Nothing to celebrate?

Don’t let a tough year, bleak outlook

keep you from holding a positive event

If you’ve had a year like most firms have had, planning any kind of a company event may require a little more than the average dose of positive mental attitude.
Typically an event is built on a theme of celebration having to do with the success of the past year or the expectation of future growth. However, what if your prospects look bleak and you have had a year you would rather forget about? Well, legend has it that Thomas Edison once quipped that in every misfortune lies the seeds of innovation and growth. No matter what kind of year you had, be sure you include the following six things in your event-planning process to help you and your company learn from the past and build a brighter future together.

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Maintain open communication. Nothing builds morale and confidence in leadership better than open communication. As you begin to plan the event, ask your employees, customers, suppliers, or whomever the event is being planned for what they think the theme should be. Also, if you need to downsize the event or economize, be honest about it and explain why the decision was made. There is nothing wrong with sharing your values. It helps to provide reassurance.
A little humor can go a long way to reduce tension. At one event where I was asked to keynote, the company, having to significantly cut back on expenses asked the caterer to use disposable dinnerware. Well, the owner of the company took all 250 plates home with her the night before the event and signed her name on the back of each one with a magic marker. As she made the announcement inviting people to the buffet she said, "And I do want you to notice that even though we had a challenging year, tonight you will be eating from fine dinnerware. It’s even signed." Her name was Tiffany. Everyone enjoyed a good laugh.

Share a clear mission for the coming year, and weave it throughout the entire event. Are you going to explore different markets? For example, if you decide to market in the Monroe/New Glarus area (famous for its Swiss heritage) consider having Swiss cuisine for your meal.
Will you survey your customers? Serve fortune cookies with sample survey questions inside.
Will you be more assertive about asking your customers about ways you can help them grow their business? Have tables come up with ideas for customers to use the product for growth and give a plants as prizes for outstanding ideas.
Being the greatest widget maker in the world won’t make you rich. However, making successes out of all of your widget buyers might well get you on your way. In what ways can you add value for your customers? Pick one that you and your employees think will be the most powerful and focus on that for the next year.

Set interim goals. Share these goals with the attendees and get them to commit in some creative way. At another event, a company had decided to do a regional product rollout in four stages, thereby reducing the risk and spreading the marketing cost over the entire year.
To celebrate and reinforce that strategy, the reps dressed in clothes that matched the season in which the product would be rolled out in their region. They even took pictures of the reps as they accepted the interim goals. It created excitement and quite a few laughs.

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Acknowledge the need for nostalgia. People need to talk about the "good old days." In a normal business cycle your company will change over time, making the changes nearly invisible. But, if your company has changed drastically over the last 18 months, it will be much more noticeable. In both cases your company will never be the same as it was.
However, when change happens rapidly people will miss "the good old days" more. Dealing with it may include talking about a building you had to move from, co-workers who were laid off, former customers, etc. Believe it or not, food facilitates this process. That’s why traditionally, some kind of luncheon or meal follows a funeral, to help people deal with the sudden change that the death of a loved one can bring. Even though your changes may not be as traumatic as a death, make "the good old days" a table topic. Ask people to talk about their experiences during the good times and how they might apply those lessons to the future growth of the company.
Be sensitive to pain your attendees may be experiencing. There is an East Indian proverb that admonishes us: "Do not ignore the elephant in your house, because soon he will make a mess you cannot ignore."
Ignorance of a situation is probably the most common cause of misunderstanding and animosity. Make sure your speaker knows the situation and what the pain-points may be. People can be hyper-sensitive and in these cases not all humor is appropriate.
Give your keynoter the opportunity to talk to a sample of the audience so she or he can personally empathize by finding out where the sensitive areas are and how to handle them.

Above all, make it an ongoing celebration. The event shouldn’t end on the day of the event. Take lots of pictures and publish them over time. Celebrate the achievement of the interim goals with a mini-event like a pizza party or coffee and doughnuts and have the pictures displayed.
If your attendees are scattered across the country, send them a card or e-mail with some pictures upon achievement of the goal. Looking back can be healthful and informative, yet the past is something we cannot change. However, we can celebrate the impact we can have on the future.
So, make your event a celebration of your company’s unique ability to work together, solve problems, and overcome adversity.

Steve McCombs, consultant, author and speaker, is president of Beyond Performance, a management and performance consulting practice in Milton. He has more than 20 years experience in quality assurance, management consulting and employee development. He can be reached at 608-868-4565 or stevemccombs@netscape.net.

Aug. 16, 2002 Small Business Times, Milwaukee

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