You're facing unexpected challenges at a live event. How will you effectively lead your team through them?

Safety and regard for human life must always come first; if any potentially life-threatening risk is present, it must be addressed immediately and without exception. Whether such threat is present or not, the triage methodology of identifying and ranking the issues can provide both an informed view of the situation and an action plan for addressing it.

Identify and rank the issues by priority. Activate your team to action next steps to identify the issues. Calmly communicate known issues and what's being done to address them to client and attendees as appropriate. Support your team in addressing issues as rapidly as possible. Provide clear and timely updates until the issues are resolved.

Make sure all your staff and other responders know what’s happening and share your plan for resolution. Remind the troops that everybody wants to go home safely after this event Start working on plan B just in case for back ups. Comm is key to have success

I would say "assess quickly" is not the best term to use. Although it is crucial to identify and rectify the problem as soon as possible. When something goes wrong during a live event, there is a lot of adrenaline flowing. Taking a few seconds, calming down and slowing down is the first step to thinking clearly and avoid potentially making the situation worst. Calm the team down and approach the problem systematically, cool, calm and collected. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

When there is more than one stakeholders affected by the problem, especially from different disciplines, communication often gets very cluttered and people get confused. It's very important for one person to take charge and lead the issue resolution process. Giving everyone a chance to speak, but keeping the process structured. Gathering the information, getting consensus and then give very clear, unambiguous instructions.

As soon as you have the new plan it’s important to lay it out for your team so there’s no misunderstandings. Miscommunication can slow things down dramatically. So make sure everyone is clear on the changes. Delegate clearly and make sure everyone knows what they’re doing. Once your team has clear instructions it’s easier to deal with the big things like communicating to your clients, speakers, AV teams, and volunteers.

Stay calm and collected, because your team will be looking to you for guidance. Prioritize the problems—some will need immediate action, while others can be managed later or even after the event. The goal is to minimize disruption and keep the event running smoothly. It's all about being flexible and making decisions on the fly, all while reassuring your team that you've got everything under control. At the end of the day, leading through challenges is about being adaptable, decisive, and maintaining a positive, solution-oriented

Not just clearly, but cleanly as well - no bs, no cagey directives. Tell 'em what's up and why if you can. Then their decisions on the fly are based on your picture of what success looks like in the current scenario. I have found that people stress less if they get clean context.

don't use big words or technobabble. Be direct and plain. It's better to use the limited time to make the team understand what actions to take rather than trying to impress them with your knowledge.

It’s extremely important to have a contingency plan. This year at an event in Qatar I brought a speaker to, (I wasn’t producing it) the plan was to do a live Q&A out on a sandy beach during sunset. Unfortunately it was so windy that there was no way to hold the event outside. The event team pivoted indoors but had failed to plan a backup screen and sound system. The event happened, but without the video screens and content and an appropriate AV system, the event was subpar. You must be able to adapt to a totally different type venue. That includes being able to adapt your AV setup.

Always be ready to pivot! Even when things go according to plan, you may realize customers are bored and you need to change something up to grab their attention again. Brainstorm, adapt, and learn from the process. Others may realize what was done and how you reacted and walk away from the experience inspired.

When unexpected challenges arise at live events, strong leadership is critical. Stay calm under pressure and provide clear, actionable instructions to your team. Encourage problem-solving and collaboration, while remaining the focal point for major decisions. By maintaining an open line of communication and offering support where needed, you’ll guide your team through the hurdles while keeping the event on track.

One thing that I’ve found helpful is to actually assess the biggest risks beforehand and have some contingency plans in place. For instance: Speaker illness (backup programme/video), sound or wifi issues… playing some break-music or videos while figuring it out. Have an extra, interactive programme number like a quiz ready just in case. Or swap two speakers. I once lived through an event during Covid when the wifi failed and the backup wifi was not good enough because a musician in the same building started downloading or streaming some of his music. We got the wifi back on but it was very sweaty for a while. Since then, I always make sure to have a strong backup. But you can’t brace for everything. Then, humour and a smile works wonders.

These plans must have some Plan B as well...articulated "if....then" statements will ease a bit of the stress and make all feel like they can handle it no matter what happens, because we can!

During events, we always keep a closed WhatsApp group or similar and a thorough checklist. Everyone has clear responsibilities and are assigned backups in case some issue occurs. And everyone reports in the group in case they spot an improvement point.

This not only benefits all for the obvious reasons, but it also means they can be confident in their contribution - maybe even enough to really step up for a team member or take on more.

é muito importante conhecer sua equipe e saber as habilidades extras que as pessoas possuem e no que pode contribuir para uma solu??o. N?o tenha receio de delegar fun??es.

Think of events like exams. The better you are prepared for all kinds of questions and formats, the smoother the exam experience will be. Nothing can break you. Prepare for difficult scenarios. The idea of 'stress tests' in the software and www worlds apply here. Because a stressful situation unfolding in real-time, needs to have cool heads and strong spirits. Tough scenarios are expected to arise, and therefore ample preparation must be taken for all possibilities, and a series of action plans, for a smooth(er) sailing. Low morale can hit the confidence level, which in turn can impact the energy and lead to a downward spiral. Avoid at all costs.

O reconhecimento motiva, atrai energias positivas e motiva a pró-atividade, fortale?a isso em sua equipe e lembre-se, caso sua equipe te veja estressado, nervoso, eles ficar?o também pois o líder é a base deles

Because I honestly see challenges as opportunities and really do trust the teams I've had in place, my approach has been "We can do this. Are you in?" I have never gotten a no. And I am very open in the post mortems to events - I am lucky that there has been lots to compliment, even if there had to be some other notes...I try to praise in public and review one on one.

Handling unexpected challenges at a live event requires staying calm, assessing the situation quickly, and maintaining clear communication with your team. It’s crucial to prioritize issues based on their severity and immediacy, delegate tasks efficiently, and use technology for real-time updates. Implementing contingency plans and trusting your team to take initiative are key strategies. After the event, reviewing the response and learning from the experience helps improve future event management. Staying composed and proactive ensures effective leadership through any unexpected challenges.

don't rely on your own memory. After the event, get a debrief with the team and write down everything. Be diligent to make a journal of what your team have been through so far as the history always repeat itslef.

I believe we should look to learn from every event we produce, especially the events that go off track. There is no substitute for the immediate after event team meeting/ post mortem and report. Getting feedback from the team on what went well, and could've gone better, while memories are fresh provides the most insights. It's also important that the reports are read by all team members and shared with relevant stakeholders, not just filled away.