6 Essential Steps to Flawless Event Planning: A Winning Playbook
“A successful event production is the result of consistent planning and execution throughout each phase of the project lifecycle.”
We all have our own ideas of what it takes to create a successful event. The game plan we use forms the foundation for building the event’s story, the organization’s way of working, and the actions that will help us achieve our goals.
As we know, there are many ways to reach the same outcome. I’m a big football fan, and I’ve always admired not just great players but brilliant managers like Sir Alex Ferguson, Giovanni Trapattoni, Fabio Capello, José Mourinho, and Pep Guardiola. They’ve all achieved great results—championships and major victories—with very different playbooks. But what they share is a clear guiding principle. They’ve been able to communicate that vision consistently to their teams and organizations.
On the flip side, if a coach’s playbook is a mess or constantly changes, the results on the field usually reflect that chaos—poor performance. The same goes for leadership in event production. The larger the event, the more important it is to ensure everything is executed in a consistent manner.
A successful event is the result of consistent planning and execution across all phases of the event’s lifecycle. Outstanding results come from great planning and execution in the event’s key responsibility areas. Every event must be meaningful to its target audiences, and this is achieved by focusing solely on their needs and goals.
Regardless of the event type, I always recommend that organizers and producers approach production the same way.
1. Always Start with Why
The first time I watched Simon Sinek’s legendary TED Talk, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action,” I immediately watched it ten times in a row. His core message—people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it—resonated deeply with me. This is an excellent mantra for all communication.
More broadly, a clear answer to the “why” question lays the foundation upon which all event-related projects, tasks, and actions are built. The event owner must have this answer crystal clear in their mind. We’re talking about things like the event’s mission, vision, goals, and core narrative. The clearer, the better—and most importantly, this must be established as early as possible. Once you know the why, it’s easier to answer the questions of who, what, where, when, and how. Always start with why.
2. Split Your Event into Six Phases
Large-scale events are often multi-year projects. It’s easy to see that such projects involve thousands upon thousands of tasks. To create a coherent project plan, it’s essential to break the whole thing into smaller, more manageable parts.
I divide event projects into six distinct phases: concept, planning, preparation, execution, LIVE, and follow-up. In my mind, these phases always form the main structure of the event’s project plan. Although they start in that order, many tasks and sub-projects naturally overlap. And that’s perfectly okay.
The division into smaller phases doesn’t have to stop here, but I’ll save those thoughts for another post.
3. Design Your Customers’ Experience and Story Before, During, and After the Event
Start with the customer—or more accurately, customers. I typically divide event customer groups into six categories: the audience, performers (or athletes, in sports events), event staff, media, partners, and owners. Of course, within each main group, there are numerous subgroups. For instance, at the Lahti Ski World Championships, we had about 70 different customer segments within the six main groups.
As an event organizer, your job is to meet the needs and goals of these different customer groups. Depending on the event, the weight of each group doesn’t need to be equal. But every group must be considered during planning, preparation, and production.
In the event industry, regardless of the sector, competition for people’s time, attention, and money is fierce. Events that rely on ticket sales or participation fees have two primary tasks: attract enough customers and ensure those customers leave satisfied. You can succeed at the first one—but only once—if you fail at the second. That’s why keeping the customer top of mind is critical. And while every event organizer says they do this, how often do we find ourselves saying one thing and doing another? Exactly.
So, start event planning by putting yourself in your customers' shoes—or better yet, in their heads.
4. Identify the Key Tasks for All Areas
I’ve seen dozens of different organizational charts for events and have worked within many different structures over the years. Most organizational charts look like complex tangles on PowerPoint slides. And if they look complicated, they probably are in practice, too.
But at its core, event planning is a straightforward task. Events have a clear start and end. At the task level, an event’s production plan consists of smaller projects, each containing tasks that provide services, experiences, and emotions to different customer groups.
I like to avoid splitting hundreds or thousands of individual tasks into too many categories. I keep it simple.
In my playbook, event responsibilities are divided into three key areas: project management, customer experience, and production. The best titles to describe these roles are probably CEO, CXO, and COO.
5. Add Creativity and Unique Elements to Your Projects
If you always do things the same way, your event’s success is at risk. If you do things the same way as others, your event won’t stand out. And if you always try to do things as cheaply as possible, the solution may turn out to be very expensive in the long run.
Be bold and create something new. Give your event a unique identity by building components or details in your own way—ways your customers will value and love. Explore alternative ways to produce things. Could something be done more smoothly in terms of space design, procurement, staff operations, or support services?
Focusing on the details is often where creativity, boldness, and uniqueness come to life. And those are the elements that turn an event into a success.
6. Boost Productivity with the Right Tools
Do the right things right. Efficient event production is about doing the right things in the right way. This is how you achieve excellent results, measured both by customer satisfaction and financial performance. I encourage you to nail down your two most important event goals from these areas.
Many think that customer satisfaction can only be improved by spending more on the event’s offerings, services, and programs.
Of course, your goals must align with your production budget—you can't race on a highway with a scooter. But the reality is that most building blocks of customer satisfaction don’t cost extra. Likewise, increasing operational efficiency doesn’t have to break the bank.