爱因斯坦有句名言：“在每一个困难中总会孕育机遇。”疫情当前时，全球各行各业都面临着商务差旅与会议活动的大面积停摆。但不同的是，一部分企业将此疫情危机视为企业最佳升级契机，通过建立或优化战略会议管理项目，实现企业升级管理。
所谓战略会议管理（英文全称Strategic Meetings Management，简称SMM），就是通过有序章法实现企业级对会议与活动的管理。这一管理模式有助于企业获得从成本管理、风险管控等多项目标的成功，并能创造更佳的组织者和参会人的活动体验。
或许您非常熟悉GBTA会议与活动委员会（Global Business Travel Association's Meetings & Events Committee）提出的SMM轮状图，它代表了企业级会议与会议管理的顶级水平。轮状图中的11大板块是高绩效SMM项目不可或缺的因素。那么问题来了：是不是仅仅依赖这11大板块，您就可以获得SMM项目成功？过去很多年间，许多会议活动实际从业人员以及高级管理人员依然发现，即使将上述轮状图用于管理基石，仍距离成功有一定的差距。这些差距可以表现为如何实现高层人员参与的的业务管理模式、如何让会议与活动参与各方采纳方案以及在如何在企业机构内部完成执行？
随着越来越多的企业机构开始实行会议与活动的集中化管理，我在此提出现在是“跳出轮状图”的最好时机。轮状图为我们提供了很好的框架概念，我们并不想推翻重建，但我们想通过升维护航让它更为高效运行，发挥其全部潜能。我们将其归纳为以下三项指导原则：
如果说基础设施是路和桥，那么接下来我们说的“监督管理”则更像车载GPS告知您方向，即通过项目监督来进行调整。它既可以通过强制当然也可以通过非强制完成。通常我们所说的这种“监督管理”前提是紧密跟随企业文化和商业目标的变化而进行调整从而确保企业的整体成功。所监督管理的事项包括与SMM项目相关的政策、合规、采购、流程以及服务。
接续我们的驾驶类比，这一步是脚踏实地的关键步骤。运营实操用比喻来说就是让您的车扎扎实实上路且不抛锚。这关系到SMM项目执行所需的日常运营与支持。它是活动需求管理的驱动力，并保证了政策与流程的统一连贯，比如，活动需求的接收，技术工具的运维，保障合理资源的服务流程，供应商份额管理，持续流程优化以及培训。主导供应商模式在给与SMM项目团队外延资源上起到重要作用。此模式建立了某些服务的集中管理，同时它还可以赋予使用人更多的灵活性和服务策划的选项。
相信通过以上原则配以SMM轮图中的板块内容，您的企业SMM项目将有清晰的前进方向并最终带领您的项目走向成功。
更重要的是，以上的方法论可以（也应该）在您企业的会议活动管理得以应用。印象里人们对SMM项目覆盖都理解为有限的类型。高频会议、小型会议、视频会议、混合型会议、高级行政管理会议、赞助型会议、代表大会以及生命科学行业的HCP会议并不罗列在内。但SMM正在不断演化将覆盖各类型会议。在CWT会议与活动部，我们关注这个演化并将其称之为TMM全类型会议管理(英文名Total Meetings Management，简称TMM)。TMM是SMM未来版。我们将陆续推出相关文章，敬请关注。
如果您的企业目前尚未启动SMM项目，或已有SMM项目但绩效偏低，欢迎致电CWT会议活动部获取更多详情。
▋ 关于CWT会议与活动部（CWT Meetings & Events）
CWT会议与活动部（CWT Meetings & Events）为CWT旗下专业从事会议与活动业务部门。它面向全球各行各业提供创新、高质量会议活动项目。CWT会议与活动部以其匠心致远、守正出奇的专业能力为全球企业提供会议管理、活动管理、团队出行、数字化营销解决方案以及合规管控服务等。
▋ 关于CWT
CWT是一家B2B4E（面向企业 · 服务员工）差旅管理平台企业。我们为企业和政府机构提供支持，帮助他们的员工摆脱地域限制，随时随地保持联系，我们还为其员工提供创新的技术，打造高效、安全和有保障的差旅体验。我们为商务差旅人士提供贴心服务，每天安排的预订规模可住满超过100,000间酒店客房，会议和活动部门则每24小时要处理100多项活动。
Strategic Meetings Management: Why now is the time to think outside the wheel
Albert Einstein said it best: "In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity." While, to a large extent, business travel and in-person meetings and events remain on hold, many companies are recognizing that this is a great time to establish – or fine-tune – their Strategic Meetings Management programs.
Strategic Meetings Management (SMM), as the name suggests, is a disciplined approach to managing meetings and events across an organization. It can help businesses achieve many objectives, from managing costs to mitigating risk and creating a better experience for meeting organizers and attendees.
You may already be familiar with the SMM Wheel, created by the Global Business Travel Association's (GBTA) Meetings & Events Committee, representing the best-in-class standard for managing an enterprise-wide meetings and events program. While the wheel's 11 components are essential to building an effective SMM program, there is a question that remains: can these components alone help you reach your goals? Over the years, many M&E leaders and practitioners have discovered gaps despite using the wheel as the foundation for their SMM programs. These gaps can include difficulty building a business case with senior leadership, gaining stakeholder buy-in, and ultimately driving adoption for the program across the organization.
With more organizations taking the necessary steps to centralize their meetings and events, I would argue that now is an excellent time for us to start "thinking outside the wheel." The wheel provides an excellent framework, and we don't necessarily want to reinvent it – but we need to find ways to make it smarter, to reach its full potential. We have narrowed this down to three guiding principles:
Just as a car needs roads and bridges to get to its destination, it's critical to have an organizational structure that supports the SMM program across your enterprise to help you achieve your goals. This infrastructure encompasses the funding model, resource model, service configuration, technology, and suppliers that you should include as part of your program. These are essential considerations to incorporate before implementing any or all 11 components on the wheel. Feedback from stakeholders will provide insights and answers to several of these questions and help create a strategy around the three guiding principles.
If Infrastructure is the roads and bridges, then Governance is the GPS that provides direction. There needs to be oversight of the program to drive change and adoption. It can be done in a mandated or non-mandated environment. The oversight follows the direction of the corporate culture and objectives to align with the business goals. This supports the policy, compliance, resources, processes, and services associated with your SMM program.
Continuing with our motoring analogy, this is where the rubber meets the road. Administration is the maintenance required to keep the car up and running. It's the day-to-day operation and support required to execute the SMM program. It drives demand management strategies and ensures a consistent interpretation of policies and processes such as the intake of registered meetings, maintenance of the technology, the service workflow to maintain fair and balanced resources, supplier market share, continuous process improvement, and training. A lead agency model also plays a vital role in extending the SMM program's internal team. This model establishes some centralized services while allowing stakeholders the flexibility and choice of planning services.
Including these guiding principles alongside the SMM wheel's components will establish what is needed to set a clear path forward and help your SMM program quickly gain momentum towards full adoption.
What's more, this approach can (and should) be applied to all meetings across your organization. There is a perception that SMM only includes certain meeting types. Very often, small, virtual, hybrid, executive, and sponsorship meetings, as well as congresses and healthcare professional (HCP) meetings in the life sciences sector, are left out of SMM programs. SMM is evolving to include the totality of all meetings and events activity. At CWT Meetings & Events, we see this evolution as what we refer to as Total Meetings Management (TMM). TMM is the future of SMM. Want to hear more? Look for our next blog, where we will explore TMM in more detail.
New to SMM and want to learn more, have an existing SMM program but don't have the adoption you were hoping for, or maybe you are looking to expand into new markets? We can help! Contact our SMM Consulting Solutions Team for more information.
▋ About CWT Meetings & Events
CWT Meetings & Events (M&E) is an award winning global corporate events management service. Representing all industry sectors, CWT M&E delivers comprehensive live, virtual and hybrid event solutions for thousands of customers every year. Ranging from end to end productions of some of the world's largest and complex global conferences, through to intimate national teambuilding experiences.
▋ About CWT
CWT is a Business-to-Business-for-Employees (B2B4E) travel management platform. Companies and governments rely on us to keep their people connected – anywhere, anytime, anyhow – and across six continents, we provide their employees with innovative technology and an efficient, safe and secure travel experience. Every single day, we look after enough travelers to fill more than 100,000 hotel rooms, while our meetings and events division handles more than 100 events every 24 hours.
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