T&E Plus

The Return on Investment (ROI) in Meetings and Events

It seems hard to believe that I spent three times as many years in the training and development field than in the hospitality field.  Of course, I think I started in training and development when I was about 5 years old. (smile).  Last week at the Virtual Edge Summit, two colleagues and I were discussing how our careers in Training and Development have merged with Meetings and Events.  The three of us, all face-to-face instructors and training managers at one point in our career, are now working in the travel and meetings industry.  Funny how when I used to sign hotel contracts for training events back in the early 1980s for Westinghouse, I never really understood the word “attrition.”  The three of us also reminisced about the numerous initiatives that started in the training field years ago have now whizzed their way into the meetings and events industry.  For example, in 1997/1998 we were proud of one of our training colleagues who taught virtual classes to hundreds of attendees through the use of NetMeeting, a task that in that time period was unheard of.  Due to his success and our foresight into the future, we transitioned face-to-face trainers into e-learning superstars by 1999.  (Does it sound reminiscent of asking planners to consider virtual meetings?)  Yet, when I introduced Virtual Meetings to the hospitality industry in 2002 at our firm, it was as if I was presenting the Skypad Apartments in Orbit City to Fred Flintstone.  Funny how my two careers have merged.

Dr. Jack Phillips, creator of the brainchild of calculating the return on investment (www.roiinstitute.net) using easy-to-understand methodologies, also started his consulting in training and development. I am proud that I learned from him back in 1998 and remember watching him in awe at one of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) conferences.  Since reading his books numerous times and practicing the methodology in my training career for many years, it was an easy transition to use the ROI skill in meetings and events.  While many meeting leaders and consultants are just beginning the ROI education path in the last few years, many colleagues in training and development are familiar with the process to measure the impact and calculate the return on investment; and, we are willing to help you.

Download The Return on Investment (ROI) in Meetings and Events

To align the meeting/event purpose with business objectives in order to calculate the return on investment, pinpoint the reason why the meeting sponsor wants to conduct the meeting/event.  Meetings are held to motivate, educate, or communicate in order to achieve a business objective such as increase revenue, reduce costs, or increase productivity.

There are five levels of feedback as illustrated in the attached document although not all five are required to obtain the return on investment calculations.  

Because most meeting leaders and planners want to understand how to calculate the return on investment, we will spotlight #5, Return on Investment, from the list in the attached document.

Download The Return on Investment (ROI) in Meetings and Events

When meeting planners and most consultants think of “Return on Investment,” they think of the negotiated savings.  Often, we hear sourcing professionals claiming that they produced a high return on investment because of their aggressive negotiations.  While recognized savings offer a return on investment, I challenge business leaders and meeting planners to link the purpose of the meeting or event to the business objective as described in #2 below. For example, will the meeting produce more revenue? Improve productivity?  Increase morale?  If you can calculate the impact that the meeting had on the business objective, then you have graduated as a sage in calculating the return on investment.

1. Meeting/event without content evaluation or business impact	2. Meeting/event with content evaluation or business impact	3. Strategic Meetings Management Program
(Benefit* - Cost) / Cost	(Benefit** - Cost) / Cost	(Benefit* - Cost) / Cost
*Savings recognized	**In addition to Savings, the ROI calculation can include the results, or business impact, from holding the meeting/event	*Savings
Example: Calculate the negotiated savings	Example: Calculate the increased revenue as a result of the meeting in addition to the negotiated savings	Example:  Calculate the savings from implementing the program
To obtain the “benefit” or the “savings,” you must know what would have happened if “Business as usual” occurred rather than the improved state.  For example, if you did not increase revenue as the result of a sales meeting, would your revenue have been flat? Would it have increased anyway? Would it have decreased?  Ask, “What if you did not have the meeting?  What would the result have been?”

 

In the attached document, there are three types of meeting initiatives that will provide you with a good foundation as to the method of calculating the return on investment. The first business objective is to increase sales by 10% with a variety of activities, one of which is a sales meeting.  The second business objective is to enhance management skills and the third objective is to reduce costs by implementing a strategic meetings management program.  All situations provide positive return on investments in these examples.

In synopsis, a return on investment for a meeting or event can be calculated in four easy steps:

1.  Calculate the costs/expenses

2.  Calculate the savings/benefits/gains by calculating the difference between the “business as usual” state and the “improved” state

3.  Isolate the effects of the meeting/event; most often, there are numerous activities that will drive the initiative towards success so the credit may not be granted at 100% to the meeting

4.  Calculate the return on investment (gains-costs)/costs

I challenge you – give me your trickiest ROI challenge and let’s solve the puzzle together. Call or email me so that you can be the hero in your meeting sponsor’s eyes and provide him or her with the numbers that they need. (No charge – I love these types of challenges!)

If you have any questions or need assistance with anything mentioned above, please contact me.

Thank you for visiting the T&E Plus Blog on expense management, travel management, business meetings, events, incentives, strategic meetings management, entertainment, virtual meetings, tickets, hotels, airlines, ground transportation, T&E policy, plus more...

Debi Scholar, GLP, CMM, CMP, CTE, CTT, Six Sigma Green Belt

• Meetings Management Mover and Shaker as selected by Corporate and Incentive Travel Magazine (2010)
• Top 20 Changemaker who influenced the meetings management industry by Corporate Meetings and Incentives (2008)
• Best Meeting Practitioner as selected by Business Travel News (2007)

The Scholar Consulting Group LLC
[email protected]
908-304-4954
Benchmark your Strategic Meetings Management Program:  http://www.smmbenchmark.com

Debi has the following designations:

• Wharton Aresty Executive Education/National Business Travel Association (NBTA) Global Leadership Professional (GLP)
• Meeting Professionals International Certificate in Meetings Management (CMM)
• Convention Industry Council Certified Meeting Professional (CMP)
• NBTA Corporate Travel Expert (CTE)
• Six Sigma Green Belt
• Chauncey Certified Technical Trainer (CTT)

SMM: Putting Yourself in Their Shoes: 35+ Questions for Stakeholders

Below is a list of possible stakeholders to include when initiating a strategic meetings management program.  A proactive approach of involving them during the initial stages may reduce a reactive negative response as the program gets underway.

Some organizations create a “Meetings Council” whereby some stakeholders meet monthly or quarterly to obtain information to distribute to their colleagues and provide feedback to the strategic meetings management owner(s).

 Note that some organizations may have multiple business units with duplicative roles, e.g. an organization may have a Chief Financial Officer for each business unit.  Include as many of the key decision makers as necessary to ensure buy-in and support.  In some organizations, it may not be necessary to reach the senior “C-level” leaders but rather a VP, director or senior manager with decision-making abilities.

Place yourself in “their shoes” and seek to understand their perspective …

 

Stakeholder Management
Stakeholder Role	Their perspective
Chief Executive Officer	By understanding how the new initiative can benefit our clients and our shareholders, I can provide the governance model and support needed to move it forward.
Chief Financial Officer or Finance	By understanding the comprehensive costs of meetings/events, the resources, the processes and the technology, I can help the other leaders and the CEO control costs, maintain financial controls and mitigate risks.
Chief Operating Officer, Operations, Shared Services	By understanding the core processes and how they integrate within the various teams (travel, procurement, security, etc.), I can help streamline processes for maximum efficiency, shift resources to improve those processes that drive greater value and develop (or provide guidance on) standard operating procedures.
Chief Technology Officer or Information Technology	By understanding how the processes are enabled by technology, I can help by providing the resources and support necessary to assist with selection, implementation and support of the right technology.
Chief Human Resources Officer or Human Resources	By understanding the resource requirements to support the initiative, I can help by providing guidance on best practices on resource models, organizational design, searching and selecting the right resources.
Chief Marketing Officer or Marketing	By understanding the business purpose of the initiative, I can help by offering the marketing perspective, recommending ways to incorporate the flexibility that we need while still maintaining the controls necessary, and providing feedback as the “voice of the customer.”
Chief Procurement Officer or Procurement	By understanding the business purpose, costs, controls and supplier needs, I can help by providing procurement and supplier relationship management expertise to identify, select and maintain suppliers.
Meeting Requestors/Sponsors	By understanding the business purpose and how it affects my business, team, meetings, relationships, planning staff, processes, and budget, I can help by providing input and feedback as the “voice of the customer.”
Meeting Leader(s)	By understanding the organization’s priorities, vision and mission, and with leaders’ help and support, I can design a comprehensive strategic meetings management program that supports the value proposition.
Meeting Sourcers, Planners (professional and ad-hoc)	By understanding the business purpose and how it affects my job, I can help by providing the information about the current process, my customers’ requirements, best practices and support to move forward.
Travel	By understanding the business purpose and travel requirements, I can help by providing the current transient and group travel processes, best practices in travel and support to move forward.
Legal	By understanding the business purpose, legal and contract requirements, I can help by providing guidance on legal language for contracts (or this activity may be through Procurement) and offering guidance on those staff members who are allowed to sign contracts on behalf of the organization.
Risk Management and/or Compliance	By understanding the business purpose and risk exposure, I can help by providing guidance on risk mitigation, compliance and reporting requirements.
Security	By understanding the business purpose, security risks and crisis management needs, I can help by providing guidance on developing standard operating procedures for mitigating security concerns and crisis management plans.
Real Estate	By understanding the business purpose and the applicability of using internal meeting space, I can help by offering meeting space inside the organization when necessary and integrate meeting requests with the conference room request system as applicable.
Training and Development	By understanding the business purpose of the initiative, I can help by offering the training and development perspective, recommending ways to incorporate the flexibility that we need while still maintaining the controls necessary, and providing feedback as the “voice of the customer.”
Meeting Attendees	By understanding the business purpose and that my perspective is that of the “end user” of the services, I can help by providing feedback as the “voice of the customer.”
Suppliers	By understanding the direction of the initiative, I can help by providing information about the current process, the requests that I receive best practices from other organizations and industries, and support to move forward.

Create a list of questions for each of your stakeholder groups to gain their input as you develop your strategic meetings management program.   Begin with these questions (in no particular order) and continue to develop your own.

 Business Leaders

1. What are the organization’s overall goals and strategies and how can Meetings and Events align with those goals?
2. Do you see it changing over the next three years? Why?
3. Where does accountability lie with regards to managing to these goals?
4. How much autonomy should the local decision makers have?
5. There are many ways to reduce costs: Can you give me your thoughts on the organization’s appetite for implementing these methods? (provide examples)
6. What would you like to see us achieve in support of the organization’s goals?
7. What are your expectations of someone planning a meeting on behalf of the organization?
8. From your personal experience or what you have heard from others what are the pain points with the current meetings environment (people, process, technology)?
9. What is your view of meetings that have not gone through the formal meetings approval process?
10. Is there a methodology that your organization uses to determine the return from the dollars spent on a meeting?
11. What are you not receiving that you need to support your strategy?
12. What value added services can be provided?
13. What type of reports can we provide that would help you manage your business?
14. We know that any cancellation or attrition credits need to be used so that the organization does not leave money on the table. Is there a willingness from Leadership to put in a tighter process in place and share the credits across the organization?
15. Using our Preferred Suppliers saves money and reduces risk; how can we improve the current utilization in your organization from your perspective?

 Meeting Sponsors/Meeting Planners/Ad-hoc Planners

1. How often do you sponsor (or plan) meetings and events?
2. How many meetings are you responsible for in a typical year that are held off-site?
3. What % of your meetings are recurring?
4. Of the following, what type of meetings and events are you involved in? (Breakfast, lunch or dinner gatherings; client/sales meetings or events; incentive meetings or events; marketing meetings or events; sponsorship activities; recruiting meetings or events; special events/team outings; general business meetings; project team meetings/events; training meetings; conferences or congresses; virtual meetings onsite or offsite that includes 50 or more attendees and are not self service)
5. What percentage of the time of your position do you plan meetings or events?
6. Are you aware of the benefits of utilizing the meetings team?
7. Do you use group travel or the preferred travel management company?
8. What is the budgeting and approval process that you follow?
9. Are you aware of the organization’s usable attrition/cancellation credits at facilities?
10. How is the location and timing of the meeting determined?
11. What costs do you consider in making your decision?
12. What is your process for negotiating and contracting?
13. How do you pay for your meetings?
14. What criteria do you use to measure the success of your meeting?
15. What are your specific needs/requirements when engaging a meeting planner?
16. What must exist in the process to deem it successful?
17. What additional value added services can be provided?
18. From your personal experience or what you have heard from others, what are the pain points with the current process?
19. What would be on your wish list if you could map out the ideal process?  Please identify which you consider to be most important.

 

Service Providers

1. What services do you currently provide for meetings and events?
2. What component(s) of your services do we need to consider in the future meetings and events planning process? 
3. What contributes to the level of service that is provided to us?  And what should we consider as we improve our meeting and event planning process?

If you have any questions or need assistance with anything mentioned above, please contact me.

Thank you for visiting the T&E Plus Blog on expense management, travel management, business meetings, events, incentives, strategic meetings management, entertainment, virtual meetings, tickets, hotels, airlines, ground transportation, T&E policy, plus more...

Debi Scholar, GLP, CMM, CMP, CTE, CTT, Six Sigma Green Belt

• Meetings Management Mover and Shaker as selected by Corporate and Incentive Travel Magazine (2010)
• Top 20 Changemaker who influenced the meetings management industry by Corporate Meetings and Incentives (2008)
• Best Meeting Practitioner as selected by Business Travel News (2007)
• http://www.meetings-conventions.com/article_ektid38202.aspx

The Scholar Consulting Group LLC
[email protected]
908-304-4954
Benchmark your Strategic Meetings Management Program:  http://www.smmbenchmark.com

Debi has the following designations:

• Wharton Aresty Executive Education/National Business Travel Association (NBTA) Global Leadership Professional (GLP)
• Meeting Professionals International Certificate in Meetings Management (CMM)
• Convention Industry Council Certified Meeting Professional (CMP)
• NBTA Corporate Travel Expert (CTE)
• Six Sigma Green Belt
• Chauncey Certified Technical Trainer (CTT)

Virtual Meetings and Events: The 20+ Roles and Responsibilities of the Virtual Meeting Planner

A major travel management company recently lost a significant piece of business because they did not offer a comprehensive Virtual Meetings service offering. Sure, they said that they provide ad hoc virtual meetings as clients request them but the RFP failed to articulate their ability to provide a full service virtual meetings team. What is a virtual meeting and why is a team needed?

A virtual meeting or event provides for live or archived communications among small to large, local to global attendees by the use of technology. A virtual Meetings and Events team provides support to those meetings/events that are not self-service.

A Virtual Meetings and Events (VME) Meeting Planner has at least 20 different responsibilities for the virtual meetings that surge into the Virtual Meetings team.  What are these roles and how do they differ from the typical IT role?

Download Virtual Meetings and Events - Roles and Responsibilities 9 Jan 2011

For 20 reasons to use Virtual Meetings, refer to this post from 19 March 2010.

Don't forget to track your Virtual Meetings using your Meeting Management Technology!

If you have any questions or need assistance with anything mentioned above, please contact me as I was the first Meetings Leader to combine Virtual Meetings in the same team as face-to-face meetings and since, have helped numerous clients move towards Virtual Meetings.  Good luck to you! 

Thank you for visiting the T&E Plus Blog on expense management, travel management, business meetings, events, incentives, strategic meetings management, entertainment, virtual meetings, tickets, hotels, airlines, ground transportation, T&E policy, plus more...

Debi Scholar, GLP, CMM, CMP, CTE, CTT, Six Sigma Green Belt

• Meetings Management Mover and Shaker as selected by Corporate and Incentive Travel Magazine (2010)
• Top 20 Changemaker who influenced the meetings management industry by Corporate Meetings and Incentives (2008)
• Best Meeting Practitioner as selected by Business Travel News (2007)

The Scholar Consulting Group LLC
[email protected]
908-304-4954
Benchmark your Strategic Meetings Management Program:  http://www.smmbenchmark.com

Debi has the following designations:

• Wharton Aresty Executive Education/National Business Travel Association (NBTA) Global Leadership Professional (GLP)
• Meeting Professionals International Certificate in Meetings Management (CMM)
• Convention Industry Council Certified Meeting Professional (CMP)
• NBTA Corporate Travel Expert (CTE)
• Six Sigma Green Belt
• Chauncey Certified Technical Trainer (CTT)

 

Follow me on Twitter ...http://www.twitter.com/debischolar  and on LinkedIN at http://www.linkedin.com/in/dscholar

Global SMM Benchmarking

Meeting leaders in France, Denmark, Finland, and USA have benchmarked their meetings programs at www.smmbenchmark.com.  Receive a free 9-page comprehensive report on how your organization can improve your strategic meetings management program once you complete the assessment. The SMM Resource Library contains SMM templates and resources.

 

 

Strategic Meetings Management: 20 Questions to Choose the Right Resource Model

Lately, I have been asked quite a few times about resource management and how to design the "perfect" organizational chart for an SMM. 

Many different global organizational structures exist for a strategic meetings management program.  The organizational structure may differ in each organization and is designed using the answers to these questions:

1.  What are the expectations that you have for your resource management model?

2. What is in-scope vs. out of scope? (e.g. is the sourcing organization part of Meetings or Procurement?  Is technology development in Meetings or IT? Is reporting part of Meetings or a Data Analysis group?  Is Payment part of Meetings or Finance?, etc.) Define the scope of services.

3. To what extent do the resources integrate with other teams (e.g. procurement, travel, finance, etc.?)

4. Who currently provides the various services required in the end-to-end meeting/event process (as described below)?

5. What are the problems, where are they occurring in the organization? Why are they occurring? What are the root causes?

6. How do you currently keep those resources trained and up-to-date on current processes, best practices and technologies?

7. To whom do the resources report to? 

8. What are the changes in the strategy or process and what does it require from the organization structure?

9. Do you have the required skillsets to fulfill the needs of a strategic meetings management program?

10. What type of career path do your resources have within your organization?

11. How are your resources funded?

12. How is the strategic meetings management program funded?

13. Is your meeting/event volume steady throughout the year or do you have periods of high and low volumes?  How do you expand and reduce your resources accordingly? 

14. How easily could the organization design accommodate major changes that may occur in the foreseeable future? (what if you add more products, services or companies?)

15. How likely is your organization to hire resources that fulfill services outside of their normal scope of business (e.g. if your organization is in the business of pharmaceuticals, does it make sense to hire professional meeting planners)?

16. Do the resources need to be centralized in one organization or close to the internal client?  Are there any groups who will operate more effectively and efficiently if organized in separate, dedicated teams? Define shared services opportunities and client-owned activities.

17. Has the process been designed so that the resources can then be organized?  What are the interrelationships? Map out the process in each territory because the strategy and process will affect the organizational design.

18. What is the desired span of control? For example, is a flat, low cost organizational structure common in your environment or is it more hierarchical?

19. What level of engagement do you have from your HR and Organizational Development team? They are experts in creating organizational design structures or bring on a SMM consultant who is skilled in organizational design.

20. How significant is the transition from the current state to the future state?

The key tasks include:

• map out the desirable SMM process,
• create a RACSI* chart
• develop and evaluate conceptual organizational designs,
• create a plus/delta chart
• select and build financials of the recommended organizational design
• develop interim structures as necessary
• obtain formal approval for the detailed to-be organization
• implement the new organization (may be a phased approach)
• use prudent change management activities throughout the process

Begin to design the right resource model using the table below:

Resource Management
Activity	Insource	Outsource	Hybrid
Strategic Meetings Management Program governance
Relationship Manager to identify and forecast meetings/events by liaising with business leaders
Project Management of designing meeting content and delivery methods
Project Management of meeting sourcing, planning, onsite implementation
Meeting registration and approval
Site selection and sourcing
Contracting
Planning
Attendee Management
Meeting management technology oversight
Website development
Creative Services
Group Travel Administrator/Coordinator that oversees the Travel Management Company for meetings/events
Onsite staffing (planners and hostesses)
Meeting Accountants (budget, invoices, dispute management, reconciliation)
Value Added Tax (VAT) Reclaim
Data Intelligence Administrator (create reports)
Data Intelligence Analyst (analyze reports)

The Pros and Cons:

Resource Model	Pros	Cons
Insourcing	Organizational cultural knowledge Cost effective without management fees; often will work overtime without incurring additional costs Assigned to non-meeting related projects and tasks to gain deeper understanding of business Tenured and credentialed with organization Relationship strength within the organization Understand and align with organization’s policies and controls Have access to internal systems, technologies and computers Organization has ability to pay for performance and ensure that the resource receives the pay May adapt to changing meeting requirements quickly; often knows about internal changes to business requirements If the team has been trained on virtual meetings, may offer a choice between face-to-face or virtual alternatives whereas many meeting management companies have not yet offered these alternatives	Economy of scale not easily adaptable without using independent consultants or third party companies during peak periods of business Resources tend to lose creativity and awareness of meetings industry advancements May not be cost effective if third party or independents are less costly and only used when needed Training costs may be high Resource reduction may be difficult Resources may not have a career path to management opportunities
Outsourcing	Outsourcing Meetings and Events  See May 22, 2010 T&E Plus Article titled "Outsourcing Meetings and Events"	Resource consistency may be challenging unless agreed to in the contract; may be high turnover May have challenges allowing access to all of the organizations technologies and systems May have to sign long term agreement and agree to pay for a pre-determined number of resources; often, these unused resources cannot be redeployed to other business activities, projects and initiatives when meeting volume is reduced Organization lacks control over resources Organization must use service level agreements and other supplier management techniques to ensure success Organizational stakeholders may not agree with the outsourced model
Hybrid	Leverage the best resources from both the insourced and outsourced model Heightened sense of accountability from both insourced and outsourced resources Increases strategic meetings management progression and use of industry best practices Improve efficiency without loss of internal knowledge and control	May be confusing to the organization, the meeting sponsors and the resources involved Managing the data intelligence metrics and reports may be challenging unless all resources are using the same process and end-to-end technology system(s)

*RASCI Chart Example

 

If you have any questions or need assistance with anything mentioned above, please contact me.

Thank you for visiting the T&E Plus Blog on expense management, travel management, business meetings, events, incentives, strategic meetings management, entertainment, virtual meetings, tickets, hotels, airlines, ground transportation, T&E policy, plus more...

Debi Scholar, GLP, CMM, CMP, CTE, CTT, Six Sigma Green Belt

• Meetings Management Mover and Shaker as selected by Corporate and Incentive Travel Magazine (2010)
• Top 20 Changemaker who influenced the meetings management industry by Corporate Meetings and Incentives (2008)
• Best Meeting Practitioner as selected by Business Travel News (2007)

The Scholar Consulting Group LLC
[email protected]
908-304-4954

Debi has the following designations:

• Wharton Aresty Executive Education/National Business Travel Association (NBTA) Global Leadership Professional (GLP)
• Meeting Professionals International Certificate in Meetings Management (CMM)
• Convention Industry Council Certified Meeting Professional (CMP)
• NBTA Corporate Travel Expert (CTE)
• Six Sigma Green Belt
• Chauncey Certified Technical Trainer (CTT)

 

Follow me on Twitter ...http://www.twitter.com/debischolar  and on LinkedIN at http://www.linkedin.com/in/dscholar