5 time management tips for event planners

Planning an event can be overwhelming without the right time management practices in place. As an event planner, you are managing many moving parts and critical details to pull off a complex event. This is why it’s essential to implement a time management system that works for you and your team. Here are five tips to consider incorporating into your planning process.

Set realistic goals

When you establish clear goals, you understand where you’re headed and are less likely to stray from them. It’s important to evaluate tasks to make sure that each one is in line with the bigger picture you are envisioning. If the task doesn’t support your goals and hinders your progress, it may be time to delegate it or eliminate it. For tasks that are necessary, breaking them down into smaller chunks or making sure you’re allotting more than enough time for each is imperative to managing them.

Delegate tasks accordingly

Working on every detail yourself is a fast way to burn out. Your team and their skills are essential in supporting your vision for the event. To avoid becoming overwhelmed, delegate tasks to qualified team members to free up your time to focus on what’s in your wheelhouse. Knowing you can rely on your team members’ unique skills and abilities will benefit you and the event you’re planning.

Build in more time

You are building out your days with a workable timeline, deadlines and a roadmap with milestones. However, there’s no harm in overestimating the time it will take to plan your event. When you give yourself and your team a buffer, you allow flexibility in your schedule to handle any unknown factors that can arise.

Create more contingency plans

Along with building in more time, create backup plans for the bigger ticket items, such as venue, speakers and caterer, if your plan A isn’t going to pan out. Having a list of alternative ideas will save you time scrambling to fill the spot should you be forced into this position.

Use technology to your advantage

Time management technology can keep you on task to help you work more efficiently. Using one platform to centralize and streamline all your planning responsibilities, calendars, budget tracking and collaboration tools can make your life a lot easier.

Now that you have a handle on time management for the year ahead, consider having your clients review event insurance policies that can fit their needs.

Markel offers event liability insurance to hosts and honorees, protecting from incidents such as property damage to the venue or injury to a guest. Up to $2 million in event liability insurance can be purchased by your client from Markel any time at least 1 day before the event. Policies start as low as $75.

By offering event insurance, it can help protect your clients, but it can also protect you by potentially decreasing your own business liability risk for accidents due to negligence of the event host or honoree. Markel's event insurance is an easy and affordable solution for your clients – a free event insurance quote takes only a few minutes online or on the phone – that will help protect your clients (and you).

Free client materials! We can provide you with free brochures to help raise your clients' awareness of the benefits of event liability insurance.