Being able to coordinate events for communities in any capacity is a great way to foster relationships and bring people together. However, there’s no denying that this level of organization can be complex and time-consuming. What you need is less, not more, so you can cut through the noise, make life easier, and ensure that all communication is received and nothing is missed.

You need repeatable rules, small constraints, and to be able to cut through the inevitable noise that comes with events of this type.

Determine what details need active management

There will be a lot of background noise when setting up community events, but not all of this needs to be managed. You need to narrow the scope here. The information you need to manage should include anything impacting delivery, times, dates, location, responsibilities, volunteers, and anything impacting attendance or logistics. Everything else is not a concern. This means removing background chatter, discussions, or suggestions. Not everything is important; you need to determine this before things snowball.

Choose one channel for time-sensitive updates

You don’t want to miss anything, that’s a given, but you also don’t want to be trawling through multiple inboxes to chase up replies from attendees, vendors, or those helping you plan the event. You need one channel for urgent updates only. If an event moves time, if a supplier can’t make it, if you need to change access points, it moves through one inbox only. If people know where to look for important time-sensitive details, it makes it easier to check and keep up with relevant information.

Use one format for updates

No one wants to be scrolling through reams of information to find the details they need to know, and this is where standardization comes into the picture. Remove any variance from your messages. Keep the structure consistent for every update: what has changed and when it applies first, then what action is needed. This means people know how information is communicated and know they’ve not missed anything.

For quick updates or mass messaging, you can choose tools like SMS for Communities, as you can deliver updates quickly to those who need them in a direct, concise format that removes the need to scroll through long messages or emails.

Set cut-off points for event information

Open-ended communication just creates a constant stream of admin. You need to decide upfront when you need information by communicating it clearly, then give one reminder following this. If nothing is received by this point, you move to your contingency plan. This protects the time of the people organizing the event and allows things to move forward without constant revisions.

Assign one person to send out updates

Here’s the thing. If you’ve got too many people overseeing the same tasks, things will get messy really quickly. You can have multiple people involved in organization and planning details, but when it comes to actually sending out updates or important messaging, you need to assign this to one person only so that messaging stays consistent. You can track when updates went out and what was said instead of overlapping with others.

You need fewer steps here for improved coordination: one clear scope, one channel for communication, and one person in charge of sending out updates.