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How Stuart West takes Yesplan users to the next level

Meet Stuart West, an external consultant, who guides and supports Yesplan users. A true Yesplan guru, as he describes it. Learn more about his deep-rooted passion for our event planning tool and what he brings to the table.

About Stuart West 

Stuart West, who recently joined Lighting Consultancy 3LR, focuses on arts complexes in the UK. Some of the largest producing theatres have already enlisted his help! Have a look at some of the Yesplan users that Stuart took to the next level:  

A piece of advice for Yesplan users 

My advice would be to always continue to review and evolve your installation after you've implemented the software. Since your organisation is ever-changing, so should your installation. I suggest you repurpose the Yesplan implementation project group into more of a systems administrative working group. That way, they can discuss, plan and execute requests and features that are being fed in from all areas of the organisation.”

How did you get to know our software? 

I was formerly the Technical Manager at Sheffield Theatres, one of the largest regional producing theatres in the UK. At the time, our planning was done in an Excel spreadsheet that wasn’t widely shared. 

We were looking at digitising and centralising a planning diary. But clearly, we were also in need of having better-interconnected communication between all levels of the organisation. So basically, we were looking for a platform that was flexible enough to meet the unique demands of the organisation.

We looked into lots of mainstream planning systems. But your planning platform stood out, in part because of its intuitive nature. In Yesplan, you can easily upscale and downscale the complexities of the user experience, which allows us to create different user experiences depending on people’s roles within the organisation. We absolutely loved that ability and ultimately, it meant that your planning tool came at the top of the list.”

“I’ve seen that lots of people’s time is often spent wandering around the building, trying to get information from people. What Yesplan opens up is the possibility for everyone to get access to the information they need.”

What is the biggest difference between what you do and what our Customer Success Team does?

A lot of work happens before we even go into Yesplan. I find that many organisations struggle to self-evaluate and analyse their businesses, workflows and processes. So I try to map out their business processes and KPIs in order to better inform them how we may build the planning tool around the organisation. We also try to identify any pitfalls, and work through them before having an active system.

So whereas a Customer Success Manager will guide you through the implementation process, my process goes deeper into the organisation to embed Yesplan at its heart as part of  organisational change. We identify the right path and make informed decision about how Yesplan can be implemented. We try to focus on how the planning tool can meet each organisation's needs and enable more efficient planning."

What are the most impactful changes that Yesplan brings to a venue?

  • Centralised planning. It allows Yesplan users to have a central core to their organisation around their planning and business operational activities. Yesplan should become the operational heart of an organisation! 

  • It also brings more interconnected and collaborative working. Yesplan connects all aspects of a business, not just events and productions. Different staff members and departments become more interconnected than they have before. It enables them to see patterns and overlaps to workflows, so it makes it easier to hand off parts of a process. 

  • Venues using Yesplan become more transparent and have better and more accurate communication. For example, I’ve seen that lots of people’s time is often spent wandering around the building, trying to get information from people. What your software opens up is the possibility for everyone to get access to the information they need.

What has been your favourite new feature so far?

“I absolutely love dataviews. They have the power to interrogate your database and bring back very bespoke and fitting results. The fact that it’s live and interactive, means that you can use it in so many different ways. In its simplest form, you can use it as a checklist to see what’s missing or outstanding. In its more complex form, you’re pulling vast amounts of data that might, for example, be required for organisational or local authority.

Another big hit has been the App. It’s a platform that’s putting Yesplan portably in the hands of the people on the floor. It's for those people who need accurate up-to-the-minute setup requirements. They are now able to get this information from a live system, not a report that was generated the night before and may already need an update. So now users have better accuracy and up-to-date information which ultimately leads to better customer service for the people who are hiring or using their spaces.”

Seeing is believing?

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