Benjamin Franklin once said, “lost time is never found again.” In this industry, lost time is a concern due to the fact that it can negatively impact the success and profitability of every event. Most event companies are constantly searching for ways to reduce their costs and bolster revenue margins. However, the problem is that not everyone is looking in the right place. It can be hard to admit, but time wasted is common in the event industry. According to our recent survey, over 64% of companies are still using manual processes to crew their events by calling, texting, emailing, and using excel spreadsheets. When it comes tracking time on-site, over 67% of companies are still using paper timesheets. This equates to numerous hours of unnecessary manual work and it not only impacts overall productivity levels, but it also costs money – and lots of it. Are there solutions, like crew scheduling and automated time tracking software that can help? What are the main ways event companies are wasting time and money? Let’s find out.
Manual processes & incompatible technology
Not only are manual processes incredibly taxing, but they also can cost an event company hours, weeks, or even months of wasted time over the course of an entire year. Tracking down paper time sheets, reconciling the actual hours worked, and then manually keying in hours for payment isn’t time efficient for anyone. And more importantly, it slows down your time to invoice clients. New technologies, such as workforce scheduling and automated time tracking systems, should be invested in to help improve and automate processes, increase productivity, and reduce overall costs. However, not all platforms will work for the unique workflows, labor and union rules, and needs of an event company. Incompatible technology solutions built for other industries can be found. The goal is to identify a solution created for you and for your industry-specific requirements.
Lack of technology leads to unhappy crew
A happy crew that keeps coming back is paramount to a successful event. When operating with manual processes, excel spreadsheets, or incompatible technology solutions, crew payment can be slowed, important communications missed, job opportunities mismatched, documents left unsigned, and more, leading to an unhappy crew. Far too much time is wasted by event companies trying to backfill crew positions when those quality crew members don’t want to come back. It’s important to take the steps to ensure a happy crew in order to streamline processes and get the best crew scheduled for each event. Check out this infographic to learn how you can keep your crew happy and coming back.
Emails, emails, emails, calls, calls, calls…
I know what you are thinking, but communication is a good thing, right? Communication is great and it’s one of the best ways to broadcast job opportunities to your workforce as well as distribute ever-changing event details. However, when communication is driven by call after call and email after email, valuable time and money is wasted. By automating crew communication capabilities, event companies are able to save an incredible amount of time which equates to real cost savings.
Request a demo to see how LASSO’s crew management, automated time tracking, and additional solutions can help you reduce the time wasted inside your business.
