O is for One Size DOES Fit All! How is that for a controversial statement in the world of Strategic Meetings Management? Well, maybe not all, but perhaps many more than we are used to acknowledging! In my last issue, I opined that one of the outcomes from the Next Generation of SMM will be increased adoption of SMM by small to medium (SME) sized companies (less than $1 Billion in revenue). I have to believe that within the universe of SME companies, there can be a lot of consistency or one size does fit all, of design, implementation and reporting for their SMMPs. For example, what if 80% of companies followed very similar processes that required minimal customization, we could develop an SMM play book that could be applied reliably and adopted readily, which would achieve tangible results quickly. I believe that if we can diminish the desire for uniqueness in SMM design and reporting within each company we could help to overcome one of the huge barriers of acceptance and implementation which is: "we are different so we how does SMM work for our unique situation. It must be too hard so let's put it off until next year." I will go so far as to say that many of the unique requirements companies think they need are in fact legacy processes, data points or personal preferences that are no longer relevant. Going through a rigorous business requirements session to determine what are the "have to have" versus the "nice to have" ingredients for the SMM is a critical process for the core team to undertake. See the tips section below for the 5 Whys exercise. Another aspect of One Size Fits All is that we seem to have overcomplicated the buying process for meetings and events that for many should follow the very same procurement practices that are used for other categories of spend within an organization. When a company decides to change to an on-line purchase order process, or go to a new payroll processing method that has been demonstrated to save a company 10% to 15% over what they are currently spending, and at the same time improve productivity and outcomes, the CFO and CEO get right on board and support the new process. Yet there are some unique issues that cause a lot more challenges around the process change for implementing best practices in purchasing in meetings and events category of spend. Some of these issues are the very public nature of customer facing meetings (think AIG effect) and there seems to be an emotional aspect to purchasing meetings versus almost all other categories of corporate spend. In my experience, as long as employees are getting their pay check, the printer is working and the supplies are in the closet, they really don't care who the suppliers are. But in many organizations, this is not the case with where the meeting will be held or who will be planning it! Below are some "one size fits all" standard best practices that should be implemented in order to start moving into a Strategic Meetings Management buying process. These can ultimately shift the purchasing of meetings and event from an emotional decision to a business decision: - Identify the business requirements
- Standardize the Request for Proposal information
- Centralize the sourcing process
- Contracting by those who have the category expertise and proper signature authority
- Collect and analyze data for spend in the category based on pre-determined criteria
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