June 14, 2021 | 5 min read

Building Effective Event Teams

Organizing and managing an event includes staying on top of many things happening simultaneously – different suppliers to manage, guest's requests, speaker's and VIP's requests, technical issues, and many more. Having a professional and experienced team to work with is the essential step for a successful event.

Whether you are organizing a professional conference or a private event, acknowledging the importance of your staff is crucial for your success.

Selecting your event staff is an important part of organizing a professional conference or a business event. A good event team contributes to the success and smooth running of the event.

Onsite Event Team Roles

Registration Desk Staff
Operate the check-in desks, provide name tags, Answer general questions about registration, parking, and services. Distribution of bags and promotional material
Self-check-in Desks Staff
Assist attendees in checking-in and provide name tags
Welcoming Team
Greet attendees as they arrive and as they leave. Provide directions and answer basic questions.
Attendee Support
Assist guests throughout the conference; provide information on directions, and address attendees' queries and complaints.
Speaker Host
Assisting speakers on the day they present. Accompany the speaker to lectures, lunch, and other activities. Ensure the speakers arrives on time.
Hall Host
Making speakers tables ready (placing name tags, water bottles) Direct guests to their seats. Monitor the door and hall maximum capacity. Monitor the speakers. Make sure lectures start and end on time. Aid with the distribution of microphones amongst the audience. Update the organizers on happenings in the hall.
Accommodation hostess
Assist with guest check-in and check-out, prepare room keys for arriving guests, and take ad-hoc accommodation enquiries.
Help Set-up the Venue
Help setting up the physical space and make sure everything is ready before guests arrive.
Transportation Coordination
Oversee group transportation. Provide updates to the ground transportation company and the event organizers about flights and VIPs.
Runner
Provide support to the event organizer or events team members as required

Event team qualities

Here are a few qualities to look for when building your event team

1. Trustworthy / Responsible team

Reduce much of the pressure by selecting people you can rely on. That means you need to have people that understand the importance of their role. People who see the whole picture want – just as you – to do a great job. Having a reliable team at your side will allow you to give full attention to your attendees, making sure they are happy and have no concerns. Having a dedicated team will allow you to delegate tasks and remain confident that things will run smoothly. Responsible and trustworthy people are also an essential factor in maintaining a positive atmosphere. If possible, choose staff yourself, get to know them, and build a positive working relationship. If not possible, rely on a professional event staffing agency.

2. Experience

Experience can make the difference between a very well-organized event or an unsuccessful one. Every producer or event's organizer needs to have the ability to handle unexpected occurrences or multiple requests from different factors during a running event. An experienced staff is already familiar with all kinds of peculiar situations, stress, and changing needs, so they will be able to solve any problem.

Professional conferences usually bring together different attendees, such as speakers, exhibitors, VIPs. It is also expected that attendees will be from different countries. Experienced staff will know how to handle specific needs and service levels required by the different attendees. The event staff should give technical assistance to speakers, address the needs of VIPs, assist attendees during break times, and more.

3. Communication skills

Events are about people. Guest interaction is not always easy. A good team can communicate with people with diverse backgrounds in a polite and positive approach. Event team members need to have the skills to deal with all sorts of people. Good communication skills are important inside the team. Team members need to work together. Ask for assistance and assist others.

4. Availability

Both professional and private events usually include different working hours, changing locations, and not-so-standard conditions. Finding available staff can be a challenging task that will require significant time. Make sure you always have enough available teams to reduce the time spent in getting organized for each event. Finding event management tools can also help you with the simplicity of handling employees' availability.

5. Flexibility

Even after detailed planning – unexpected things can happen. In such a scenario, you want your team to be flexible, proactive, and initiative. A great team will be able to adjust and solve problems quickly. Event managers will have a hard time working with staff, thinking this is not what I was told/expected ... Event managers need team members that understand their working environment and know that dynamic is part of the game.

6. Diversity

By opening up to staff from different backgrounds, races, and age groups, event managers can select a team from broader candidates. Selecting from a larger group helps choose the better-suited people. Having a diverse event team helps attendees from different backgrounds feel comfortable. In addition, a diverse event team can help understand and address attendees' needs from mixed races, countries, and backgrounds.

7. Love

Make sure the ones by your side love their job! The events industry can be dynamic and stressful. It is not for everyone. That is why you need by your side only the ones that love the action and excitement – which are a natural factor with that kind of working environment. No matter what, they need to be polite and friendly, outgoing and cheerful and above all – love what they do!

Briefing the onsite event team

Before the event starts, it is essential to brief staff about the event to align them with the event goals and enable them to perform as expected of them.

All staff members need to know basic things such as what is the event is about, such as who is organizing it and who is attending.

Here is a list of things to cover in your briefing

Read more

Event Websites

How to Make a Successful Event Website Marketing | 11 min read

Event Networking

How Event Networking App Works Production | 7 min read

Event Registration

Improving Online Event Registration Forms Registration | 9 min read