Meetings Blog Sep 07, 2017
People often love to pigeonhole event planners into having the same type of personalities but we’ve encountered so many at events held by NH Hotel Group that we know this is not the case. What we have seen instead is that each planner has their own characteristics and they each use them in a way to be successful. Understanding your Myers-Briggs type can give you a powerful insight into your own, sometimes hidden, nature allowing you to maximize the impact of your traits.
Let’s look at one from each of the four groupings that we’ve seen are fairly common among event planners
1. Pragmatic for tangible results – ISTJ (Introvert, Sensing, Thinking, Judging)
When it comes to the finer details and making sure the whole process has been thought through in a systematic manner, an ISTJ planner is right within their comfort zone. That practical and rational thinking is great for attendees and any others involved in the organization as they can be sure they’ll know what is going to happen pre, during and post event. It has all been logically structured.
Spontaneity is not in the natural make-up of an ISTJ event planner, and they need an extra effort to spot situations that are going on around them. By proactively looking to get an insight into the desires and concerns of others they can help alleviate problems further down the line.
We can imagine them looking back on their most recent experience with a solid 20-year old Scottish malt whisky in one hand and their lessons learned diary in the other.
2. Practical and helpful – ISFJ (Introvert, Sensing, Feeling, Judging)
Are you filled with immense satisfaction when you see your attendees’ delight at the event you managed? Is that more satisfying than your boss saying, “Job well done!”? If so, then you likely have a preference towards ISFJ. These planners have an immediate grasp of what the event stands for and what the overall objective of it is. Their other great preference is to manage within an environment free of hostility and by being so helpful they tend to get on really well with their team and all those third-parties they need to interact with.
Watch out for stress! That’s our advice to an ISFJ event planner that is not only managing all the requirements of the event but also keeping one eye on others to make sure they’re feeling OK throughout the process. Also, as they have this very well defined idea of what the final outcome should be, changes during its creation are harder to accept. Something that can be easily addressed with experience.
Trying to keep an ISFJ event planner’s brain relaxed through the process would probably need several cups of and a great team that he can trust.
3. Innovative and inventive – INTP (Introvert, Intuition, Thinking, Perceiving)
At times an event needs to be simplistic, minimalist and functional. But then there are others that are all about wowing the crowd and for these you want to have an INTP event planner in command. Their ambition knows few bounds and they will look to challenge themselves to come up with an ever-more elaborate plan that, while complex, they know they can make a huge success.
Of course, with these mighty ideas the INTP planner sometimes needs a dose of reality. As all event planners know, there are rarely times when budget, logistics or firm guidelines don’t get in the way of delivering the ultimate dream. What often provides the best solution for this is having a colleague, a team or a partner that provides balance in personalities.
As they sit late at night developing their magical plans the INTP planner will most likely be sipping on a sophisticated dry vodka martini, one olive.
4. Improving lives and the world – ENFJ (Extrovert, Intuition, Feeling, Judging)
An ENFJ event planner just loves making other people’s world, or event, a better place to be in. In their plans they will strive to know exactly who’s coming to the event and what expectations and desires they have for it – then will proceed with making that a reality. As a multi-project manager they can accept changes as they happen across the different workflows and take controlling budget, venue requirements and attendee/speaker needs in their stride.
Wanting to please everyone and take all the strains of the event planning is great but it can sometimes run the risk of over-promising but under-delivering. Although not aligned to their ENFJ preferred style, knowing this factor and then ensuring that they take steps to avoid it (a simple “No” from time to time, for example) can negate the risk with relative ease leading to a very fulfilling and positive result.
As soon as they’ve completed another successful event we envisage the ENFJ event planner popping the cork on a nice bottle of bubbly and slowly sipping as they celebrate.
Remember, Myers-Briggs preferences show where your natural inclination is, not what you can or can’t do. It’s also true that even if a particular skill doesn’t fall into your preference area, you may actually be fantastic at it. The key is that we all have behavioral preferences and knowing them can aid you in applying the right skills and effort to the most needed areas. In the end, we’re all looking to work together to deliver an outstanding event.
