Soft Skills
Communication
While working as a Bayhost at Topgolf Watford we are required to provide “Bay Demos” to new guests who are unsure how the game works. These Bay Demos are especially important as they include a safety brief which guests need to be aware of in order to stay safe while playing. At first when delivering Bay Demos, I could be quite reserved and occasionally skip over key information, however, I quickly developed my communication skills. I can now deliver Bay Demos quickly and efficiently, meanwhile, still making sure the guests are aware of the important information. I also have improved my communication skills and can adapt the Bay Demo to meet different audiences (e.g., children) which is very important in making sure they understand and will remain safe.
Workplace Flexibility
Working at Topgolf Watford I have to be prepared to work in different areas, from Bays to the Beer Garden, depending on where the customers are, and the staff are needed. The Beer Garden is usually more hectic and requires more running around after customers and clearing up, whereas the Bays are usually more about ensuring the customers have everything they need in order to enjoy the game. The pandemic has also demanded flexibility in how we learn at university, suddenly having to go from face-to-face lectures to 100% online was challenging with the frustrations of poor internet connections and missing the physical interaction with others. I believe my grades are evidence that I am flexible to learn in both environments.
Emotional Intelligence
Working in a team can sometimes be frustrating when team members are bickering or messing about. I know that if I spoke to them angrily that would not help the situation and only add fuel to the fire. Therefore, I am aware that I need to choose my words and mannerism carefully in order to reign them in and get back with the task in hand. I believe I am very sensitive to other people’s emotions; my younger brother has autism and would get angry very quickly if you said the wrong thing and take offence at an off the cuff remark, he also takes things very literally i.e., if you said “it’s raining cats & dogs” he would believe that there were actual animals falling from the sky. I have a great understanding of his triggers and know how to adapt my actions to him.
Active Listening
As part of my job as an Event Ambassador at Topgolf Watford, I need to make sure I actively listen to what the client and guests want and then deliver to them as close to that or even better if I can. If there is a problem, I need to make sure I understand the problem to make sure I can fix it as best as I can. For example, I once worked an event where they weren’t happy about the one element on a platter of food that they had ordered. So, I made sure to actively listen to their problem so I could provide them with a solution which they were happy with. The solution ended up being replacing that food element with their favoured one on the platter.
Critical Thinking
In my first term of Fusion Cheerleading Treasurer, I was faced with an issue. Due to Covid we had to run our sessions at a reduced level which meant we couldn’t have as many attendees coming to our sessions as we needed to break even. Therefore, I had to think rationally and generate the solution which would stop the society losing money, therefore I increased the prices of tickets just enough to be breaking even while still being cheap enough to entice members to attend. Although, this was a good enough solution for this problem I do believe my critical thinking skills do still have room to be developed.
Skills Audit
Hard Skills
Risk Management
Risk Management is highly important to an event manager, and I believe I have gained a wide variety of experience throughout my time at university. For both societies that I am a member of I have had to complete numerous risk assessments for events and sessions taking place at various locations, such as restricting numbers during the pandemic and organising online events when we were unable to meet in person. These have always received positive feedback from our SU co-ordinator. During my third year of university, I am also studying a Crisis Management module where I have begun to understand the amount of planning that goes into large scale events to anticipate and manage the risks involved, such as what to do in the event of a terrorist attack and calculating the safe maximum capacity of an arena in order to avoid overcrowding. Although, I believe I can manage risks to an acceptable level I still feel I can keep developing this skill even further as risks are by their nature unpredictable and it can be hard to predict the unknown, but I think I will grow a better understanding as I gain more life experiences and will have a greater awareness of certain eventualities.
Task Management
During my second year event “Virtual 10k” I was in charge of completing the minutes at our weekly meetings. Although, this mainly just involved noting down what was mentioned at the meetings, I made sure to actively keep a note on the progress of all tasks and advise team members on what needed to be done to complete them. I reminded team members of the deadlines of all tasks assigned to them but also let them know that I was available to help if needed. Due to the smooth-running of our event and all tasks being completed to an effectively and on time I would say I can demonstrate this skill to a high standard.
Public Speaking
Public speaking is an extremely important skill to have as an event manager. In order to excel in this area, I believe you need to appear confident, even if you don’t feel it, and articulate the point you are trying to get across concisely and clearly. I used to be very nervous when we had to do presentations at school, but I learnt that in order to engage your audience you have to be well informed on your subject area and try to convey your passion about the topic. In other words, a good public speaker is prepared, speaks with confidence, maintains eye contact, and understands their audience. I have definitely improved in this area since school, I am no longer crippled with shyness and understand the need to be authoritative when necessary.
Fundraising
The majority of my events at university have been fundraising events for charity and I have managed to raise money at every event I have put on, mainly through ticket sales. Some of the best fundraising events that I have put on include a club night at Mangoes where we raised over £200 for the charity ShelterBox. Another amazing event was our Virtual 10k event where we raised just under £200 for the charity Mind. I researched what type of events were the most popular, the resources needed to ensure an event ran smoothly and affordability in order to maximise profits for the charity. I really enjoy putting on Fundraising events and as I become more confident in Event Management, I would love to increase the amount raised for charity.
Mathematical Ability
I have achieved Grade C in AS level Maths and Grade 7 in GCSE. I am quite confident in my mathematical ability; I was usually top of the class for mental arithmetic and timetables. I can use a calculator and I have an idea of what rough figure to expect if I have mis-typed a formula in Excel. When I worked as a children’s party host, I would sometimes be asked by a parent the cost of adding extra children, so I understand the practical implications of mental arithmetic.