QA Events

Original report by:

One of the non-training services offered by the Centre is the facilitation of meetings and events. The portfolio of these event management services has expanded rapidly in recent years on the back of non-traditional formats such as virtual fairs and online conferences. The portfolio is poised for further growth in 2022-23, as it is likely that particularly online events with a global audience will meet demand due to environmental and health and safety concerns but also cost considerations.

To consolidate and further grow its footprint in the segment for event management services in the coming years, ITCILO has sought expert advice on building a robust channel-specific quality assurance system founded in the quality principles promoted by the International Standard Organization.

The ITCILO’s 2022-23 programme and budget proposals highlights ‘a new service mix’ that says ITCILO plans on shifting from a single focus on individual capacity development, to institutional capacity building for both ILO constituents and partner organisations. Meetings and events make up one of six ‘non-training services’.

The first clear distinction in ITCILO events is between internal, and those done for/with other UN bodies.

The second clear distinction is between small scale, local or regional events, and large scale global events.

The third distinction is between Business to Business (B2B): events that are built around the needs of a paying institutional client, and Business to Consumer (B2C), where ITCILO markets an event directly to paying customers.

ITCILO is likely to organise events that:

• Communicate a clear purpose to a clearly defined community likely to be interested in the topic(s). 
• Inform, stimulate, develop a community feeling, and change practice beyond the event itself. 
• Attract an appropriate community of people with a shared and, in different ways, informed, interest in the event’s topic(s).
• Attract expert speakers, influencers and key industry people
• Provide opportunities to meet with others who have similar interests to their own, to learn about new research and development in their area, and to increase their understanding of the topics discussed. 
• Are delivered in a financially sustainable manner.
• Comply with global standards of good governance  for international public sector organisations.
• Attract between 100-5000 participants. 

Different types of events will have different approaches, and different desired outcomes, but all events should be recorded in a common way, and circulated across the organisation to ensure learning is organisation-wide.

The number of different stakeholders can also add complexity to these dichotomies. It is clear that a ‘one size fits all’ solution to quality assurance in ITCILO events is an inadequate response. However, there needs to be a common and consistent process to achieve quality in all ITCILO events. 

All events need to follow a systematic approach through Deming’s Plan, Do, Check, and Act.

Some events will be less successful than others. Less successful events should be treated as learning opportunities.

More about ITCILO event managment services

The principle can be directly applied to event management with a standardised system for registration, attendance, engagement in specific sessions, pre-event and post-event participant and presenter feedback questionnaires to support the collation and interpretation of data. 

The Project Management ISO Context The New ISO 21502 (pmworldlibrary.net)

* The Centre supports the consultants' recommendation of using the Project Management ISO context for ensuring the quality of Event Management Services. This approach provides the Centre with a replicable and reusable model that draws on the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) cycle and provides clear guidelines and considerations for developing appropriate standard quality assurance systems for other types of non-training services offered by the Centre.

Events are generally approached through a project management frame. Quality management should be integral throughout the whole process. It does not begin with the event itself: it begins as soon as the idea for the event is formed. 

Despite the differences in scale, requirements and budget, all events share some central principles. All events:

• Need to have a purpose
• Need to be designed
• Need to be planned in detail
• Need to be well managed in implementation
• Need to be evaluated

All of these, done well, and with any lessons learned recorded, provide an iterative path to ongoing improvement of all aspects of an organisation’s event preparation, implementation and evaluation for future events.  

Each of these areas will generate a great deal of data, which needs to be analysed, and where required, findings need to be used for improving the quality of future events. 

Particularly when working with partners there is real value in committees and checklists, clearly assigning tasks, roles and responsibilities and ensuring everything is covered.

A formalised ITCILO events community of practice for sharing good practice, in addition to the quality improvement process should be considered.  

The quality improvement process is the feedback loop that constantly updates the quality assurance system with innovative successful practice, and can provide ‘warnings’ about where things can go wrong, or issues that need particular attention. 

The feedback loop

Events are kinetic. An event is a dynamic social activity, and even if you are clear about your purpose and role in the event; different social interactions, different personal expectations of the event, and even what you think of the catering, or the signposting, will impact on what you take from the event.  

Since early 2020, with the onset of COVID-19, there have been massive changes in the events industry. It seems likely that in the future, the number of purely face-to-face events will reduce, and ‘hybrid’ events, with both face-to-face and online aspects, will increase in number. And online delivery will become the standard for many events. 

Online events can attract many participants and presenters that would not be able to attend a face-to-face event. They are much cheaper to put on, and, technology permitting, can provide asynchronous access to presentations beyond the event itself. It is more difficult to create a sense of community with an online event, and there is less of an element of serendipity, (the fascinating person you sat next to at lunch) than a face-to-face event can permit. Hybrid events should be able to provide the advantages of both: the wider outreach available through online, together with the serendipity of face-to-face events. But they are more complex to manage successfully for both audiences.    

The recommendations are based on the ISO quality standards for Project, Programme and Portfolio Management (21502), but will also fit within the Plan, Do, Check, Act paradigm already in place within ITCILO. Other relevant ISOs are referred to as well. The recommendations are based around the process map:

• Purpose and design;
• Planning (non-content: logistics, marketing and communication, etc);
• Planning (content and formats);
• Implementation;
• Evaluation (immediate);
• Evaluation (longer term).

The six stages are matched to the PDCA paradigm, related ISO standards, and with the outreach, engagement, and conversion paradigm used by the advocacy and communications section of ITCILO.

Integration of PDCA, outreach/engagement/conversion paradigm within a project cycle

In order to ‘embed’ quality assurance in event management, a clear process for recording evaluation of event management needs to be established, together with a process for entering the learning into the ‘corporate memory’. 

Follow a staged approach to the implementation of the recommendations. Each step below is dependent on the previous steps having been done.