7.3 Implementation Phase

15 May 2009

Gantt Charting:

Gantt Charting can be used as a visual schedule for tasks, durations, and milestones of an event. It is highly recommended to use Gantt Charting for medium and large sized events.

Example of a Gantt chart:

INSERT GANTT CHART EXAMPLE IMAGE

Notes:

Useful for showing project schedules visually
Shows tasks in the first column, and durations in the other columns
The length of the black bar represents the duration of the task. The duration can be days, weeks or months.
Highlights dependencies between tasks - e.g. Task 4 cannot go ahead until task 3 is finished.
A milestone is shown by the ♦ diamond symbol. A milestone is a significant event in the life of the project - e.g. a decision point such as 'report delivered'. They do not have a time or cost value. This is because they do not use any resources.

Risk Assessment

A Health & Safety statement is designed to safeguard you and your team and your visitors from incident and accident. It will also help prove to an external party that you took responsible steps to minimize the risk of accidents.

The preparation of a risk management document is part of the work necessary in preparing the Health & Safety Statement. A Safety Officer should be appointed to complete the Risk Assessment and the Health and Safety Statement.

This can only be done by carrying out an honest and thorough assessment of the possible health and safety risks, this must be a written document.

It is suggested that you examine each potential risk under the following headings:

The hazard
The risks associated with that hazard
Controls - how will you control those identified risks?
Rating - how do you rate the potential risk - (1-5) 1 being low, 5 being very high.

Hazard	Risk	Controls	Rating
Fire Exit Blocked	Death	Clear Exit	5

Hazards can be grouped under the following headings, but you may wish to add to this list to meet the needs of your own event.

Spectators
Fire
Electrical
Weather
Noise
Litter
Waste

Health & Safety Statement

The risk assessment exercise carried out above will form the basis for the Health & Safety Statement. In the event of a claim or a suggestion of a claim, the Insurers will probably ask to see a copy of the Health & Safety Statement.

Emergency Procedures

The document should detail exactly what the emergency procedures to be followed are, under a given set of circumstances. Your emergency Procedures document should cover the following scenarios:

Evacuation Procedure
Fire
Bomb Threat
Crowd Surge or Overcrowding
Disorder within the grounds
Communications or Public Address Systems Failure.

The emergency procedures must be known to all Team/Committee members, volunteers, and staff, Gardai etc.

In the event of an incident occurring and emergency procedures being activated, it is most important that a report is written up within a few hours of the incident giving all relevant details, including the contact details for any witnesses. You should have a form called an Incident Report Form.

Public Liability

There is increasing government and community awareness of the legal responsibilities of event managers, specifically in relation to duty of care, negligence and workplace health and safety issues. This 'duty of care' extends to the event staff, volunteers, the performers, contractors, the audience or spectators and the public in the surrounding areas.

No one wants to be personally liable for any incidents that occur at an event. It is therefore recommended that event managers obtain comprehensive insurance coverage and legal advice in relation to possible public liability, indemnity, volunteers, copyright and contractual claims.

It is essential that you examine and update your insurance requirements on an annual basis. Do remember that if for example, the numbers attending your event rise or if you increase the duration of the event, your insurance company must be advised in advance.

Contingency Plans

When looking at potential risk areas the 'what if' scenario is critically important. Each scenario should have a thought out response that can be implemented straight away during the event.

Not every event runs as planned. Incidents occur that are beyond the control of the event planning team. You should develop contingency plans for every high risk, high impact incident. You should consult with all parties who may respond to an emergency situation when developing a contingency situation.

Monitoring and Reporting

Monitoring and Reporting is an essential part of any successful event. Once your event is up and running, you will need to keep track of progress. This is important because you will want to identify and deal with any problems as soon as possible

You need to record:

The Milestone/Task
The Schedule Status
The Budget Status
Any corrective Action you may need to take
Responsibility.

Logical Framework or Scope

The Logical Framework method gives you a way to summarise the events objectives, targets and assumptions (e.g. assumptions about risks). Having this information means that during the implementation of the project you will be able to check that the event is on track. Once the event is completed it also enables you to evaluate if the objectives of the project have been achieved.

The main results of the Logical Framework process are summarised in a six box matrix that shows the most important aspects of an event in a logical format. The Logical Framework has a focus on the big picture of the event, the objectives of the project.

Logic

Indicators

Assumptions

GOAL: The Goal is the overall objective that the project is trying to achieve.

How do you propose to measure the success of the project? The indicators for the Goal go here. Indicators for:

Goals should be SMART, specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timebased

What risks are there to the long term sustainability of the project benefits? Record here

OUTPUTS: The Outputs are the main sub-divisions of the project. All Outputs must be delivered if the Goal is to be achieved.

How do you propose to measure the success of the Outputs of the project? The relevant indicators should be recorded here.

Parameters can be numbers, quality, time etc.

What risks/ external factors could reduce the effectiveness of the Outputs and put the achievement of the Goal at risk? Record here.

Actual Event

On the event day all that needs to be done should be done. Often this is the time when if things go wrong they are out of your control. However, it is important not to panic and to think on your toes. In the event of something going wrong, give yourself ample time to come up with an alternative solution.

Getting to the hotel as early as possible is beneficial, meeting with the duty manager and staff will ensure the smooth running of the evening. Have a list of tasks that need to be completed and what time they need to be completed by.

Here is a brief example of what the task list may look like:

Meet with staff
Check location
Check that all equipment is in good working order
Have a list of external equipment suppliers names and mobile numbers
Ensure all equipment has been delivered setup and fully checked through by early afternoon
Confirm time with suppliers for the return of the equipment.
Have the list on keynote speakers with mobile numbers ready to hand
Have questionnaires available for everyone to fill in also supply pens
Ensure that all Internet and power points are working and useable
Ensure podium, microphone and projector is working
Run through a list of requirements with staff
Have a list of local press contacts with mobile numbers, contact them late afternoon to ensure their arrival
Adequate seating is available make sure there are extra seats to hand in the event extra guests should arrive

The Following is an example of the running order/ schedule of a typical day of an event; it is taken from Baton Twirling Sport Association of Ireland World Championships:

Freestyle Semi Finals Schedule Jnr/Snr Women and Jnr/Snr Men
Saturday 9th August 2008

1:55pm	After Teams and lunch begin with warm ups for jnr/snr women semis Please clear the floor. At 2:00pm we will commence 5min warm up for Jnr and Snr women semi finalists. All athletes please be ready.	Main Floor Announcer
2:00pm - 2:05pm / Warm ups - Jnr. Women / Sets # 1-7	Announce: Jnr. Women SETS 1 - 7, you may take the floor for your 5 minute warm up. (wait for athletes to enter floor) Your warm up begins now (Give a 1 minute warning) when 5 mins are up ask to please clear the floor	Announcer
2:05am - 2:10pm / Warm Ups - Sr. Women / Sets # 1-7	Announce: Snr. Women SETS 1-7, you may take the floor for your 5 minute warm up. (wait for athletes to enter floor) Your warm up begins now (Give a 1 minute warning) when 5 mins are up ask to please clear the floor.	Announcer
2:10am - 3:20pm /Preliminary Freestyle Round / Jnr. & Snr.	Women Ladies and Gentlemen: we are now ready to begin the Semi Final Round of Freestyle for Jnr. & Snr. Women	Announcer
Announcer Announcing scores: The first 2 performers will go back to back. Then...after each performance announce the pervious athlete by their name & country. Scores are out of 10 Judges your marks for J Bloggs, Ireland for Technical Merit. Read scores - example, 9.0 Judges your marks for artistic expression - call out as the are shown After reading the scores say "THANK YOU"

It is essential to provide a briefing session for staff and volunteers a few days in advance of the event at a suitable time. Volunteers and staff should be given a job description so that they understand what is expected of them, and also helps them to be clear about who does what.

The briefing should include

Basic information about the event.
Introduction to key staff members and volunteers.
Outline responsibilities for health and safety, reporting of urgent problems and the sequence of the call up of managers in an emergency.
Fire Evacuation plan and action to take in the event of a fire.
A tour of the layout of the site, highlighting emergency exits, assembly points, toilets, catering and other facilities, access for disabled visitors and for emergency vehicles or staff.
Crowd management issues and ensuring that emergency exits are open throughout the event.
How to interact with the public, audience or participants.
They should be made aware that they will be given an opportunity to provide feedback post event.

The event manager must be in contact with police and other key stakeholders at all times before and during the event. The manager must have the authority to make critical decisions in relation to the event and, in an emergency, order the cancellation of, or evacuation from, the event.

A Final Briefing

run through the schedule
last minute changes
Clarity re. event and responsibilities

The "Get Out"

Dismantling and removing equipment
Cleaning up site plus branding and promotional materials
Suppliers & sponsors bound to do the same
Clear Crowd
Collect questionnaires