Strategic Planning and Event Management

STRATEGIC PLANNING

& MANAGEMENT OF

SPORTS EVENTS

Aims & Structure

• Explain the context of the event
• Introduce the team
• Introduce the event
• Explain the planning and implementation of the event relating to theory
• Reflections on the experience

THE TEAM

THE EVENT

Personal

Reflection

QUESTIONS?

Human signage

Create specific

Regular check-in

SIGNAGE

Staff Contingency

Two-way

radio

VOLUNTEER

COORDINATOR

FINANCE

OFFICER

TEAM

COORDINATOR

TEAM COMMUNICATION

Utilise

existing

Visit to

sport sites

Parent & Smith-Swan, 2013

Volunteer

briefing

Kim Riegel

• First point of contact for volunteers
• Attend volunteer sessions to update
• Prepare the Event Handbook
• Give on-the-day briefing

Lucy May

• Prepare budget
• Purchasing - medals, SJA
• Facility coordination
• On-the-day Intro

Kim Longbon

• Chairing planning meetings
• Set/record team tasks
• Liaise with schools coordinator
• Liaise with National Governing Bodies
• On-the-day health and safety officer

On-the-day staff check

Contingency plans were not put into place but reactive contingency plans were utilised

Operations & Logistics

RISK

ASSESSMENT

There are always unknowns that you don't know during the planning process

Contingency

Staggered

exit

COMPETITION

COORDINATOR

On-the-day

HSO check

MEDIA

OFFICER

Prior to

event

Systematic movement to sports

PEOPLE

MOVEMENT

Steve Daniels

• Contact local newspapers to report
• Set up twitter feed and blog

Meet & Greet

Wenzhao Zhang

• Review all rules and competition formats
• Prepare schools competition packs

FACILITY & SITE PLAN

Facility Contingency

QUALITATIVE

What did you enjoy most?

"Making sure the event ran smoothly"

"Interacting with the children"

What could be improved?

"Communication between staff and students"

"Many schools thought the rugby was full contact, not touch. They should have been told"

Question & Answer

e.g. "65% of respondents strongly agreed that the venue was appropriate for the event

"(Statement...)"

Strongly Agree Agree Neither

Disagree Strongly Disagree

"(Statement...)"

1 2 3 4 5

Results

Likert scale questionnaire

For our event

QUANTITATIVE

EVALUATION

Breakthrough OR Continuous

Breakthrough

• Changes are big and radical
• Changes are intermittent

Continuous

• Changes are "tweaks" to the plan
• Regular reviews mean changes are also regular

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Check - evaluate plan in operation

Deming

Act - change

consolidation

Do - implement the

plan

Plan - formulate plan based on current situation

"The longer the journey, especially if exacerbated by bad weather or traffic congestion, the greater the likelihood that people will give up or not even attempt it"

Quality Control & Evaluation

Absenteeism

External Factors for Absence

• genuine illness/accidents
• travel/transport problems
• family responsibilities

Evans & Palmer, 2002

MEGA

PLANNING

IMPLEMENTATION

THEORY

QUALITY

CONTROL

Erickson, Nichols & Ritter, 2000

No single accepted definition

For Total Quality Management mutual cooperation is needed from all parties

Cycle of inspection - quality control - quality assurance

Must look at priority of organisation

Trade off between quality, cost and time?

Role of reliability within quality management

Men and women were similarly affected by family demands. We failed to find any such gender effects.

Volunteers

TQM

Management

Partners

MAJOR

DSES

Sport &

Rec

Students

Athletic

Union

UoP

Require SS access

Require UoP workforce

Require NGB expertise

Require UoP workforce

Event

Team

Schools

School Sport

Require SS access

Require NGB expertise

PARTNERSHIPS

Providers

SJA

SSM

Facility

NGBs

Not just a one way thing

STAKEHOLDERS

Easier to remedy in enduring businesses than temporary organisations

HALLMARK

Event Staffing

PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION

Someone without the ability or requisite skills to perform the task

Someone who has the ability but is lazy

Parent & Smith-Swan, 2013

Weak Links

REFLECTIONS ON EVENT

MINOR

Sometimes there is no choice but to pick up slack

Determining results of volunteers performance

WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT

Recognising and rewarding the volunteers

Volunteers given opportunity to use acquired skill in appropriate setting.

Lectures/seminars act as training prior to event

"Caring - Competence - Encouragement - Patience"

Volunteers introduced to the organisation and event early on to understand all aspects of delivery

Volunteers not technically "selected", default of course determines involvement in the event

Boyce, 1971

Volunteers identified from BSc Sports Development course and event part of their assessment

VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT

FINANCE

Bladen et al, 2012; Jago & Shaw, 1998; Malfas, Theodoraki & Houlihan, 2004

EXPENDITURE

• Budget set to £1500 - no contingency available
• Quotes gained and agreed for all expenditure
• Compare quotes to maximise Value For Money

• Strategic marketing investment - not philanthropic
• Mega events attract large amounts
• Minor events less likely to attract large sums
• Event must raise the sponsors public image

SPONSORSHIP

Milestones mark particularly critical completion dates (Bowdin et al, 2006)

Task list given to group identified milestones

No specific milestones set for the Road to Rio project

Kept to task list/task identified using other methods

MILESTONES

Hard to build relationships with the event staff when we didn't work with them ahead of the event

MONITORING

PROGRESS

EMAIL CONTACT

Important as not in regular face-to-face contact

Important for recording task actions and updates

"If the projects failed, poor communications was always identified as a critical factor in pinpointing what went wrong"

Campbell, 2009

COMMUNICATION

REGULAR MEETINGS

Important to update/question School Sport Manager

Important for decision making/problem solving

Important for areas of joined working

Visual summary of project/event schedule (Bowdin et al, 2006)

Method of identifying tasks within a project and scheduling them

Completed early in the course

Slightly adapted after Christmas break

Referred back to on several occasions

Under-used throughout planning process

GANTT

Event Planning &

Feasibility

PLANNING PROCESS

HIERARCHY

OF

PLANS

Single Use Plan

Shone & Parry, 2004

Stoner, Freedman & Gilbert, 1995, p. 297

Hierarchy of Organisational Plans

Standing Plan

Macduff, 1995

Volunteer

Relationship

"Ignoring the relationship of volunteers and staff would impact future volunteer engagement"

PROCESSUAL PERSPECTIVE

Plan is created using environment as context - influenced by external factors - failures are less likely to be attributed outwardly

Bramwell, 1997

Strategy plan set from beginning of the project - sequential movement through steps - failures are attributed inwardly

Continuous process of learning - strategy can evolve retrospectively - failures are attributed inwardly

SYSTEMIC

PERSPECTIVE

CLASSICAL

PERSPECTIVE

PLANNING

PERSPECTIVES

MSc students should act as mentors - this will improve communication and commitment to the event

MARKETING

• Designate selection of activity
• Utilising UoP and School Sport Manager reputation for good PR
• High initial entries

OPERATIONS

• Teams are designated
• Location / venue designated
• Logistics will need to be planned in detail
• Equipment through partners
• Tasks identified by UoP
• In depth risk assessment

WHAT IS NEEDED TO GET IT RIGHT?

Shone & Parry, 2004

FINANCE

• Budget for medals, kit etc
• No income
• No sponsorship secured
• Investment from UoP and School Sports Manager

FEASIBILITY

12:30 - 3pm

28th March 2013

Strategic Improvement

Better use of strategic tools

• SMART objectives
• Milestones/Gantt chart
• Strategy for communication
• Setting KPIs
• Clearer defined job roles
• Clearer process for evaluation

Conducted to gain a better understanding of event activities and their impact on the host

Lee (2006, p. 72)

Impact Assessment

HOW

WHEN

WHERE

WHAT

WHO

Impact Assessment

Conclusion

Relationship building between schools, NGBs, individuals, university and SSP

Positive sport and competition experience

Positive public relations for partners

Olympic torch - memories

Positive learning experience for students

SUBSTANTIAL SOCIAL IMPACT

Social

Travel - workforce/schools travel via car and coach but relatively small movements

Paperwork - most via email so minimal wastage

Damage to green space - change of venue due to waterlogging meant no green space was used

MINIMAL ENVIRONMENT IMPACT

Environmental

Legacy

Difficult to assess the event in terms of legacy. Bramwell (1997) indicates that legacy can take up to 5 years to show.

There is no planned process for following up on legacy.

Free to enter for schools - small travel cost - minor school expenditure

Substantial investment from University/SSP - management team stayed within budget

Investment in local facilities and businesses - Mounbatten Centre, refreshments, shin pads

MINOR ECONOMIC IMPACT

Economic