What are the Essential Event Manager Skills That I Need to Build for Success?

From the high-profile weddings to the glittery conferences – events today have glamourized the lives of event planners. But planning an event is much more than just attending a few high-profile parties.

Being an event planner is one of the most stressful and challenging jobs and calls for a lot of specialised skills

Now some of the event managers are born while some others are made. Event planners, in order to churn out successful events, must hone and utilise certain skills.

But don’t worry if you are not born with the skills. You can still imbibe these skills by learning and experiencing on the field. To help you out here are some of the skills that you should develop for succeeding as an event planner.

Take a look.

• Interpersonal Skills –As an event planner you have to deal with the meeting and interaction with people all the time. For relating more easily with people, it is must that you develop stronger skills of communication. One of the most essential event planning skills happens to be sociability. You can only succeed as an event planner when you will be able to strike a chord with those whom you meet and can build lasting relationships with them. The event organisers also work in team and keep their members motivated for achieving the desired goals. One of the top priorities for event planners is communication. Be it communicating with the clients or their team event managers are able to make a clear point in an amiable way.
• Organisational Skills – The event organizers have great organisational skills. Some people can work in chaos but as the planner it is essential to rely on the method and process if you work as part of the team. This implies that you should keep your team informed, adhere to the budgets, timelines and appointments as well as keep your information and documents organised. A well-executed event does not occur by accidents. It calls for attention to detail and sharp organisational skills right from the planning to the post-event analysis. An event planner who is successful can recall the minutest of details and that too with a smile.
• Flexibility – The event managers must double up as the top leaders at one point or fearless janitors on the other hand. Making the tough calls and cleaning up messes quickly, efficiently and quietly is part of the job. Staying calm, getting things done and then returning to running the show happens to be the daily routine of event planners.
• Basic Understanding of Events – It can be a no brainer but you must have a basic understanding of events. It is a vital event planning skill to have a basic understanding of the events. As a planner you should know how to draft an RFP or create a floorplan or review a contract or analyse an event data. You should also be well-versed with the basic of A/Vs, DJs and bands, décor and florists. It is an artistic job that calls for a deeper understanding of what is and what is not. These skills call for practice and learning and are acquired over time.
• Creative Bent of Mind – Usually, the clients know what kind of events they need to organise but they do not have any idea about organising in a creative manner. This is where event managers are required. The event planning careers call for savviness and creativity from individuals to cater to the requirements of every client they want to work with. For example, someone may want maximum event coverage by the media and the planner of events have to devise the practical, striking and affordable ways for achieving the aim. For the successful implementation of the ideas and crisp showcase of the event, the planner has to have a huge network of marketing, public relations, advertising and media professionals.
• Problem Solving Skills – Whether it is working on a keynote presentation, the ideal event planner have to resourceful with limited supply. No matter how well an event is planned, it is bound to go wrong at one point or the other. It will also be easier to solve the issues that come up during event planning if you have a knack of creative problem solving attitude towards the challenges that arise.

These are just some of the skills that you need to develop and internalise if you want to make it big in Event production industry and yield results that your clients desire.