Event Staff Logistics - Five Things to Remember when you are Planning

Organizing a large workforce is a tough task that can be overwhelming and stressful at times, but there are some basic logistical rules which every event organizer should abide by.  Sticking to these makes it much easier to staff an event.

Recruitment - It’s crucial that you fully understand the size of the workforce required. There’s no point organizing an elaborate event when there aren’t enough staff to do it justice, but at the same time you can’t blow the budget on overstaffing either. It can be tricky to get the right balance when it comes to employee scheduling, so ensure that you invest some quality time in recruiting for your event.  

Training – You should always try and recruit the right people with the right skillsets. You may pay a bit more in salaries, but will off-set this by getting the job done properly first time and unsupervised. However, if you are unable to do so and your event staff needs to undergo specific training, make sure that this is provided in due course and that everyone fully understands it. You want your team to feel comfortable and confident with the service they will be delivering, so be sure to remain involved and kept updated during the recruitment and training processes. 

Shifts – Workforce management can be challenging when holding a large-scale event and ensuring that everyone has access to their individual rota, along with other rota patterns, is vital. You should also remember that you may have a combination of paid and unpaid staff at your event. If you do have volunteers at your event, volunteer management software helps you allocate their shifts and expertise appropriately.  

Locations – While the majority of events are held on one site, large-scale events can be held across various locations, both domestically and internationally. A sports event management software package can help ease the process of allocating who should be where and when at larger sporting events. It can get extremely confusing when there are so many factors to consider, so try and make things as easy as possible. A stressed and disorganized event organizer is usually unproductive.   

Transport – When you hold a multi-site event, always ensure that your staff can get to the various site locations and understand that lateness is unacceptable. Sometimes, if it is tricky to get to a certain site location, it may even be worth considering providing a shuttle bus service to take staff to and from site locations. Even though public transport runs all day in larger cities like London, this isn’t the case in more rural areas. Think about where your event is being held and always listen to your staff.  This way, you are guaranteed that your staff will be on site and ready to start their shift on time.