7.1 Introduction:You cannot plan parties single-handedly.

You need help if you truly wish to succeed.

If you have been following this
course from the beginning, you might believe that the party planning business
is a single person enterprise. This, however, is not actually true. Trying to
run a party planning business as it develops and grows requires a team
mentality.

Though you are the owner and
manager, you will require help. It is imperative that your staff are creative,
self-motivated, and responsible, as you will need to rely on them to help to
make your parties successful. Choosing a staff for any business is a tricky
job, and for a party planning business, it can be the make or break situation.

Your staff members are the
ambassadors for your business, and if they are irresponsible, inattentive, or
rude to the hosts and their guests, this reflects badly on you and the business
you have built. You will be passing on the responsibility of ensuring the party
runs smoothly to your staff, at times, and they are responsible for everything
from set up and presenting activities, to chaperoning and managing children. At
the same time, these staff members will be your biggest support during
stressful situations, so you must keep that in mind as you are going through
the recruiting process.

Just as you will expect them to act and perform well, you must do the same for them in order to be viewed as a good manager. For instance,
you should always show appreciation for their work, and then thank them before, during, and after your events. When you do this, your staff will feel appreciated, and they will show this appreciated with a solid work ethic. This is important, as remember, they are your businesses representation, and you want to ensure that they are pleasant,
happy, and help the client feel great.

When staffing your parties, you
also want to make sure that you are giving your team adequate training. Even
temporary staff, which you might employ at times, must be trained to
effectively serve your clients. This will involve a lot of time, cost, and
effort, which is one reason many party planners prefer to have a permanent
staff that they can call upon when needed. However, breaking into the temporary
staffing pool can also help you to find solid permanent staff members, so even
though it is a heavy investment, many party planners will work with temporary
workers at times.

7.2    Staffing Your Business
 

When you first start your career as a kids' party planner, it is likely that you will be doing much of the work on your own.

However, as your business begins
to grow and you get to the point where you might have two, three, or even more
parties on the weekends, you will certainly require help. This is when staff
recruitment will come in.

Though you might be the only
employee of your kids' party planning business, your work load is likely much
more than you can handle by yourself. At this point, you likely also do not
have the capital to bring on permanent staff members. You need to make a good
impression at these initial parties, but you also don't have the ability to
pull them off on your own. So, what should you do? Start at home.

Your friends and family will
likely be more than willing to help you get your business off the ground, even
if you don't have the money to pay them at the moment. We all have a circle of
family, friends, neighbours, and colleagues who are more than willing to help
us when the going gets tough. So, access that circle and find out who is
willing to help you? You will generally find that there are people you know who
are not only willing to give up a few hours of their weekend for you, but they
will also do an amazing job helping you to promote your business. Even if you
cannot pay them, at least offer to make them a meal, watch their children for
date night, or another action that will show them how much you appreciate what
they did for you.

 7.3    Finding a Permanent Staff for Your Business

Once you get past this initial awkward stage of recruitment, you can start recruiting temporary
or permanent staff.

This is an intimidating process for many business owners, but it must be done if you wish to grow.

Here is the checklist
that you must go through before you start recruiting
people. It may turn out to be an expensive
mistake that you wish to avoid.

*Examine your business and its present
needs, and then examine  the 
goals  you  have 
for yourself. This will give you a clear idea of what you need for your business, including
by way of staff.

*Give attention
to the number of hours you would wish for them to work for you. The number of working hours should be adequate to get all the work that needs to be done to be completed.
Convey this to the person you are thinking of recruiting, but be sure to let them know that this could change depending on party volume.

*Make a list of tasks that you would like your staff to supervise and undertake. Based upon this list, you can then scour for a person who would fit the bill perfectly.The skills of the recruit should match the jobs that need to be done. You should create a job description to give any person who is interested
in working for you. There is more on writing a job description, below.

*Let the recruit know what is expected of them and how they should accomplish them. Keep a channel of communication open at all times. If your staff is intimidated by you, then there are bound to be problems.
So, be friendly and firm with the staff.

*Take care of all legal things before you hire someone.
Be sure to issue an appointment letter with all terms and conditions of the recruitment clearly mentioned in it. Make sure that the recruit signs the copy of the employment
letter. Also, ensure that you are paying the legal pay rates.

*Create a staff manual so that
they can reference it before approaching you for any advice.

Hiring staff is a recurring financial
burden or expense, so think carefully before you hire someone. Remember, you
have to pay their salary and you are responsible for their actions and safety
as long as they are working under you. One of the most important things that
you should look in your staff is that they should like children, be comfortable
around them and have fun with them.

 7.4    Writing a Job Description 

An effective
job description must be clear, practical, and accurately describe
what you are looking for in your staff.

A good job description usually begins with an analysis of your needs.

These include:

*The individual tasks involved in the job

*The methods used to complete these tasks

*The responsibilities of the person in this position

*The relationship of this position
to others

*The qualifications required for the job

What You Should Avoid

As you begin to think about your
job description, there are several things that you should avoid. For instance,
you want to avoid limiting the job description as must as possible. Jobs
change, organisations change, and technology evolves. What is a responsibility
of a  specific  job 
one  year, might change as the
business develops. By writing a job description that is flexible, it will allow
employees to develop into their position and will allow them to positively
contribute to your business over time.

 

A job description usually includes the following:

 *The job title

 *The objective
or purpose of the job

 *A summary of job responsibilities

 *A broad description of the scope and function
of the position

 *The list of tasks or duties that are critical to success

 *Any key responsibilities of the job

 *A description of the role within the company; including
supervisory role or other working
relationship

 *Job specifications, requirements, and standards

 *Job location

 *Equipment necessary
for the job

 *Salary range

 *Any other information that you feel is important
to share

When you write a job description, it is important
that you keep the language clear and crisp. Also, utilise these tips:

Structure sentences
in a way so that they contain
explanatory phrases without
a subject. For example, if you require a personal assistant to answer telephone
calls, you might write: 'Answers
incoming calls in a friendly,
sincere manner.'

*Use verbs in in the present tense.

*Omit unnecessary articles, such as 'an,' 'a,' or 'the.'

*Use terminology that is unbiased,
such as he/she, or forego the use of pronouns in the description.

*Avoid using terms that are subject to personal
interpretation, such as 'some,' 'frequently,' 'complex,' 'several,' or 'occasional.'

By using these tips, you can create a job description to fill any vacancy, and will find a person or people
who will effectively meet your needs.

7.5    Delegating Tasks

Once you have a staff in place, even a small one, you must decide who will do what and delegate tasks.

 It is important that you assign tasks to the people who are best for the particular task.

*An artistic
relative who can take on the role of face painter

*A friend with a large car or van to pick up balloons

*A neighbour
who loves to bake

*Parents at the party who are looking for something to do, such as serve drinks or manage games

Try to make these obvious
matches, and then tick them off as you gather volunteers. You will hopefully be
left with tasks that anyone can take on, such as making a list of gifts for the
birthday child. Later, pass this on to the parent, so that the child can write
and send thank you notes.

You also might consider giving
the party child a job or two when it comes to prep work. They usually love
helping, and will certainly appreciate their party more if they had a hand in
organising it. Of course, make sure that any job you give them can be done
before or after the event, as you don't want to take them from their own party.
You also might find that parents are keen on allowing siblings of the party
host or hostess to help. This is something that you can discuss with your
clients before the day of the party.

 7.6    Utilising Your Helpers

One cannot greet guests while pouring
drinks, supervising a game or putting
out food. So, you should prepare and have at least one helper for every four to six guest children.

Now that you have a group of helpers, even if they are not 
permanent,  you  should 
get  used  to ulitising their assistance. You see, you are not only responsible for the planning
and execution of a child's
party, you also must work during the party. So, you will require a number of other people there, unless the party is quite small. Additionally, some parties require more assistance
than others.

It can be difficult to gauge how much staffing
you will require for a party, especially in the beginning
of your career. You must remember that you have to have enough supervision for all of the children,
as it is also your responsibility to keep the children safe. Additionally, you must make sure that these people are able to handle the care of children.
It is best to put those with training or children of their own into these position.

 7.7    The Ideal Staff for your Business

You cannot just hire anyone to start working for you. It takes a certain type of person to create and execute a child's party.

Those who are well suited for event management and party planning
should ideally have certain traits. These are the same traits that you believe you have, and those that are important for success in this industry. As the owner and recruiter of
your party planning business, you must learn about these traits and look for them in others. This is the only way to find the ideal staff for your business.

 An organisation and its staff and volunteers will need to have:

*An understanding of each of their responsibilities in keeping children
and young people safe

*Possible insurance
for certain activities

*Reliability

*Patience

*Self-motivation and self-reliance

*Quick reflexes,
observation skills, and vigilance to avoid any kinds of accidents that are highly likely to happen with children around

*Though it is not essential, staff should come with references and prior experience

 The level of supervision must be appropriate to those children
involved in any activity. This could vary depending on:

*Gender

*Age

*Behaviour

*Type of game planned for the event

*Abilities in group

*Length of activity

*Experience of staff

*Competence of staff

*Venue requirements

*Equipment needed

*Medical needs

Though it is unfortunate, there
are dangers that children face, and there are people who wish to harm them. As
a kids' party planner, you must be extra vigilant and remain on the look out
for any potential threat towards children from your staff or from others.
Though paranoia is unnecessary, you must have full awareness regarding the
supervision these children receive. This is especially the case as the
organiser of the party. Your responsibility is to care for the children, and
you must take this responsibility seriously.

7.8    Special Staff for Special Situations

Bearing in mind what was discussed above, there are certain situations that will require trustworthy staff. One such situation is using the toilet.

It is inevitable
that children will require assistance with the toilet. You must have vetted, trustworthy staff to take on these roles. Those who have not been vetted should not take children to the toilet unaccompanied. Never allow these people remain alone with any young party guest.

At some point, you will be fully responsible for all of the children
at a party, including when they need to use the toilet. At a private home, this usually isn't an issue, but when at another venue, this could come into play.

Where there are a large number of children attending
a party, you might want to encourage
a large group to head to the toilet together.
This is especially the case if the party is outdoors, such as in a park, or at a public venue. In both of these cases, all of the children
run the risk of coming into contact
with strangers. These strangers, of course, run the risk of being a danger
to these children. Make sure, when in these situations, that there is always at least one adult to accompany children
when heading to the toilet. Two adults, however, are better, as one can supervise the inside of the toilet, the other can care for the children on the outside.

For example,
using a ratio of ten children to two adults:

*One adult may oversee hygiene duties

*One adult may oversee head count and general safety

 A recommended amount of toilet facilities for children are:

*Children over five years - one toilet per ten

*Children under five years - one toilet per twenty

*Disabled children
- one toilet per ten

 If a group comprises children
of mixed gender, then ensure there is a minimum
of one competent adult of a similar gender overseeing
the visits to a toilet.

7.9    First Aid Staff

Accidents happen, and there is no telling
when one will happen at one of the events you are organising. As this is the case, you must also have first aid staff available.

If your business organises events
with children and young people on a regular basis, ensure that you have a
member on staff, including yourself, who has training in first aid. If you have
organised a pool party or a water party, also make sure that you have someone
who can act as a life guard. They must watch all of the children and spot any
signs of distress when in the water. Do not assign any other jobs to the life
guard, other than keeping an eye on the children playing with water or
swimming.

Module Summary

Staffing is an important part of
any business, but when it comes to kids' party planning, it can spell the
difference between success and failure. The staff you hire must have
dedication, be reliable, and responsible. They also have to be social people in
your line of business. When choosing staff, you have to keep in mind the amount
of work you have and whether you can afford full time staff for your business
or not. Once you have the staff that you want, you must delegate the task with
full confidence that your staff will handle it appropriately. You may need to
hire people on a temporary basis from time to time to cope with the work
demands.

 In any party you need to have at least two
people who should be supervising children at all times, especially to the
toilets. There should be someone trained in first aid for every children's
event you host as accident can happen without notice. You are responsible for
the well-being of these children.