GBTA releases SMM Wheel update

GBTA has updated its handy SMM Wheel to better cover how strategic meetings management programs are evolving to meet today’s needs.

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has updated its Strategic Meetings Management (SMM) Wheel to better reflect how companies manage meeting processes, spend, volume, standards, suppliers and data across the enterprise to ensure they achieve measurable business goals that align with the organization’s overall strategic objectives. GBTA’s SMM Wheel has gone through several iterations since it was first introduced in 2003, with the most recent update coming about eight years ago.

“As the SMM category itself and the content that drives the Wheel matured and evolved, especially in the wake of COVID-19, the GBTA Meetings & Events Committee wanted to update it to better reflect the different ways strategic meetings management programs are managed today,” said Henrietta Balint, GBTA European Committee Member. “We also wanted to give it a new aesthetic, a new look and feel.”

As with the previous edition, the 2024 SMM Wheel still centers around stakeholder engagement, and most of the inner circles of the main categories within the wheel remain largely unchanged: meeting or event registration; event objectives; procurement and sourcing (updated to include supply chain; planning and execution; attendee experience; payments and reconciliation; data analytics and reporting). However, the next layer of the wheel now revolves around value, policy and strategy, whereas in the 2016 edition, this layer consisted of policy and technology.

But the biggest update is at the outermost level of the wheel, which used to consist of just one strategic circle. By 2024, it has been replaced by spinning blades that support these key categories. These additions include Duty of Care, Inclusion & Culture, Sustainability, Governance & Safety, and Technology & Digitalization. Balint says these additions are a direct result of changes to the SMMP itself. For example, while sustainability may be a consideration on the business travel side, it is even more important on the meetings and events (M&E) side, including factors such as whether a company hosts buffets or individual meals, whether it uses local resources to support the local economy, and even whether CSR activities give back to the local community.

For the latest version of the SMM Wheel, the European Commission has published a Meeting Management Toolkit, which contains a summary for each category, including what is needed to achieve the basic objectives, mid-term goals and best practice implementation plan for that category. The aim is to break down each aspect of the Wheel to make it less daunting and easier to navigate, and for those who already have an SMMP, the Wheel can be used to take their SMMP to the next level, Balint said.

The next step in the 2024 SMM wheel is that the European and US committees will also update and refresh the toolkit.

The new SMM Wheel was launched at the GBTA Conference in Atlanta in July. It will also be on the agenda for GBTA + VDR 2024 in Copenhagen in November.

You may also be interested in…

Meeting planner pain points: inflation, hidden fees, service gaps, and more

Rethinking SMM

Adding ground to SMMP