One of the most important aspects of growing a major event organising committee is the sharing of knowledge across the organisation. New staff and functions need to enter into a clear structure with processes they can immediately learn and buy into. Here are five crucial aspects to consider when onboarding new individuals and functions.
1. Immediate knowledge transfer. Knowledge sharing is vital for a new hire entering such a complex machine. London 2012 had their famous 'Yellow Book' - the information bible, developed in 2007, which held London's baseline plan. Your major event has an immoveable deadline, so that plan is essential for your staff to familiarise themselves with.
2. Clear reporting processes. Make sure your individuals and teams know what is expected of them. At their best, consistent reporting practices give your staff structure, engagement and motivation, making sure they'll quickly be on track with managing their programmes.
3. Basic templates for project plans. Give them the tools they need to get their skeleton project plans into sync with every other function, understanding the information they can and should input. Start with major milestones and build out from there, collaboratively with other individuals and functions.
4. Introductions to other function leads. Open up lines of communication straightaway. A project - or even a single task - that doesn't involve multiple functions and affect multiple stakeholder groups is a rare thing! Those initial introductions - and clarity on the best communication channels going forward - will facilitate much better collaborative project work. Don't underestimate the power of sharing an organisational structure, with key names and a summary of responsibilities for each functional area. A list of key acronyms is also important for a new start to hit the ground running.
5. Training on systems. This training should not simply be a 'how-to' or a product tour - it should get to the heart of why your major event is using this particular system and, crucially, how your staff are expected to use it as part of their role. However clever the systems you are using, your team will not get top value out of them if you haven't put in the time to demonstrate how they should use it.
A major event organising committee holds a treasure chest of knowledge, from its inception to its dissolution. Transferring that knowledge to new hires, to stakeholders, to future events and hosts, and more, is an essential process that might be overlooked. For new hires, these few basics will ensure that they hit the ground running in collaboration with the rest of the organisation.
WeTrack was originally built for major events - we exist to improve your operations. Learn more about our software for organising committees or watch a short introduction to WeTrack.