10 months of downturn saw company headcounts fall in line with available event spend.
However, the latest industry reports and surveys indicate business actually started to pick up again toward the second half of 2010.

When faced with a steadily increasing number of leads meant many smaller event companies found themselves under-resourced.

Re staffing can take time and if any already stretched team is focused on winning and delivering business, that time can be another resource that’s few and far between.

If you feel under-resourced as a business, you need to get a head of the game and implement a proven method of reacting to enquiries. This means knowing when to say no and channelling your best resources into pitches that are there to win. The quality of delivering has to remain high, so it is vital that the best staff are on board and understand that their roles are important.

Maintaining a motivated workforce is vital because job roles will have expanded but staff may not have had accompanying pay increases.

You need staff that are driven to succeed by the challenges presented by broader remits and responsibilities. They may only have focused on small meetings or dinners in the past, but now need to take on roles such as large scale exhibitions and conferences. By giving people more responsibility it reveals their strengths or weaknesses.

The biggest mistake under-resourced business managers/owners make is not feeling able to empower their best staff. Instead they attempt to do too much themselves when they should be assessing the bigger picture.

One key piece of advice for any growing company is to make sure you have an excellent person in charge of admin.

Small teams need to focus on winning and delivering quality business, so you need someone who can relieve the pressure of everyday  business administration.

Based on Mike Fletcher article in May 2011 C&IT