read time: 6 min
Forget horror films and ghost stories. When you’re an executive assistant (EA), nothing is more terrifying than a big mishap at work. And when planning in-person meetings is such a big part of an EA’s job - on average 25%, in fact - there’s always something that can go wrong, and plenty that is simply out of your hands. Difficult stakeholders. Last-minute changes. Travel complications. It’s all in a day’s work.
However, this spooky season, it’s time to lean into the fear and explore some of the worst scenarios that can occur when organizing an in-person meeting—and tips (treats) on how to handle them!
Your Meeting Went From 10 to 20 Attendees With Little Notice
The Scenario
“The marketing team is going to join us for the training next week,” says your executive. You smile and nod, yet your brain goes into overdrive. That doubles the size of your in-person meeting that’s taking place in a few days. You now need to find a new meeting room (or even a new venue), as well as additional accommodation, travel, and catering. It’s enough to give anyone nightmares.
How to Handle It
Streamline your tasks as much as possible. First and foremost, send out meeting invites to confirm new attendees’ participation and block their calendars. Next, get in touch with your accommodation and meeting venue contacts to discuss capacity and your agreed-upon contracts—from there, you may need to search for new options. Then, figure out the best way to get new attendees to the meeting by understanding their original destination, preferred travel methods, and carriers. Whether you are booking on their behalf or recommending flights, it’s important to give guidance or use a tool that only shows in-policy options, as last-minute arrangements can get pricey. From there you can turn to smaller details such as food or swag.
A treat for this trick: A meeting planning and group travel logistics platform like TROOP can help whether you have plenty of time to plan, or if last-minute changes are thrown your way. With attendee profiles, TROOP helps you keep track of attendee information such as their home airport, meeting RSVPs, and booking confirmations. Having those details on hand will make it much easier to manage logistics for last-minute attendees.
If you need to find new accommodations for the additional attendees, TROOP will recommend in-policy options to consider. Search for options near any previously booked accommodation to keep the team close. Next, find recommended in-policy flight options for each new attendee and compare them based on travel time, costs, preferred airlines, and other factors to ensure they get to the meeting in due time, and comfortably. Finally, TROOP provides a birds-eye view of attendee’s arrivals and departures to help when scheduling carpools.
You Go Over Budget Due to Attendee Requests
The Scenario
You were given a strict budget for an in-person meeting but, gradually, attendee requests began to pour in. Attendees want to travel on certain airlines, stay in certain hotels, and they want to eat at the restaurant everyone’s talking about. You know that your budget is creeping up, but you don’t know what to do about it.
How to Handle It
The most effective way to stay within budget and push back against extravagant requests is to have a cohesive view of all meeting costs. If you can show your stakeholders exactly what’s costing what, from travel to venues to food, it’s far simpler to either get your budget extended, or cut back on some of the asks. Of course, it’s always a nice touch to allow for some extravagance for special meetings, but try to balance these with more cost-effective planning. Getting cost quotes ahead of time, bulk ordering food and drink, and booking in off-season locations can all help you keep budgets in check.
While the meeting you’ve planned may go over budget, all is not lost. Having a historical reference of what certain meetings cost will help you better estimate budgets for future meetings. Conducting a thorough budget reconciliation after every meeting will allow you to see what spending categories your team spends the most and least on.
A treat for this trick: TROOP can help you estimate and forecast travel costs so you can make more informed decisions before your next meeting budget is set.
The Meeting Destination Is Not Ideal
The Scenario
The CEO has a destination in mind for the next leadership offsite and is really excited about it. However, the location they’ve picked is very far for the majority of the attendees and is in peak tourist season. While no one wants to let the CEO down, many attendees are frustrated or unwilling to travel there.
How to Handle It
Be prepared to share the attendee’s sentiments with the meeting stakeholders and the CEO. When doing so, recommend alternative meeting destinations based on data. Map out where attendees are located to visualize how close or far attendees are. This will highlight if there is a city or relative location close by that could cut down on travel time for many attendees. Also, when choosing a location, remember to factor in the time of year to avoid weather complications, heavy traffic periods, and cost gouging.
A treat for this trick: TROOP’s Where To Meet functionality recommends the top meeting locations in minutes based on your dates and team origins. Compare locations directly on dozens of data points such as travel time, costs, and CO2 emissions, so you can pick the location best suited for your team’s needs. Doing so saves you hours of research time.
The Meeting Venue Falls Short of Expectations
The Scenario
Your attendees have arrived at a new meeting venue, many of them having traveled from different states and countries to get there. It’s an important meeting filled with senior stakeholders, and a good amount of budget has gone into organizing it. But there’s a problem. The meeting venue falls considerably short of your attendee’s needs. The venue feels cheap and looks nothing like the pictures online. Attendees have had to cram into a small room with little natural light or views, and the audiovisual equipment and wifi are finicky. Naturally, attendees turn to you for answers.
How to Handle It
When booking a new meeting venue, no matter how premium it may look online, it’s always a good idea to take a tour beforehand—especially if it’s a high-stakes meeting. If you can’t take a physical tour, most quality venues should be happy to give you a virtual tour, as well as up-to-date photos of the space. Also, don’t rely on a list of amenities on the site, directly confirm with the venue staff on everything that you’ll require for a seamless, enjoyable meeting.
Don’t forget to tap into one of the best resources you have when finding a meeting venue: your EA and meeting planner communities. The most reliable sources when booking a venue - or anything, really - are those who have been in your shoes before. If you think you’ve found the dream meeting venue, check several booking sites for honest reviews or run it by your EA communities to check that it’s everything it claims to be, or ask for alternatives.
Conclusion
While these in-person meeting planning fails are quite spooky, there are always ways to handle whatever is thrown your way. And having the right technology to help you can save you time and stress.
Book a demo to see how TROOP can help you plan your next meeting. We can’t wait to show you how much time and effort you can save.
How to Plan In-Person Meetings More Effectively
