​At a recent event, a team member walked down the hallway and found me perched on a comfy bench next to her co-worker, who happened to be our client contact.
 
“How can you two just be sitting here?” she asked. She wasn’t critical, but genuinely curious.
 
It was an honest question. Event days are usually a blur of motion filled with activities like checking rooms, overseeing the registration/check-in table, welcoming attendees with a warm smile, and smoothing out the inevitable surprises. Most people can’t imagine an event planner would ever have time to sit down.
 
This particular event was one we’ve managed for years. In this case, our sitting down was a sign that everything was working exactly as it should.

We've all been there – staring at a project that should be moving forward but somehow isn't. Anita and I call this feeling "spinning," and it's one of the most frustrating experiences in professional life. Whether you're physically drained, mentally stretched, or working at the edge of your expertise, being stuck on something you know has value feels awful.
 
I've kept a sticky note on my monitor with simple wisdom about how to break free from project paralysis: "What is my understanding of the task? What do deliverables look like? What are the first 3 steps?

​At Reach Partners, we spend a lot of time developing show flow documents.
 
That’s because they are one of the most powerful tools for ensuring an event’s success.
 
A show flow is more than a spreadsheet or a checklist. It’s the operational backbone of your event, the single document that holds the who, what, when, where, and how. Whether your event runs for one hour or spans several days, the show flow becomes the go-to reference that keeps every person, every detail, and every resource aligned.
 
Here are several qualities that make a show flow valuable:

Some of us are wired to think – and we do so deeply, thoroughly, and in spirals.

We imagine the possibilities. We anticipate outcomes. We consider people, timing, risk, and reward. Thinking is how we prepare. Thinking is how we protect.

It’s good work.

But thinking is only part of it.
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As Eddie Rickenbacker, an American fighter pilot in World War I, said: “The key to success is to think things through and then follow through.”

After completing a post activity report (PAR) for a recent project, Anita and I discussed the wisdom of having a backup plan.
 
Yes, we complete a PAR for every project, which we talk about more here. But this post is really about dealing with yet another winter storm this long winter, and the plan we created to mitigate the risk of weather.
 
Creating a backup plan extends our strategic approach for achieving our client’s goal, which is our most important goal.

When a team invites Reach Partners to join them, we’re asked to provide focus on a project. Even if the team members work side-by-side each day, they often need help with the pace of the project – the way a project’s progress moves forward.
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Different than a timeline or milestones, pacing is about understanding when to pause or slow down and when to speed ahead. Every milestone in a project’s plan deserves its own sense of pace.

You’ve probably heard the Chinese proverb: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Another way to think about it: all big and complex things start with a simple step forward.
 
In many situations, however, that first step might not be so simple.
 
You likely have your own personal list of to-dos that have been gnawing at you for what seems like forever. For whatever reason, you keep procrastinating and pushing them to the back burner.
 
That tendency is multiplied when you consider projects that require a team or collaborative approach. Maybe you have a list of projects that you want finished, but you never seem to have the time, energy, or organization to move them forward.
 
At Reach Partners we’ve seen projects fail to launch or stall because a successful start was an obstacle. Starting is harder than it looks.

​Whenever we plan an event, an in-depth meeting, a social gathering, or virtual experience Reach Partners will always argue for the same thing. Every time.
 
This thing is the most important detail for every planned interaction. It is the life blood of our work and what drives us to do better every day. Most importantly it’s the power, the energy that fuels the work at hand.
 
How do you tap into this energy? How do you make it work for you? Draw the right audience? Craft the right marketing activities? Align stakeholders? Create value?
 
You start by defining purpose.