When Paul and I landed our first major contract, an $81 million contract to be exact, we were both ecstatic and terrified. We knew our entire futures rested on our abilities to deliver excellent event planning services on time, every time, especially right out of the gates. So when we had our first meeting with the new client and he told us we needed to execute 85 events in two days, things got real.
Imagine doing 85 events. In two days. All over the United States. Planning, executing, locating hotels, negotiating contracts, catering, audio-visual, all of it. Everything. We had the people, we had the equipment, we had a plan. The problem however was in condensing and simplifying all the steps required to execute each event so our staff of thirty wouldn’t drown in confusion. We needed to give them a new plan of action – something simple and easily digestible. And it all came down to a valuable, yet simple lesson in volleyball.
Paul and I decided to take a walk to clear our heads and focus on how to execute. While sitting at the beach and talking things through, we noticed a bunch of kids playing volleyball. “Bump, set, spike. Bump, set, spike,” the kids repeated over and over. The players were following orders exactly. That rhythm was the essence of preparation. The ball came over the net. The guy at the back row dove to the dirt and got his hand underneath the ball right before it touched the ground and bumped it up. He didn’t try to get it over the net. He just tried to get it off the ground. That was his only task. And then, the player in the second row set it for the guy in the front row, who spiked it over the net.
Back at the house, Paul took a flip chart and a magic marker while I rallied everyone into one room – packed on chairs, couches, and on the floor. Then we started assigning certain people specific labels. The Bumps were given a list of tasks and that would be their sole focus — reach out to the customer, gather basic information, confirm all the information, for hotel, location, transportation, curriculum, childcare, food and beverage, and audio-visual.
When finished, the Bumps would hand the checklist to the Sets. The Setters were broken down into several smaller groups, one solely responsible for transportation, one for food and beverage, one for curriculum. The Spikes were the managers and in charge of quality control. They reviewed and signed the contracts, and then finalized all the details.
It worked. We survived. We went on to execute a battle rhythm of 80 events week after week after week. So remember, volleyball provides us some great lessons in business: always keep it simple, let people do what they are meant to do, and maintain a steady rhythm.
Who knew success came down to bump, set, spike?
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