outlook and Exchange are significant tools and information sources for the global meetings planner. Exchange 2007 offers a powerful scheduling capability, so why not integrate the space and resource scheduling system with Outlook/Exchange. With 2007 the integration task is made easier, based on defined interface standards. In addition, may of the frustrations experienced by the global meeting planner relate to the limitations of location specific technology solutions? Today, Browser based solutions can deal more easily with providing instant information on space and resource availability, which is critical to the effective planning of global meetings. Do not fall into the trap of limiting the scope of the tool kit to effective local property management! The game is now being played at the enterprise level, so select the technology solutions that deliver multi-location information and deal with key business issues such as time zone management.
What About Communication?
“Change is constant” is a phrase that comes to mind when thinking about planning global meetings. Communication is the key to dealing with constant change. So, how should the communications process work? It should work at three levels. Firstly, the meeting Host needs clarity on what is possible and realistic, so why not provide information on important aspects of planning a meeting - for example, is there a VC room available across all locations on the date and time required? Today this functionality should be
available through Outlook. Secondly, the capability to automatically communicate with service providers such as Catering and AV in a structured manner. Thirdly, in creating a global meeting make sure the tools are in place to deal with change. For example, changing a meeting room in one location inform relevant parties using the appropriate communications option – Blackberry, SMS, Plasma Display, Remote Printing?
How Do We Deal with Diverse Business Cultures and Expectations?
We have all done it. All the right technology, e-mails confirming everything, a clear schedule circulated. But something has not worked out.Maybe the business rules and assumptions we made clashed with the business culture of our participants? Global meetings require a sensitive and flexible approach to deal with different business cultures. Communications, an understanding of the cultural background of participants and the availability of critical scheduling information (eg is food service feasible in location X at this time?) can make a big difference in delivering a successful global meeting.
In Conclusion
Expect the unexpected. Select ‘enterprise’ level technology. Do not forget the business culture dimension. Design the process to make it simple for all people involved, particularly the service staff.
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