To feel pissed off with this crap at work?!

[Fishtaco]

Organising a work event. It is super stressful as there are loads of people coming and I have to arrange everything from meals to entertainment to accommodation. It's high profile so it needs to go well. I'm not an event planner, I'm doing this in addition to my completely unrelated day job.

We are less than a week away now, and I seem to be constantly getting shit from other people. There is too much work for one person, so others had volunteered to assist. However all they seem to be doing is giving me more problems or stressing me out.

I've had one person contacting me because something ordered for the night arrived broken...what do they do? (I'd have thought the obvious answer was request a refund/ replacement. But I had to tell them that) or tell me that chair covers have arrived but they're rather poor quality and don't look as expected. Which is clearly a dig at me as Id ordered them. But a cover is a cover. And telling me they're shit is completely unhelpful. Then another person who was meant to sort the tech stuff just keeps coming to me saying oh you need this, you need that. And then if I push back or point out how they're not helping, I get other colleagues saying oh they're doing their best.

Is it me or is the attitude displayed a bit off? I can't help thinking I would have been better not accepting their offers of help in the first place.

It sounds like they’re looking to you to manage, which is fine but you can’t manage and do all the tasks at the same time. It still sounds like you’re under resources - go to management and find a way to get all hands on deck.

Give everyone specific tasks and make it known it’s they’re job to resolve problems that arise and produce x on the night.

Good luck.

yes I know exactly what you mean - I work in a voluntary role (as well as paid work) and my "assistant" does nothing except turn up once a week to "help" then criticises what I've prepared - usually in a sly way. Any attempts at getting her to actually prepare something is met with "oh well I'm really busy" - WE'RE ALL BUSY!!!

poor you, I hope the event goes smoothly in the end

I have to do similar to you from time to time, also not an event planner, and in my experience this is par for the course! They will run it by you cos you're in charge, some people will be more of a hinderance than a help, and people will complain about how you've organised it. So you suck it up, get on with it as best you can and afterwards everyone will tell you what a great job you did, well done.

I wonder do your expectations differ from the volunteers? You are expecting them to get on with jobs and they are expecting you to project manage, two very different things.

I think you need to manage these people. Listen to their questions, comments and issues and give a very clear next step. Chair covers - thanks for telling me, can you get a pic to me asap so I can evaluate whether to order others. Broken item - thanks for telling me. Please get it returned asap and call the company to see if they can send out replacement now not later.

Etc etc

Welcome to the world of event organisation.

Have you had the joy of the ’special dieraty requirements’ yet? Spotting faddy diets (really - you only eat cabbage soup - ever?) whilst making sure that people wth allergies are completely safe.

Have you got everything down on a project planner or spreadsheet with timelines? can you delegate anything?

With regards to the covers - how bad are they? If useable ask for a discount and try to disguise any crappy bits (maybe tie something around the backs in a bow like they do at weddings. If time allows ask for a remake, or find someone who can make them and tell the original supplier that you Willie sending them the bill.

No more Mrs Nice Guy!

A bit late for this one. But next time,

Right, I am looking for volunteers to help organise x event.
In particular, I need people who know about - tech, food, display etc.
Common sense is a must, and you must be able to work independently.
We will meet at the beginning of the organisation to ensure everyone knows what is wanted, and budget for that task if relevant.
Will also go through a few further dates for your updates etc.

Then after initial meetings, e-mail everyone on the team the details.

To keep these things easier, I have the templates saved on email in a file, so I can quickly adjust relevant details.

I learnt the email trail the hard way when someone tried screwing me over for a bit they should have done, and denied any knowledge of agreeing to do it.

Speak to people too - emails don’t always get read (or are ignored).