What Makes You Essential to Your Event?

Scrambling between coordinating five different things and making sure your event comes together on deadline, we don't tend to ask ourselves the question "Am I doing what I should be?"

In fact, at first glance that question can seem downright counterproductive. If you're doing it and it needs tobe done for the good of the event, then it's tempting to say yes - of course I must do it!That's a mental trap it can take years toclimb out of.Just because it must be done doesn't necessarily mean thatyou need to be one doing it. Certainly when you're operating on limited time, budget, and resources,you may find yourself running a solo race to the event day finish line. Do what you need to do.But there will almost certainly come a point in your event planning that you'll need to outsource something. Maybe it's check-in, or maybe it's venue decor.And that's ok. In fact, it's really good.Outsourcing tasks you either aren't an expert in or aren't enthusiastic about isn't a sign of weakness - it's letting you put your full energy into your strengths. That can be the change that boosts your good events into great events.You just need to outsource the right things to get there. Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, wrote "Ask yourself, “What is essential?” Eliminate everything else."So back to the original question. What makes you essential to your event? It might not be what you assume.First, think about these two points:

What are you an expert in?

Beyond what you do because it needs to happen, what do you do that you're uniquely good at and your event would suffer if you weren't there to do it?Think about what other people come to you for help doing. Maybe it's guest list management, or venue selection, or negotiating with vendors, or charming sponsors.Consider also what you have exceptional experience doing. Even if you don't necessarily enjoy measuring the ROI of your events but you have successfully sold dozensof sponsors on past successes, your insights on ROI are clearly valuable.And don't forget: whatmakes you more than the sum of your skills? Think about what perspective and unique background you bring to your events beyond just your skills in event planning itself.Sometimes it's something as fundamental as where you lived: Lara Maric, an event planner at IVY, brings the perspective of a life spent in three different countries to the more than 700 events she organizes annually.Make a note of a few points of expertise, but it doesn't have to be exhaustive at this point!

What are you passionate about?

Putting aside experience or expertise, what do you really, really care about doing?It's important to remember that "what you're passionate about" doesn't necessarily mean "what you love every single moment of doing." In fact, passion is often something that will keep you going throughfrustration and drudgery because you have a clear vision of what's on the other side.For the purpose of this exercise, it's also helpful to limit yourself toanswers that aren't too fuzzy. It's safe to say that most event planners are passionate about making great events. However,it's much more illuminating to state that youlove making events that connect people in meaningful ways and finding ways to make on-site processes more efficient. That's the kind of stuff you can dig into.

"Ask yourself, “What is essential?” Eliminate everything else."

Nowit's time to do some housecleaning.

Outsource tasks where you are neither

If you are spending time doing tasks you are neither an expert at nor care strongly about doing, you have a prime candidate for outsourcing.And before going further, it's worth saying this:The word "outsourcing"might make you think of exporting the entirety of the work to another company somewhere far away in the world. But in this context, outsourcing just means offloading the nitty-gritty to someone who is an expert, does really care, or hopefully both.

Outsourcing tasks you either aren't an expert in or aren't enthusiastic about isn't a sign of weakness - it's letting you put your full energy into your strengths.

In this sense, that means it might make sense to outsource something to another member of your team, someone in a different department, a freelancer, or even find a way to automate the worst parts of the task.

Learn more where you are one

Maybe you're the fastest guest list manager at your team, but find it boring. Or maybe you have no background in choosing venues, but are enchanted by the process.In both cases, you're not fully playing to your event management strengths, but you're still adding something worthwhile. These kinds of tasks are the perfect opportunities to expand your skills.If you're an expert in something you don't enjoy, try to either find ways to automate or outsource the worst parts of the work, or even train someone new in it, but still keep yourself in as a decision-maker. That way the event still benefits from your experience, but you're stepping back from what's draining your creative energy.On the other hand if you love something but either don't have the knack or don't have experience in it, support your work with people who do. Passion can boost morale and help a team find creative solutions, but leaving yourself as the sole decision-maker in murky waters can equally make you into your own event's saboteur. With good support, you'll have a strong safety net to avoid disaster while you're still educating yourself on new skills.Finally:

You are essential where you are both

This is where you have the greatest potential to create amazing experiences, and leave your individual mark on the process as well.Some of this type of work is probably already clear to you, but you might be surprised, after running through this mental housekeeping exercise, what you dedicate yourself to that isn't actually essential for you to be doing.When you strip that away (even if you need to continue doing it at the moment because it's essential that it getsdone) it can be alarming to see there are far fewer tasks left than you expected. But don't let that scare you too much. Another insight from McKeown's brand of essentialism: the hours you sink into doing something don't make it worthwhile, the outcome does.This is just a way of finding the essential outcomes - at least for now.Remember: you need to be careful not to outsource the essential work. But if you don't choose what's essential, someone else will choose for you.