Many people think that meeting and event  planning is fun, and that the event planners have the time of their lives planning awesome events. While some elements of this is true, even the most novice of event planners know that planning comes with its share of constraints. Some clients are high maintenance, or vendor relationships might be tense. Event planners have to pull out their arsenal of tools to help equip themselves when in a stressful situation. Out of all of the tools that an event planner can use, patience should be at the top of the charts.

Dictionary.com defines patience as “the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like”. Whether dealing with internal or external clients, patience is needed. Some of our clients are completely unaware of what it takes to pull off an event. Others feel as though they know everything there is to know about how you do what you do. At times, that leaves planners at a crossroads, and irritated.

Whatever the cause of our impatience, our roles as meeting and event planners calls us to figure it out quickly. We are in mostly external facing roles, and our clients look to us to be cool, and calm while handling even the most stressful moments. The moment that our clients see us break under pressure, we lose a little bit of our control.

One of the most effective ways to overcome impatience is to take a deep breath, and let it go. It sounds so simple, but it works. As event planners, we have to keep the bigger picture in mind, and keep focused on the end result. When we do this, the little bumps along the way, don’t effect us as much. In the end what matters is having a successful event. Keep optimistic about your situation, because after all, there is always an end in sight.

Having a little bit more patience can do wonders for your relationships, and for your event. The little distractions along the way, can be big problems if impatience is left to rule over them. Try to foster patience within your event planning and see how productive, and life changing it can be for you.

How has having more patience helped you be a better event planner? Let us know!

Photo credit: Nutmeg Designs via Flickr