Great advice and ideas for organising your next Health and Wellbeing event.
PLANNING
Start early. Always enlist a team of helpers to share the load and to come up with a varied selection of ideas. No need for a committee – simply have an initial meeting and go from there. Try to include something that will appeal to the majority of the workforce. The more varied the events on the day – the more likely there is to be positive feedback. Target your audience – create a list of who you want to attract. It will not be feasible to keep everyone happy at one single event. Plan multiple events throughout the year to ensure you cover all bases and offer something for everyone.
BOOK A DATE
Sounds simple – but you need to ensure that your event is not clashing with anything else, or when a large number of colleagues are off site or working from home. The earlier you select a date – the sooner you can get suppliers booked in and confirmed.
CONFIM YOUR CHOSEN ACTIVITIES
Budget is the key element here. Decide on your chosen activities.
Massages – Head massages – Bike Smoothie Makers
– Pedal Power Tower Challenge – Therapy Dogs – Nutrition Sessions – Chair Massage – Food Demonstrations – Healthcare Screening – Sleep Workshops – Mindfullness sessions – Stress and Anxiety workshops – Batak Reaction Games
If external suppliers are required – get them booked in as soon as possible.
CONFIRM YOUR WORKSPACES OR VENUES
Again – this seems one of the simpler things to do. However, the amount of times we attend events and find that areas / meeting rooms / conference rooms are double booked is amazing. Clients then have to try to cram the services into whatever areas are available – looking unprofessional and very often dis-jointed.
Book your area early. Find out what footprints are required for each of the items and do a rough floor plan. Try to get a natural flow of footfall – walking past as many services as they can to encourage interest.
ADVERTISING
Start this as soon as the date and areas have been booked. It has been proven that the earlier the event is advertised – the more popular it is. Use posters and update them regularly. Clearly show the date and location and re-inforce them with adverts saying ‘Only 7 days to go’.
Post regularly on social media and internal comms. Contact departmental heads / team leaders to get their buy in. The more they do so – the more their team is likely to want to get involved and participate.
BOOKING SYSTEMS
There is nothing better to ensure buy in, than getting your colleagues to book in time slots for each individual activity. Prior booking ensures that there are no bottlenecks at pinch points in the day e.g. Everyone clambering to get a massage on their lunch break. Often team leaders and supervisors will be flexible with their team on the day to go and enjoy the full range of activities. Bookings are also a great way of quantifying the more popular activities. Each event / location / workforce is different. What works somewhere may not be as popular at another event.
ON THE DAY
The earlier you start, the smoother the events will go. If possible, clear spaces and areas the night prior. Prior preparation will mean you are not struggling to cope with everything on the day. Allocate each team members duties. Try to split them equally. Have different members of your team responsible to meet the various sub contactors. Try to stagger arrival times. On arrival from ourselves, we appreciate that you have a lot going on – so all we ask for is to be shown where you require us to set up, and we will be self-sufficient from there. We pride ourselves on our punctuality, so rest assured once we are on site – you will not need to worry about anything from our side.
MAKE TIME FOR YOUR SELF
The most common feedback we get from the organisers, is that the event was a great success, but they did not get time to enjoy the day themselves. After all the hard work you have put in – take a little time for yourself on the day. Book yourself in for some of the sessions, and enjoy the day.
We hope all of the above helps. If you would like any advice or assistance in planning your next event – please do not hesitate to contact us.
