Ah, operations. One of those boring corporate words that we all need to use but that isn’t defined in a helpful way.
Before you can have strong operations for your company, you have to know what operations IS. So let’s focus on that for a few minutes.
Operations Is How Your Business Actually Works
A helpful way to define something as foundational as ‘business operations’ is to think about operations outside of the context of a business.
Operations is the flip side of strategy in everything that happens in the world.
When a kid decides they’re going to do a double back flip off the trampoline into the pool, that’s strategy. When they do it, that’s operations.
They ‘operate’ their body to make their vision real. Their brain sends hundreds of messages to their muscles to make it happen. It’s a complex system working together to create an idea in reality.
Operations is how we do what we’ve decided to do.
Back in your business, think of operations as the “how” behind everything that happens in your business. It’s not your creative vision (that’s strategy) or your marketing message (that’s positioning)—operations is the practical system that turns your ideas into actual events.
When you figure out how to get vendors paid on time, coordinate security schedules, or manage ticket sales, you’re doing operations. When you create a process so your team knows exactly what to do when a key performer cancels last minute—that’s operations too.
It’s easy to think of operations as a department like HR or Finance. It’s not. Operations shows up within HR and Finance, and every other department. When a company calls a department “Operations,” they usually mean either Admin (the miscellaneous puzzle pieces that need to happen just to keep the business running) or Customer Experience (how they deliver what they’re selling).
So what?
A good definition of operations matters because it helps you avoid two major pitfalls:
- “I don’t have operations” – this is a disempowering and overwhelming statement. If you do stuff, you have operations. You may want to become more intentional about how your operations work, but they already exist – and if you’re getting any good results at all in any part of your business, you also have some operational systems that are working
- “Good operations isn’t really a priority” – this just stops making sense when you recognize operations as the thing that actually decides what happens
A quirky thing about event businesses in particular is that they are highly creative AND highly operational. You have so many moving parts behind every experience you create. The creativity is brought to life through operations.
Operations and Creativity Aren’t Opposites
Your production team has both strategy (deciding on stage design, artist lineup flow) and operations (executing the load-in, managing sound checks, coordinating artist hospitality).
Your marketing team has strategy (choosing your target audience, crafting your message) and operations (posting content, managing ad campaigns, responding to inquiries).
Even your creative vision has operational elements. You might strategically decide to create an immersive art experience, but operations determines how attendees actually move through that space, how installations get built and maintained, and how the experience stays consistent across multiple days.
This is why you can’t just hire an assistant and expect all your problems to disappear. Operations needs to be built into how every part of your business functions.
Why Operations Matter for Event Organizers
Here’s what I see happen when event organizers don’t pay attention to their operations:
- Everything becomes a fire drill. Without clear processes, every event feels like you’re starting from scratch.
- You can’t expand. If everything lives in your head, you become the bottleneck for growth.
- Your team gets frustrated. People want to know what’s expected of them and how to succeed.
- Profit margins suffer. Inefficient operations eat into your bottom line faster than almost anything else.
Where to Start: Change How You Think About ProblemsIf you’re feeling overwhelmed, the best place to start isn’t with a massive overhaul—it’s with a mental reframe.
The next time something goes wrong (and it will), resist the urge to blame a person or simply accept it as an inevitable part of running an event. Instead, ask yourself these three questions:
- What happened?
Get clear on the actual facts, not just how it felt.
- What should have happened instead?
Paint a picture of the ideal outcome.
- What’s one change I can make to the system to make the better outcome more likely next time?
This last question is the most important one, especially when the problem involves people. If a team member dropped the ball, don’t jump straight to, “why can’t I have ONE reliable person just do their job ONE time?” Instead, ask yourself: Did they have clear expectations? The right information? Sufficient training? A way to get help when stuck?
Most “people problems” are actually system problems in disguise. When you fix the system, you often fix the performance issue too—and prevent it from happening with the next person.
Obviously, this isn’t always the case. People can make bad decisions. But if we start by assuming that people are working hard and doing their best, and we focus together on the system that got us a less than stellar result, we encourage and empower our teams instead of making them feel like they’ve been berated for doing their best.
The Goal: Systems That Set You Free
The ultimate goal of great operations isn’t to create more bureaucracy—it’s to create more freedom. When you have solid operational systems:
- Your team can handle problems without constantly calling you
- You can focus on the creative and strategic work only you can do
- Events run smoothly even when unexpected challenges arise
- You can actually take a vacation without everything falling apart
Remember: you don’t have to figure this out overnight. Operations is a skill you build over time, just like any other aspect of running a successful event business.
The best part is that you’re already further along than you think. Every successful event you’ve produced is proof that you understand operations. Now it’s just about making those processes more intentional and sustainable.
