Event Planning Triage

The official newsletter of Applied Visual Thinking SUPERHEROES.  Vol. 4 No. 5  March 10, 2023

WOMEN CAN DO ANYTHING. 

March 8 is recognized in many countries around the world as "International Women's Day" in honor of the struggles that women have endured. It started with women demanding workers' rights in the United States in the early 1900's and quickly progressed to Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, then to Russia. The demands grew to include the right to vote and to hold public office, and to protest workplace discrimination, violence against women and unequal economic opportunities. As a women-owned company, AVT offers a bow of respect to the brave women who forged the path we tread, and to all the hard-working women out there, which is ALL OF YOU who identify as women!

I have been given the gift of being able to offer assistance to a few of the women in my life whom I consider to be total powerhouses. These are the women you go to when you want something done quickly, well and with a smile. AVT was founded by two women I would also put in this category (yes, we should shamelessly toot our own horns!). 

As I learned a few years ago when I had my own health crisis, however, even the most capable among us will need help at some point. Learning to accept help with as much grace as we give it is a master's level art, and one that I believe can be a boon to leaders of all genders. In our personal lives and at work, for all we can do solo, we are even stronger when we band together and share our strengths. 

Turns out that preparing for surgery is not so different from planning a conference. OK, the scale is very different, but the high level process is the same. There are things you need to think about BEFORE the event, things to be prepared for DURING the big day/days, and a laundry list of items that will need attending to AFTER leaving the hospital or conference room. The same holds true for planning birthday parties and other group gatherings. 

There is never enough time to plan an event to the satisfaction of a process geek like myself, so I have become better over the years at creating a "triage" list as soon as I know the thing is really happening. This helps me think through the most important items I need to consider in order to pull off the event with a minimum of personal stress. With Plan A spelled out and visual, I feel more relaxed that I won't forget something critical, and more prepared to adapt to a Plan B if needed. I can also dive deeper into tools like those we explore in AVT for Project Management if needed. 

Need to triage your own upcoming event? Here's how. 

1. COLUMN 1: List no more than 5 things that need to happen BEFORE, DURING and AFTER the event in order for it to be as simple, low-stress and successful as possible.
2. COLUMN 2: To decide what belongs in this column, ask yourself, "In order for the things in Column 1 to go well, what information, resources or things are required? Is there a due date? Anything I am waiting for (pending)? A logical person to assign this to?" 
3. If you'd like to practice the visual power tools you learned in AVT Foundations, add icons, highlight the most pressing items, and/or add lines or shapes to separate blocks of information.