Corporate Training Magazine

ROI and Meeting Planning
Vol 2 Issue 2- Mar 2006

By Danielle Kragan

"With the uncertainty of world and economic conditions, mergers and acquisitions, businesses have been forced to become more accountable," affirmed management consultant William Holden. "Re- engineering and restructuring, 'lean management' strategies and increased competition have driven companies to justify that their resource expenditures support the organization's core goals and strategic objectives. Meetings are no exception and have to be of demonstrable value to all stakeholders.

"When defining ROI for meetings, we must go further than just demonstrating monetary return. We must determine the return on the investment of opportunity costs such as time away from the office or other duties as well as hard costs, including materials preparation and facility rentals," he furthered.

The ROI process for meetings is just that an ongoing and evolving process that must be developed and implemented over time. Holden identified five distinct areas of the process:

Identify Stakeholder Groups and Their Expectations
The first step in ROI is to identify stakeholder groups management, attendees, speakers/presenters, the planning team. Each comes to the table with their own needs and expectations, and these must be identified and addressed in order to meet their varying objectives. While this is not a difficult step, it does require thought so as not to leave anyone out. If you plan the meeting with the successful achievement of all stakeholders' objectives in mind, you are well on your way to being able to demonstrate a successful ROI for the meeting.

Establish Goals and Objectives
Once the stakeholder groups have been identified, the next step is to determine precise objectives for each group. This can often be a challenge, but it is crucial to the ROI process. Establishing goals and objectives for the overall meeting as well as for each stake- holder group is the crux of ROI. Done correctly, this step will allow you to very easily measure the ROI of the meeting and will guide you in the design and planning of the entire meeting.

Objectives must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based). SMART objectives can be determined for the overall meeting as well as specific sessions based on the goals and objectives of the various stakeholders. For instance, management may have financial objectives (generate a 10% increase in profit over last year), operational objectives (reduce product manufacturing errors to 0.05%, increase customer satisfaction ratings to 95%) or procedural objectives (reduce workplace accidents by one-third). Attendees will have their own goals and objectives (education and training, networking).

Determine Measurement Tools
In some cases, objectives are easily measurable improve sales by 10%, decrease call centre wait times to less than one minute. However, measuring some of the more strategic objectives increasing sales as a result of contacts at the meeting, making sure meeting attendees are aware of new products or branding can be a bit more complicated. Depending on the specified objectives, measurement tools may include post-meeting surveys or testing, or developing a system that measures sales to specific customers.

From the attendee's perspective, if their objective is to learn how to use a new piece of equipment, pre- and post-session testing is an effective measurement tool. A similar approach is the monitoring of professional certifications earned within six months or a year of attending the meeting.

Develop and Produce the Meeting
If you aim to be able to demonstrate success at the end of the meeting (where success is defined as having met stakeholders' goals and objectives), you need to design and plan the meeting with those goals and objectives in mind. If management's goal is to meet new customers and increase sales, they should build elements such as networking activities into the meeting that allow these goals to be accomplished. Financially and operationally, you need to budget, and market the meeting so that those goals and objectives are met.

You must also design and plan sessions that will allow participants to accomplish this objective. Having a speaker in a room set in classroom- style with a PowerPoint presentation is much less likely to achieve the objective of the attendees than is a session with the new equipment present and experts to provide hands-on demonstrations and training of its use. The measurement tools you design must also be implemented (i.e. evaluations passed out and collected, or phone surveys completed after the meeting).

Report the Outcomes
Being able to report back to all stakeholder groups with quantifiable data showing whether or not the meeting successfully achieved stakeholder objectives is more than just "blowing your own horn". Demonstrating the value of the meeting in relation to the overall strategic goals and objectives of your organization will help those in upper management perceive your importance differently. For example, when asked to plan your next meeting, ask the following questions:

"What are the goals and objectives of the meeting?"
"Who are the stakeholders?"
"How will this meeting support the overall strategic goals and objectives of the organization?"

It may take time for management to come around to this concept, but keep at it and they will start to see you as someone who is vitally and directly related to the strategic direction of the organization.