The profession of meeting  planning may be in its infancy, but more than 80 years ago, How to Plan a Convention author P.G.B. Morriss recognized that "Convention planning must be approached from the objective rather than the subjective." In order to avoid having the meeting designed subjectively (solely through the planner's perspective), stakeholder involvement is crucial.

Stakeholders need to be a part of the revealing discovery process called the analysis phase. Working together, all interested parties can arrive at a better understanding of how the meeting fits into the overall organization and what it should accomplish.

During this analysis phase, meeting planners should include a needs assessment and review of objectives. Part of this involves a look back (what worked in the past), what's new (the present), and what needs to be done (for future programming).

Objectives and Outcomes: There Is a Difference
People sometimes use the terms "objectives" and "outcomes" interchangeably. But there is a distinct, but often subtle, difference in meaning. Objectives amplify goals and translate them into action. Outcomes define the end product. For clarity, we refer to business, program, and instructional objectives and learner outcomes. Meeting managers must operate with great clarity about what a meeting accomplishes (objectives) and what the participants leave with (outcomes).

Part of the analysis phase is to understand the "business" of the organization and how the meeting fits into that scheme. For example, let's say Congress passes a law that requires certain information for compliance within a particular industry. An association representing that industry - especially if providing education to members is its mission - should respond by providing an educational session or a meeting entirely focused around the new compliance issues. That would be completely in sync with the business of the association.
A well-planned meeting:

• helps the organization move toward its overall mission and goals
• contains an explicit call to action for participants
• contains information and knowledge allowing participants to support the organization's mission, values, goals, and strategic initiatives
• improves an organization's business results in a measurable way
• strengthens an organization's position by allowing participants to manage the needs, pressures, and constraints of doing business
• focuses on influencing customer (participant) satisfaction whether those customers are external or internal.

Business objectives outline where the organization is heading and how it is expending resources to achieve an end result. Depending upon the size of an organization, the business objectives may be expressed for a specific division. The business objectives of an education department in an association may be to:
1. increase the profitability of all educational programs by 12 percent over the next year.
2. develop a mission statement based on the lifelong learning concept within 30 days.

When business objectives are expressed for a subset of the organization, they must be compatible with the overall business objectives of the enterprise; the business objectives must drive program objectives. When we say, "The objectives of this educational event are . . .," we are talking about the means for achieving the goal (satisfying the overall purpose) of the meeting. Examples of program objectives would include:
1. increase meeting attendance by 20 percent.
2. apply the concept of lifelong learning within all educational programs.

Needs Assessment
Questioning stakeholders about goals and objectives often reveals needs. Some meetings are based upon formal needs analysis documents; many meetings are planned from the foundation of a less formal needs assessment conversation. William Host, CMP, professor at the Manfred Steinfeld School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Roosevelt University notes, "Many times meeting planners are not even aware that they are conducting a needs assessment. Uncovering needs happens in a variety of ways - from focus groups, questionnaires, or samplings, to conversations with stakeholders. Planners display a critical eye and sharp ears when assessing meeting requirements."

Whatever method used, a needs assessment is a process of identifying requirements in order to select methods, means, tactics, tools, and approaches for addressing attendees' challenges. Needs assessments do more than determine topics for a program. The word "needs" in this context does not mean wants or desires, but a gap that exists between "what is" and "what should be." The needs assessment is designed to identify these gaps and determine the manner in which to use or resolve the issues or data identified. The needs assessment detects and resolves learning and performance challenges.

For example, if Company X notices a sharp downward trend in sales in a lackluster economy, the initial thought may be that a sales meeting is necessary. The needs assessment determines whether the downward trend in sales can be attributed to a lack of training for new products, a lack of understanding of how to overcome objections for the new products, or another issue, such as the compensation structure for the sales team.

When you decide to employ a formal needs assessment survey, follow these 10 steps:
1. Commit to seeing the assessment through to its completion.
2. Focus on specific objectives of the needs assessment.
3. Identify meeting stakeholders and specific individuals to be involved.
4. Determine the time frame, budget, and staffing required.
5. Select data collection methods (see sidebar on p. 58-59 for some examples).
6. Collect data.
7. Analyze data.
8. Prioritize findings.
9. Report the results.
10. Utilize the results to create program design, program objectives, and learner outcomes.

Objectives and Needs Assessment - The Remix
How do each of the four elements we have discussed in previous articles in this series relate to needs assessments and objectives?

1. New Treatment of Information
Adult learners incorporate many sources of information, rely on multiple delivery methods, learn new information informally and formally, and as a group are extremely heterogeneous. Through the needs assessment or dialogue with the stakeholders, meeting planners can assess what information to include within the meeting.

• Why do you think there is a need for the meeting?
• What is the difference between the current situation (what is being done/known/felt now) and the desired state (what is supposed to be done/known/felt)? The earlier example of lackluster sales for Company X provides an example of the importance of a needs assessment. Prior to conducting a needs assessment, it is not clear if the downward trend in sales can be solved by knowledge (training on new products), skill building (overcoming objections), or morale building (change attitudes about selling these new products by improving the compensation package).
• Is it important? Why?
• Is the gap caused by environmental, organizational, or motivational issues?

Meetings address a variety of issues. However, during a needs assessment it may be determined that the gap cannot be solved in a meeting or learning environment. In the case of Company X's poor sales, the problem could solely be due to an economic downturn. If that were true, the environment issue would not be resolved in a sales meeting.

Understanding these issues allows meeting planners to hone in on what is most important for the meeting to achieve. Then they can create the right emotional components to address these needs. Creating the appropriate learning environment will depend on whether gaps are caused by a lack of skill, a lack of motivation, or an organizational obstacle. Imagine the different emotional feel in a learning environment if the meeting were to bridge a knowledge gap. In that meeting, the emotional tone would be more serious, focused on training of the new products. If the meeting were about skill building, the learning environment might include role playing or sharing of best practices from the sales reps on how to overcome objections. If the gap is caused by low morale, the meeting would focus on pumping up the team to change their attitudes about selling these new products.

A meeting planner can explore how information can be time-shifted using technology tools. Learning does not only occur during the meeting. Instead, a meeting planner can harness technology to support learning before, during, and after the meeting. They might consider:

• The types of formal/informal learning environments needed to create at the venue, and where and when informal and formal learning can occur. Formal learning might include polling on best practices using an audience response system. Posting information to an Intranet before or after the meeting would further informal learning.
• The type of technology(ies) that best support the meeting purpose. A blog that is participant-focused could create a sense of community. Smart name badges (which include a computer chip that contains such information as attendee profiles) can foster networking.
• Which technology(ies) can support the meeting before and after the physical event. A follow-up Webinar with a highly rated session speaker would enable participants to learn more about the topic. Those unable to attend the physical event would also benefit.

2. Learners Are More Challenging to Reach
Meeting planners must constantly ask themselves the question that learners ask, "What's in it for me?" (WIIFM).

Even if you have the best grasp of the audience in terms of demographics, preferences, prerequisite knowledge, and existing skills, it is meaningless unless everything in the learning environment is designed around the learner's needs. All aspects of the meeting must answer the question, "What's in it for the participant?"

Robert Grossman, president of Focus Creative Group, understands the consequence of learners' attitudes. He seeks clarity on what filters impact participants' ability to "hear" the WIIFM. He asks stakeholders, "What is their listening bias? What are the audience's predispositions or preconceptions?" Through his 25 years of experience, he has honed the balance between what he calls "content and context." During a recent annual summit for an accounting firm, he faced the challenge of changing participants' perspective on their self-imposed limits to delivering quality customer service. He summarizes, "Through a combination of logistics, messaging, and staging, the meeting pushed the limit of the possible and challenged the audience to think differently about quality delivery and customer service."

In order to develop meetings around the learners' WIIFM, ask them broad questions:

• What causes you to say that things aren't at the desired state?
• Define your areas of dissatisfaction with the current situation.

Then move to understand why change is important:

• What is the impact of closing the gap or the need? What results do you expect? How do you quantify or describe the benefit of closing the gap?
• What would happen if nothing were done?

In the case of Company X experiencing a sales downturn, if participants don't perceive that the information planned for a meeting is relevant and will solve the problem, then it will not answer their WIIFM. If the solution is to introduce a new sales training model, the learners (the people actually selling), may think to themselves (or say out loud), "That's not going to help me." Or a meeting focused on motivating the sales force when the real problem is a lack of training could actually be demotivating. The learner must be able to identify the relevance of the meeting to the desired change. Not only do they ask "WIIFM?" but they also ask, "Does this make sense to me?" A link must be established between the desired information, the real need, and the ultimate outcome after the meeting.

3. Higher Expectations of Meetings
Today, people - participants, sponsors, exhibitors, management, and members - expect more from a meeting.

The needs assessment gauges the minimum requirements for all applicable stakeholder groups. And ideally, a meeting manager finds ways for those expectations and requirements to converge. When various stakeholders' requirements overlap, a meeting planner can plan an environment that is mutually supporting.

Meeting planners may need to prioritize requirements and needs. Various interests may be competing or not consistently aligned. This can happen in various ways. Consider a meeting where the sponsors want recognition but the participants don't want a hard sell or to be subjected to a litany of "we want to thank our sponsors" speeches. A meeting planner is then challenged to find different ways of recognizing sponsors. Perhaps the sponsors may introduce specific sessions as a way of gaining "face time" with the participants. Or they can intersperse the recognition throughout the meeting in an unusual way, such as having sponsors serve attendees during a refreshment break. Ultimately, it is the participant who judges the quality of the performance. If the participant does not have their needs met, then it reflects poorly on management, sponsors, and exhibitors.

Monica Myhill, president of Meeting Returns, recently assisted with the needs assessment for a pharmaceutical company's meeting. "A pre-meeting needs assessment was conducted and it told us exactly what the participants wanted to learn and achieve at the meeting. In this pre-meeting questionnaire, we also gathered data on the participants' knowledge, opinions, and belief levels about the company so that we had a benchmark for which to compare post-meeting questionnaire results. Once armed with the needs assessment results, the pharmaceutical company had the right information and sufficient confidence to move forward to plan its annual U.S. division-wide meeting."

If learners are king, the best remixes of meetings focus directly on elements that are most important to them. Related to the WIIFM, meetings must not only demonstrate to the learners why they should attend or pay attention, but meetings also must deliver. Learners are interested in acquiring actual knowledge and skills, as well as removing obstacles to their productivity. Every logistical and educational element supports learners in their effort to achieve results that directly impact their life.

Meeting planners should not leave the delivery of results to the education folks, speakers, or workshop presenters. Instead they can craft environments (formal and informal) that channel the knowledge of experts and participants through a variety of delivery methods (high-tech and low-tech) to achieve results. And in the end, meeting planners want to influence:

• Participant reaction - How did participants react to the meeting? Did they enjoy the experience? How do they value what they are learning? Do they plan to change based upon attending the meeting?
• Participant learning - How well did participants learn? Are they able to transfer the meeting message to actual learning?
• On-the-job performance change - How much change is evident on the job, based on what participants learned? Has learning transferred from the meeting to the work performance environment?
• Organizational impact - What is the organizational impact resulting from the meeting?

4. Meetings Seen as an Experience
The adult learners of today expect information packaged with the sizzle of entertainment, but substance remains at the core of the experience. In the end, learners judge the experience on whether their needs were correctly identified and addressed within the learning environment. In other words, every learner must leave believing that his/her needs are satisfied.

Learners evaluate their experience based upon the following criteria:
1. Were the goals of the meeting clear?
2. Was information consistent?
3. Did I benefit? Was the WIIFM answered?
4. Do I understand precisely what I need to do?
5. Is it realistic for me to do what I need to do?

During the analysis stage, a meeting planner keeps these questions top of mind. Solutions to "needs" may not present themselves as either/or situations. Many times, a combination of solutions is warranted. The solutions might include extending the reach of the meeting through job aids, follow-up information, connecting people through their network, establishing a community, informal learning, or technology.
The meeting planner's challenge is to lay a firm foundation for each learning activity, to reach those whose needs would be met by attending, and to persuade potential learners or clients that the organization's offering is superior to those of its competitors.

Real World Needs Assessments

The concept of needs assessment is often associated with educators. However, it is alive and well in the
business world. Often it is referred to as market analysis, test marketing, research and development, surveying, or front-end analysis. Whatever the term, needs assessments help organizations to avoid moving forward based on hunches, casual observations, or specific interests and biases that might not be shared by the industries they serve.

Collecting Data for Analysis

A few techniques for gathering information include:

• Interviews of a cross-section of potential learners using open-ended questions so the potential learner drives the interview. This approach often reveals unexpected needs.
• Incident reports, or reports of performance discrepancies.
• Focus group interviews are one of the quickest ways to get information in a controlled setting. A cross-section of attendees can help identify all types of learning needs. A good facilitator can gather valuable information to assist in determining the content of future programming. They can offer keen insight into marketing techniques to increase attendance.
• Telemarketing can also be effective. Non-attendees can reveal the reasons why they are not coming to the meeting.
• Questionnaires are useful for gathering information from many sources. These versatile tools help to determine the scope of the inquiry and to segment the population of respondents.
• Evaluation forms are generally completed at the conclusion of a meeting or learning experience.
  The evaluation form is the quickest and least costly method of gathering needs assessment information. Open-ended questions, such as, "What topics would you like to see presented?" should be included.

Needs and Gaps

Your attendees' needs can be perceived, felt, ascribed, or real. Understanding the difference between them will shape the meeting program.

• Perceived needs are the "nice to know."
• Felt needs represent the disparity between the desired and actual levels of knowledge or skill and are the key to learning. Learners engage in a learning activity in order to satisfy those needs.
• Someone other than the learner, generally a supervisor, colleague or employer, usually identifies ascribed needs. However, only if a learner perceives a need will he or she strive to fulfill it.
• Real needs are essential to better performance. Aligning educational activities with real needs helps to close the gap between what is known and what should be known.

Sue Tinnish is principal, SEAL Inc., which focuses on improving thecontent of meetings for associations and corporations. She is active in PCMA, and the Convention Industry Council Educational Advisory Council for APEX, and MPI.

Glen C. Ramsborg, Ph.D., is senior director, education, PCMA.

The How Adults Learn, Now series is sponsored by the Hiltons of Chicago.