Meeting Management: SMMP By JenniferW. Brown, CMP

Measuring Success, Part 2

Last month’s column discussed how to track cost savings. But dollar signs aren’t the only metric that matters. SMMP adherents also need to be able to demonstrate in what ways—and by how much exactly—their attendees are improving as the result of their meetings.

Part one ofmyarticleonmetrics todefineand measure success (http://bit.ly/Convene-SMMP), focused on creating a cost-savings and risk-reduc- tion report from your countersigned contract. Another, equally important part of the equation is communicating your success to seniormanagement and key meeting stakeholders. Since its launch in 2004, the primary focus of

team productivity, increased meeting value and quality, interactive learning/new skills, and an enhanced attendee experience. In earlier columns, I discussed the need to

build business acumen and get management buy- in, as well asmanagement’s big-picture focusonthe three P’s: people, productivity, and profitability. This validates the need to expand meeting measure-

ROE Results Measurement Process Flow MeetingMetrics™ Process

Pulse Check

Discovery

Pre-Meeting Core 7

Quantitative Baseline

Meeting Design

Meeting Experience Session Evaluation

Post-Meeting Core 7

Baseline

Report & Reinforcement

ROI Impact Study Qualitative

CORE 7 DIMENSIONS: knowledge/understanding, attitudes/feelings, perceptions, abilities, intentions, actions/behaviors, business results

the Strategic Meetings Management Program (SMMP) has been on savings and mitigating contract damages. But it’s important to point out that often toomuchemphasis is placed on sav- ings and not enough on meeting design, architec- ture, and the attendee experience/learner out- comes.

Return on Event Planning and procurement teams must expand their view ofmeeting value to encompass improved

ments beyond cost savings and risk reduction and utilize “return on event” (ROE) to demon- strate the essential value of “people and improved skills” (which, of course, translates into increased productivity/profitability). Despite the fact that, according to Ira Kerns,

managingdirector ofMeetingMetrics, “the primary reason for investing in an event is to produce results after the event, driving both individual and organizationalperformance achievements,” there has beenlittle, if any,emphasis on incorporating a

ON_THE_WEB: To learn more about the way MeetingMetrics measures the impact of meetings, watch this clip of Ira Kerns taken during AIBTM 2011: http://bit.ly/Kerns-at-AIBTM.

42 pcmaconvene February 2012 ILLUSTRATION BY GREG MABLY