Fun Quiz |
 Are you a fixer or a flapper? A major part of your job is organising company events, from awards dinners to conferences to the office Christmas party, but as we all know, hitting the right note is quite an art. Try this fun DeskDemon quiz to see how good your event organising skills are...
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Are you a fixer or a flapper?
 A
major part of your job is organising company events, from awards dinners
to conferences to the office Christmas party, but as we all know, hitting
the right note is quite an art. Try this fun DeskDemon, compiled by Roisin
Woolnough, quiz to see how good your event organising
skills are...
| 1. It's the annual
awards dinner tomorrow night and the guest speaker's PA rings
up to say she's terribly sorry, but Michael is sick and won't
be able to appear after all. What do you do? |
| a) |
Get very stroppy with her and say it simply isn’t
good enough and that you will never work with Michael again.
Fortunately, you announce, the night won’t be ruined
(no thanks to them) because you had another speaker in reserve
anyway |
| b) |
Tell her you’ve very sorry to hear that
and to pass on your best wishes. Although Michael will be
sorely missed, it’s okay because there are a couple
of other people you know are free and can call |
| c) |
Plead with her to reconsider – if Michael
can’t do it, who will? Your brain shudders at the thought
of the empty slot |
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| 2. You sit down to a meeting with a colleague from another department for a brainstorming session about a conference next year. He asks for your initial ideas⦠|
| a) |
Switching on your power point presentation
you spend the next 30 minutes talking at him about who is
to be invited, where it should be held and what the content
will be |
| b) |
You kick off with a few thoughts, listen to
what he has to say in response and by the time an hour is
up, you both have an action plan of things to follow up |
| c) |
What ideas? You’re still wading through
the fallout from last week’s conference and had hoped
your colleague would assume responsibility for this one, allowing
you to take a bit of a back seat |
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| 3. Your boss stops
by your desk and asks if you can run off a list of next year's
events to take into a meeting taking place in 10 minutes.
How do you react? |
| a) |
You raise your eyebrow ever so slightly –
what is the point in the weekly events schedules you send
out if people don’t save them for future reference?
Everything really would fall apart if you weren’t around… |
| b) |
Say it isn’t a problem and print off
a few copies for your boss and other attendees |
| c) |
Panic and rummage through the papers on your
desk looking for files marked Events 2005. You can only find
two so you in desperation you ring Sue from marketing, who
also organises a lot of events, to see if she knows what is
coming up |
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| 4. It is an hour into
the biggest event of the year and everything appears to be
going smoothly. Your boss comes over to thank you. What’s
your response? |
| a) |
Yes, yes, John, what did you expect? I’m
far too busy to talk now though - I’ve just got to go
into the kitchen to check they’ve got the right ratio
of meat-vegetarian dishes and then I’ve got to talk
to the speakers again about how long they each have on the
floor |
| b) |
You chat for 10 minutes about the evening,
whilst keeping an eye out to ensure all is well |
| c) |
Neck your fifth glass of wine whilst plucking
up the courage to tell him that his boss will be having words
with him tomorrow because he just caught sight of how much
it all cost. You hadn’t realised quite how far over
budget you had gone |
|
| 5. It’s only
February, but a colleague sends you an email to ask if this
year’s Christmas party could possibly be held in a different
venue. After all, you’ve all gone to the same place
for the past eight years and frankly, the event could do with
a shake-up. What’s the return message? |
| a) |
No and how dare you interfere? Don’t
you realise how much work it takes to organise the Christmas
party on top of all the other events you are responsible for?
Besides, you’ve already booked it, paid a deposit and
done the seating allocations |
| b) |
You send a group email to the office apologising
for the early nature of the email, but saying that you’ve
had a request for a different venue for this year’s
Christmas party and could people please send in any suggestions |
| c) |
What? But it’s only February and December
is over nine months away. You won’t even think about
the event until October at the earliest so you delete the
email |
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| 6. Your events workload
has become so large that you’ve recruited someone new
to help with the organising and it’s their first day.
What happens? |
| a) |
You run through exactly what you expect of
the person, what their duties are and how things are done.
All decisions are to be cleared by you first, you expect weekly
updates and you won’t tolerate any mistakes |
| b) |
You have a meeting to discuss what can be
delegated, how and why. You are keen for the person to make
their own mark and encourage them to offer their own ideas |
| c) |
Letting out a big sigh of a relief, you hand
them your diary and ask them to draw up a list of what is
planned for the next year. Hopefully this person will be able
to keep you informed of everything you need to know |
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| Results: |
|
Mostly a) |
You are so organised and
pernickety, you make your old school headmistress look like
a walkover. Collaborating with you is a nightmare as you don’t
know the meaning of the word teamwork, let alone compromise.
Everything has to be done your way and people quake at the
sight of you bearing down on them with your Blueberry in hand
and both mobile phones on the go |
|
Mostly b) |
You’re a natural events
person – organised, quick on your feet, flexible, adaptable
and ready to listen to other’s ideas. The idea is to
for events to be a success and for all people involved to
be satisfied. That’s your priority |
|
Mostly c) |
You find it impossible to
organise your desk, let alone a 150-person conference. You
are always behind, over budget and forgetting things. You
don’t like taking charge or being in the frontline.
Everyone finds it a miracle when an event actually happens
and no-one more than you. Perhaps some training in time-management
or events organising would help you feel more in control |
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