Anil Punyapu: The modern case for meetings management

As workforce demographics are changing, company cultures are changing; and so are the most compelling reasons for implementing strategic meetings management programmes (SMMP). Many employees want DIY or self-serve tools and companies want programmes which help their employees make the right decisions. So what do companies value today; and how do those values relate to SMMP? Here we investigate three new drivers that align with those evolving values: transparency, effectiveness, and ROI and explore how they can demonstrate the value and proven successes of SMMP.

We asked leading global corporations why they implemented their meetings management and what were the key drivers in getting buy-in from their company. The process of implementation can take many years, from research and discovery to actual implementation and deployment. The implementation was mainly justified by the fact the company would gain visibility across a global calendar, leverage corporate spend and the standardisation of processes and polices.

One company investigated a SMMP five years before implementing it. During the process, the organisation had to build a business case, including collecting meeting spend data. They also piloted the technology and brought in a sourcing partner to do this. Some of the goals seem to be universal among the corporations; to track meetings, capture spend and leverage volume, but other goals include establishing standard buying processes across a company, reducing risk and saving costs.

Where to start

The number one recommendation for an organisation looking to adopt an SMMP would be to understand the company's overarching strategy and goals. You also need to understand the current process to identify the best SMMP process for your company and stakeholders. What are the key drivers for success for your corporation?

It's also advisable to pilot an SMMP within the company in a department/region where you know you can get easy adoption. There is no 'one size' fits all approach, so companies need to look at their individual needs and research their own data. Benchmark and extract proven best practices which fit your company culture through your network.

Regional variations

Implementing a SMMP across different regions has its own issues which include sourcing technology and registration partners across APAC and EMEA and, looking for third parties in LATAM. Most companies will apply their SMMP in one area initially and then move to the next region for globalisation. The SMMP may include harmonising the teams' travel policies and agencies across all regions. One company felt its SMMP had been helped by natural discussions which occurred around meeting spend- and the interest in meetings management being increased during a company global restructuring.

However, adopting a global programme has its own difficulties. It's important to understand local laws, contract languages, payment solutions and country cultures before going international. Try to anticipate setback and roadblocks before you hit them and ensure you have resources on the ground to support and maintain your programme within each territory. Laws to watch in international territories could be understanding use of third parties or contract legalese. Ensure you engage with local stakeholders and executive sponsors to identify the goals of the international region.

Measuring success

Visibility and process standardisation have really driven SMMPs in the past, but as company priorities change concepts like optimising global spend, third parties and duty of care come into play. A SMMP is an ever-evolving programme as it grows across departments and regions. New opportunities are enabled, such as optimising global spend or integrating third party options to the technology enabler.

However, companies also look at new factors to measure the success of the SMMP which may include duty of care or measuring the risk to employees. Other measurement might be through compliance scorecards and demand management. Ask whether a meeting is necessary, or could a digital 'e-meeting' an option? Companies can learn from their mature markets and from their own data on spend and so are able to make smart recommendations on spending guidelines.

Does technology provide an advantage?

With the onset of additional considerations such as mobile applications to increase engagement, social media as an event marketing engine, and the need to continually outperform on set meeting objectives, the use of technology to automate the process and centralise data becomes all the more important to SMMP stakeholders.

Does leveraging a technology solution give organisations the flexibility to adapt to the emerging changes in a company's culture? A technology solution is the enabler and can be deployed worldwide. It will provide consistency in terms of reporting requirements, allowing you to leverage overall spend.

More importantly once the technology foundation is set, certain meetings technology solutions allow for integration with business travel and expense reporting systems. It's important to find a solution which will grow and adapt to your company's needs; an organisation should always be looking three to five years ahead in terms of where they need to be. Companies need to understand what their stakeholders want to see; it's easy to drown yourself in data and get nowhere. Technology needs to help you find the solution and anticipate your needs based on your business's strategies.

Organisations from a wide cross-section of industries and market segments are benefiting from the values of implementing a SMMP across an enterprise. As businesses strive to tighten spend across the company, purchasing and travel departments seek to consolidate processes to gain more visibility into meeting spend and activity. Add to that, the need for meeting professionals to tightly manage budgets and expenditures in current economic cycles.

A focus on attendee experience combined with effective business processes helps to drive the highest possible return on investment for meetings and events. Existing integrations between meetings management and travel procurement platforms enable the critical oversight required to ensure maximised efficiencies for meeting planters. This also provides accurate and timely responses for travel professionals and optimised experiences for meeting attendees during registration.