Why Do So Many Planners Resist Strategic Meetings Management?

The first formal framework for a Strategic Meetings Management Program was introduced in 2003 by the Global Business Travel Association’s Groups and Meetings Committee. It included strategies companies can use to maximize their ROI on meetings, everything from centralizing or consolidating meeting planning, to working with procurement to leverage spend and negotiate deals with preferred suppliers, to tracking meeting spend data. 

Why, more than 20 years later, is this methodology still practiced by few, mostly larger, companies?

The biggest obstacle could be resistance to change, said Amy Harris, vice president at Your Event Solutions (YES) and former head of the SMM Center of Excellence at CWT Meetings & Events. “Planners are accustomed to working independently and may perceive SMM processes and oversight as a constraint to their creativity.”

In smaller organizations, it’s often an issue of resources – budget, time and staff. “Many planners still find SMMPs overwhelming,” said Brenda Davis, executive assistant at International SOS and chair of the GBTA committee now known as the Meetings and Events Committee. “They perceive them as being complex and difficult to implement, especially if they don’t have the dedicated resources or expertise to manage the process.”

Another big challenge is leadership buy-in, she said. “Without support from senior leaders, planners may not have the momentum they need.” 

Small Meetings, Big Bucks

With many companies choosing to go virtual or hybrid since Covid, there has been even more need to bring employees together as a team. When companies leverage their total spend across small meetings, this can generate big savings.

In the 14th Annual Global Meetings and Events Forecast by Amex GBT Meetings & Events, 42% of respondents expect their small, internal meetings to grow in 2025, with 52% of those being held off-site at a hotel. 

Consultant Donna Patrick views leveraging the spend of these small meetings as ‘low-hanging fruit’ for planners because they make up so many of most organizations’ meetings. For example, out of  2,500 meetings held annually by one of her clients, 1,900 were between 10 and 50 people. 

“My recommendation is to focus on small meetings first,” she said.

Gaining control over expenses is a win, no matter the size of the meeting. “It’s also not just about saving money – it’s about improving efficiency and ensuring that every meeting ties back to the organization’s business goals,” said Davis.

Re-imagined Strategic Meetings Management Framework

The best way for wary planners to approach SMM, some experts say, is to break it down into do-able chunks. GBTA’s re-imagined SMM framework (known as ‘the wheel’), released last October, includes new elements such as duty of care, meeting security and sustainability that can be managed individually.

“If I had to pick the most significant new element from the framework, I’d say digitalization – it’s completely transforming the way planners approach SMM,” said Davis.

“For starters, digital tools give planners access to better data. You can collect and analyze meeting data much more effectively, and streamline tasks like scheduling, registration and communication. That means less time spent on manual processes and fewer errors.”

Harris sees sustainability as evolving from a ‘nice-to-have’ into a core business priority. “It’s time to embed it into our meetings and our SMMs as a standard practice.”