You’ve got to spoil them a bit
This doesn’t need to be big budget spoiling, but taking the time to recognise your team as individuals and set up activities that are specifically moulded for them goes a long way to keeping up morale. If the team have an evening off, we’ll organise a group activity like a braai or a darts tournament, and if there’s a special occasion like someone's birthday, we always celebrate. We all benefit from the ability to have fun on the road together – these are real people, working long days away from their families and lives, and we need to acknowledge the amazing work they’re doing.
Connection is key
The atmosphere of an event is driven by the connections that my teams have. If we finish at 4pm, I never want the team going off individually for the rest of the day – instead I’ll organise something for everyone to do together, across all levels and demographics. When our crew, clients, and entertainers are all together in a relaxed space, we create the kind of connections and co-dependency that can really take an event to the next level. Having such a strong sense of camaraderie across the board really helps to keep everyone in high spirits.
Pay attention
When you’re doing a roadshow or a series of similar events, it’s vital that the audience at the last show gets the same value as the audience at the first show. To do this, you have to make sure that the team are always at their best, and nothing helps you to do this more than paying attention. If you know that your technical crew might not be able to leave the venue for a whole day, make sure that there’s lunch delivered to them. If one of your speakers likes to catch up on emails between run-throughs, make sure there’s always a plug point available to them. Doing the same speech for months at a time can get boring, and this boredom comes across in the delivery, so we make sure that we make tweaks to a presentation or agenda so that the content remains fresh for the speaker too. Paying attention and acting accordingly can go a long way to encourage your team.
Client is king
While it might be stressful for you and your team to be on the road, never underestimate just how stressful the experience is for your client, too. They have a job to do, and we know that a big part of our responsibility is to make their job as stress free as we possibly can. While they know that we’ll deliver the event for them, how can we make their personal experience better too? Taking the time to understand the personal side of the client and appreciating them enough to support them in that space is imperative. We have a client who doesn’t cope well in cold spaces, so we always make sure that there are a pair of slippers waiting for her when she’ll be spending the day in a heavily air-conditioned venue. When the client is happy, it drives the energy up, and everyone else will be happy too.
Set the example
Being positive and working to keep the energy up has become a bit of a job specification. Part of the offering that we offer clients, and part of the delivery that we then give them, is to ensure that all teams are consistently giving their best. I know that when I’m working, my presence will directly influence the people that I work with, so you can’t arrive, sloth about, and then expect your teams to behave any differently. You can be excellent at your job, but your personality needs to come through, because that’s the detail that your relationships will be built on. At the end of the day, energy is infectious – so spread it all over the place.
