Under the Radar: Rein in Spending with a Small Meeting Management Program

This article is sponsored by Worktopia, a proud supporter of OfficeArrow and provider of on-demand meeting solutions.

Most of us know what it's like to organize a BIG meeting or event. We're usually given an established budget and told to simply "make it work." And, most of the time, we do! Expenses for big meetings and events are typically very well-monitored. It's the small meetings - those with fewer than 100 people - that fly under the budgetary radar.

According to Worktopia, these small, off-site meetings actually represent about two-thirds of an organization's total meeting spend. So, in these tough economic times, it stands to reason that most organizations would benefit from evaluating their processes and policies for managing these small, off-site meetings. A few minor tweaks could yield some major cost-saving opportunities.

If you're responsible for some (or all) of the meeting planning processes in your office, here's a great way to get you noticed: Rein in spending by creating a Small Meetings Management Program.

Why You Should Start a New Program

Establishing a program is helpful for a number of reasons. First off, it requires that you step back and evaluate what's going on right now. Who's currently involved in the small meeting planning process? How are they booking facilities? What costs are being incurred? This kind of evaluation allows you to pinpoint inefficiencies and areas of opportunity. You can then create a set of procedures that minimize inefficiencies while taking advantage of opportunities (such as time- and cost-savings).

Building a comprehensive program helps you to implement these procedures consistently throughout the company. It provides the tangible, visible organization needed to gain control of the planning process. And ultimately, it creates large-scale benefits for the entire company.

How to Start the Program

1. Establish Objectives

What do you want to accomplish? What are the biggest problems in your current process? Where are the biggest opportunities? Create a clear outline of goals that are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely).

2. Develop Policies and Procedures

Outline the step-by-step process you want everyone to follow. What resource should they use to book the restaurants, hotels and meeting space? What budget constraints should they abide by? Make it as simple and specific as possible.

3. Deploy Facilitating Technology

What technology is needed to allow everyone to follow the guidelines? Make sure that everyone who is involved in the meeting-planning process has access to the necessary technology.

4. Communicate and Train

To get every member of the team on board, you need to effectively communicate the details of the new program and train everyone on the process.

5. Track and Measure

What good is all of this work if you don't know how effectively the new program is meeting your goals? Track the progress of your team and measure your success along the way.

Save Time with a One-Stop Solution

If all of this sounds good, but you still don't know where to start - never fear. Worktopia is the easiest, fastest and BEST solution. They provide a tool called the Universal Meeting Solution (UMS) that offers incredible resources for your Small Meeting Management Program. UMS automates the process for meeting planners, allowing them to search, compare costs, and book meeting space and overnight accommodations in one real-time, online session. UMS Corporate Edition also provides detailed meeting spend reports, allowing you to measure, track, and even set budgetary thresholds.

An easy way to set up your Small Meeting Planning Program is to simply have all meeting planners utilize the Worktopia system. This one-stop solution ensures consistent booking and cost-comparison procedures, allows for easy tracking and measurement, and it will save your team hours of wasted effort. With Worktopia, you can book everything in minutes.

Stop letting small meetings quietly drain your budget. Take control of spending and show your boss you're a "big-picture" thinker.

Worktopia, Inc. offers web-based solutions that allow meeting planners to search, compare costs, and book meeting space and group accommodations online in hotels, business centers and airport lounges nationwide. Be sure to use the promo code OfficeArrow409 when signing up for a new account. Sign up now!