I have organised a few events over the last year or two.
Activities
The main activities I have found that work for a successful event, are:
- Decide you are going to have the event (and roughly what sort of thing it will be)
- Pick a date (hopefully far enough in the future)
- Identify things that need to get done to make the event happen (broad brush works fine)
- Work backwards from your date and work out intervening milestones
- Delegate activities
- Work your plan and make things happen!
This is really about project management – lots of lists being generated, tasks being ticked off etc.
Begin With The End in Mind
Best said in Steven Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Successful People”. The more you know what you want, the more likely you are to get it. The key work of “leadership” occurs at the start of the process.
The interesting thing I have found is that a kind of internal change happens for me – a “knowing” that the event will take place. In some way it is a personal commitment that I will make it happen (for those events I have been prime organiser for). This is strengthened by setting a date (and usually getting the agreement and commitment of some other people on the relevant committee). However, it seems to be more than just personal. Perhaps it is just what has been noted elsewhere “the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too” Goethe (very freely translated).
The personal commitment brings out help from others, and provided that you put the work in to hit milestones along the way, things happen.
Goals
I have had less success in other forms of goal setting for more abstract , but having been thinking about this to the extent of writing this entry, I am working on ways to apply it in more abstract settings.
