6 Warning Signs Your Event Planning Is in Trouble – Is It Time to Worry?
“Here are six common symptoms of a troubled event. The more of these you recognize in your event, the more concerned you should be.”
Throughout my career, I’ve been responsible for dozens of event productions, participated in hundreds of public events, and encountered thousands of different events in one way or another. As we know, the anatomy of an event is similar regardless of the type of event we are creating. Yet, every new event project feels like a leap into the unknown. The uncertainty for the event producer is at its peak.
Will the event be as successful in the eyes, minds, and hearts of the audience and other key groups as I want it to be? Will I achieve my financial goals—both in terms of costs and revenues? And will everything be done on time? Are the event’s content, project plan, and financial objectives aligned?
Uncertainty is often a sign that the event project isn’t as under control as it should be. This uncertainty leads to stress, which compromises decision-making quality. Poor decisions inevitably affect the final product—the event itself. When I talk about quality, I mean the customer’s perception of the event—the quality measured by customer satisfaction and purchase behavior.
But how do you know if your event project isn’t under control? Here are six common warning signs of a troubled event. The more of these you recognize in your event, the more worried you should be:
1. Broken Communication
Have you ever played the childhood game "broken telephone"? In this game, a message is whispered from one person to the next until it reaches the last person, who says what they heard, revealing how the message has changed. The longer the chain, the more the message distorts—if it even reaches everyone at all.
This scenario is all too familiar in many event productions. Instructions or the purpose of a task are often misunderstood, or worse, never reach the person responsible for completing it. The result? Problems.
2. Overly Complicated Processes
Complex processes, plans, and organizations seem necessary for handling complicated tasks. Some organizations, particularly in public administration, believe that the more rules and bureaucracy there are, the fewer mistakes will be made. But who would want this culture in their event?
Unfortunately, too many event organizations still love their rules, norms, and systems so much that understanding them requires extraordinary comprehension skills. Take a quick test: choose a service you offer to your event attendees and ask yourself three questions:
Who is responsible?
What happens?
Why is it being done?
If the answers were easy, no need to worry. If there’s confusion between the planner and the executor, it’s time to be concerned.
3. Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen
We’re all different, with our own opinions, backgrounds, and experiences. One person likes red, another blue, another green, and yet another orange. No one is right, and no one is wrong. But as we know, when you mix too many shades of gray, things get darker.
In some event organizations, decision-making and responsibility are shared among too many people. Teams upon teams are created to plan every aspect of the event. If you’re looking to build your event on compromises, no need to worry. Otherwise, you should be concerned.
4. Was There Even a Plan?
What if the planning phase was skipped altogether? Isn’t it enough that the production team understands the event vision and goals? The idea is clear, key stakeholders are on board, and budgets are set. Surely a capable production team knows what to do, right? Wrong.
I highly recommend watching Netflix’s documentary, "Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened." The Fyre example is extreme, but even on a smaller scale, you’ll run into the same issues if you act before you plan—unexpected costs, extra work, and customer service failures. An old saying goes, "An hour of good planning saves ten hours of work in execution." I believe that.
5. Indecision
Yes or no? This or that? Decision-making is difficult for many of us. It’s even harder when the information required for making the decision isn’t available or doesn’t exist—when you don’t have all the facts about every possible option and consequence.
If your leadership frequently uses words like "maybe," "I don’t know," or "we’ll see later," you’re probably in trouble. Without decisions, progress stalls. When things don’t move forward, deadlines get closer, leading to stress. Stress often impacts costs and quality, which in turn affects the customer experience. Poor customer satisfaction results in lost revenue and lower sales for your next event.
6. Searching for the Easy Way Out
Who wouldn’t want to complete tasks faster and more easily? I know I would. But while speed and convenience are nice, they shouldn’t be your top priorities.
People often say the easiest path isn’t the right one. It’s better to do things right than quickly. In the short term, finding shortcuts might save costs, but long-term results won’t be good. It’s like peeing your pants to stay warm—it feels good for a moment but quickly becomes uncomfortable.
If you keep taking shortcuts, you won’t get better results.
The Common Denominator: Inconsistency
This list could easily have been longer. On the other hand, it could be boiled down to a single word: inconsistency. Successful event projects usually follow six main phases: idea (pitch/negotiation), planning, preparation, execution, LIVE, and teardown. Problems typically reveal themselves during the implementation of the plans.
Fortunately, there’s a better way to plan and produce public events—one that improves event quality and streamlines production while reducing uncertainty. This approach is called the Event Magic Cube.