Proactive Activation Tips - Create Your (almost) Perfect Activation World

The day we wake up in a world where vendors are never late and volunteers always go the extra mile, contracts are scarcely looked at twice because everyone implements their part after being asked once… until then we’ll have to come up with some strategies to make sure we do all that we can to proactively prepare and react when the unexpected rears its ugly head. 

1. When delegating responsibilities, always create accountability – I believe there’s a way to create pressure that results in negative performance, and there’s a way to create pressure that results in inspired, positive performance.  Breathing down your team’s neck and barking orders like a walking time bomb only creates an atmosphere motivated by fear – they typically aren’t loyal, neither do they grow or improve.  They’re just trying not to survive.  When you create positive pressure, this results in an inspired, motivated team that wants to perform, grow ; and they’re typically pretty loyal.  Creating accountability is one way of creating positive pressure.  How do you do this?  Require smart action plans turned in at specified times, assign periodic peer reviews, give credit where credit is due (many teams thrive on receiving recognition for their efforts). 
2. Ensure cohesive role clarity – this might mean you go over details of activation the week before, have a “dress rehearsal” or step by step recap on what efforts are supposed to look like from each key player.  Is your event extremely large?  Have hundreds of volunteers?  Assign team leads who can effectively cascade information to their teams and ensure open and effective communication.  Keep in mind, so many of us that give instruction are great at talking and terrible at listening… it’s a pretty common downside to leaders who often delegate.  Ask your implementing party to walk you through what they understand of their responsibilities and their action plans.  This will underscore a cohesive understanding for who is responsible for what, and how it’s going to get done; that way when you’re waiting for that ice to show up for the drinks you’re about to serve, you won’t wonder who the heck is supposed to be there or find your implementer passing out tickets instead!
3. Confirm expectations with vendors the week before and if possible the day before you need them.  Do they need anything special from you in order to activate?  Make sure you know that before they’re walking through the door the day of their activation effort.  Do they understand what you expect to see from them pre-activation, during activation, and post activation?  Make sure this is clearly understood before D-day, and if possible, ask for a 5 minute call the day before you need them just to confirm you’re both on the same page.
4. Reference your history – unless this is a new program, event or effort, it would be crazy not to reference what happened before.  Was there a particular effort that just didn’t work?  The dumbest thing you can do is make the same mistake twice; come up with a plan B, or rethink the particular effort entirely.  I knew of one property who had to sign in their guests and confirm reservations before they would let them in, at the same time they created an incentive for being there by a certain early time.  The lines became congested, the women (it was a women’s event) became frustrated, the mood started to drop, and the volunteers were bottlenecking.  The next year they responded by creating more check in points, more lines, line hosts that entertained the guests with product presentations and trial samples while they were waiting; and there was music playing that helped set a mood.  As you might guess , their guests were much happier, much more interactive, and their vendors benefitted so much so with the product sampling, that desired results skyrocketed.  All because they uncovered a root cause of a problem, and addressed it – they didn’t make the same mistake twice.

As you can see, much of these efforts revolve around effective communication.  Establishing clear expectations, checking for understanding and responding with clarification.  These efforts will truly make you a better leader, a better activation expert, and generally speaking just keep you happier!

So while the “perfect activation world” might be fiction, we can feel like we are living there if we get proactive about the way we prepare for these efforts.  Remember, no event or program will ever be 100% lacking in an opportunity to improve on, but you can always grow and develop intelligently and with foresight.  Who knows, we might just catch you whistling your favorite tune and skipping across the street!