When embarking upon the development of a Strategic Meetings Management Program, you should anticipate encountering friction from a number of likely and unlikely sources. Why? Because you are treading on what some might view as "sacred territory".  If you are the director for meetings and events, you will likely encounter resistance from the occasional planners around the company who really enjoy planning meetings as a diversion from their typical job responsibilities. If you are from the travel side of the business and have been tasked with developing an SMMP, you will likely be inserting yourself into a situation of friction and resistance by those in the meeting planning department.

Friction between departments or individuals is unfortunate, but to be expected during times of change. People like the status quo, they don't like change.  I have heard from many planners who feel they have done a good job of planning successful, cost effective meetings, so they don't understand the need to put an SMMP in place.  Don't be surprised to hear some of these comments from them: "the old way is just fine" "why do I have to learn something new", "this will make my job harder".  The underlying issue is that people feel threatened by change. They want to know will they be affected by new processes and procedures.  In order to ease the resistance you need to dispel concerns, communicate implications, and share benefits quickly.

My experience has taught me that basically people want to do the right thing for the company. Take the time to explain the value proposition for implementing the SMMP: cost savings, risk avoidance, proven procurement practices. Once people understand the benefits, they are more apt to accept your SMM program. Another practice that helps to reduce friction is to clearly define the "What's In It For Me" (WIIFM).  For the planners the WIIFM is that they will no longer have to negotiate complicated hotels contracts. Additionally, what's in it for them is that they still have the fun of going on site inspections, choosing the hotel, and planning the meeting but they don't need to be bothered with the details of the contracting process.

An unanticipated group you may encounter friction is from some of your suppliers.  You may be asking them to use new processes, limit their access to end users, or input data that they have not had to do before.  I have witnessed suppliers who circumvented new process, thinking they could get away with avoiding it all together.  That was a bad strategy, as they ended up losing the business completely because they were viewed as a barrier to success.

So how can you decrease the friction? One way is to employ some tried and true change management principles that can help to reduce the friction and get the support and acceptance you need.  Notice how I did not say eliminate the friction? It is unrealistic to think there will never be any tension, and I would argue that tension in moderation is a healthy dynamic. Some tactics to ease the friction of change are:                

• Provide a detailed road map of the new program
• Conduct educational sessions to identify new processes and responsibilities
• Be sure to address the unique cultural issues of your organization
• Identify and communicate target savings
• Assess and monitor the progress of your program
• Ask for feedback from the planners and your suppliers
• Modify your program based on the feedback
• Consistently communicate progress and successes  

Betsy is facilitating 2 sessions at next week's CBI Pharmaceutical Meeting Planner Forum in Philadelphia. Monday, March 28: How to Take your Strategic Meetings Management Program to the Next Level and Tuesday, March 29: How Procurement Can Support Strategic Meetings Management.

Last week PriceWaterhouse-Coopers raised its outlook for the 2011 U.S. lodging industry year over year revenue per available room performance from 5.6% to 7.1%.

Lanyon held its first Converge meeting this week, bringing together both corporate travel buyers and hospitality suppliers to review global industry trends and discuss solutions to common challenges.

Bondurant Consulting provides the following services:  

• Assessment of SMMP potential for your organization   
• Development and implementation of SMMP for meeting & travel managers.
• Training programs for hotel companies and 3^rd party meeting planning agencies which increase their understanding of Strategic Meetings Management, resulting in more successful engagements with clients who are involved with SMMP.
• Support for the RFP response process