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One of the biggest issues you can face when planning a corporate event is the threat of delays. You need everything to run smoothly, but once one thing gets delayed, it can cause other things to be delayed too. You can't have your event run over and you don't want to have to cut things out of the program. Not to mention, you don't want to make your attendees unhappy. Preventing delays needs to be a priority for your event if you want it to go well. But what can you actually do to make sure you don't face disruptive delays?
Start on Time
If you want to avoid event delays, start by making sure you're going to start on time. Failing to begin your event when you say you will could mean that everything else gets delayed. Additionally, you won't start on the right foot with your attendees, who might be annoyed that they've had to wait around for things to begin. So how can you make sure you start on time? Good planning and preparation before your event is scheduled should help you to ensure you're set up on time. Allow for extra time when you're getting ready so you don't have to rush.
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Assign Responsibility for Problem-Solving
It's likely that you're going to have to put out fires in some capacity at your event—although, hopefully not literal fires. When a problem arises, you want it to be addressed as soon as possible so that it doesn't end up causing delays. If you assign responsibility for dealing with problems to one or two members of your team, you can prevent delays. You will have people who can focus on problem-solving and ensuring everything goes smoothly so that everyone else can work on the main requirements of the event.
Schedule Smartly
Clever scheduling is one of the key things you need to consider if you want to prevent event delays. When you're working on your event scheduling, you want to make sure you avoid any clashes and any activities or events that take place too close to each other. Build in plenty of time between activities so that there's time for people to get from one thing to another. If there are any delays, you will hopefully have a buffer that helps to prevent a knock-on effect from causing further delays at other points in the event.
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Know What Delays Could Occur
Understanding what sort of delays might take place at your event can help you to be prepared and prevent them. There are various delays that could disrupt your event, caused by a number of issues. Your venue could be double-booked so you're waiting for the previous hosts to finish up. Your caterers could be delayed or you could have supply issues for some of the things you need. Consider some of the possible delays you might face so you can be ready for them.
Delays can disrupt your event, but being prepared for them can help you to avoid them or address them properly when they arise.