Three Tiering Frameworks
Ready-made tier definitions for Strategic Events, Partner Events, and Regional Field - mission, guiding principles, planning timelines, and annual targets per manager.
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Event Team Capacity & Tiering Framework.
Right-size your team. Build portfolios your managers can actually deliver.
The tiering framework and capacity models I use with executive event teams - templatized so you can adapt them to your organization in an afternoon.
Instant download after purchase
By Sara Straw
What You Get
A complete operating system for event team design.
Not a theoretical model - the same framework I use inside global event organizations.
Per-Manager Capacity Models
A separate capacity calculator for each event type. Enter programs by tier - the model returns weighted planning weeks, FTE utilization, and a portfolio health flag.
Team Portfolio & Headcount Planner
Plan the entire team at once. Enter total programs by category and tier and the model recommends required headcount by function.
Cross-Functional Collaboration Matrix
A ready-to-adapt RACI-style matrix that maps ownership across Event Management, Regional Marketing, Partner Marketing, Sales, PMM, MOPs, CS, Brand, Paid, and more - by tier.
Guiding Principles by Event Type
Codified operating principles for each category so your team can make faster, better tradeoffs when priorities compete.
Editable, Formula-Driven Excel
Every input is a blue cell. Adjust weights, capacity thresholds, and targets to match your organization - the model recalculates automatically.
Outcomes
What changes when you use this framework?
- Right-size event portfolios so managers aren't chronically overloaded
- Justify headcount investments with a defensible capacity model
- Align cross-functional partners on ownership before the year begins
- Codify tier definitions so your team plans consistently across regions
- Move from reactive execution to intentional portfolio design
Who It's For
For leaders sizing the team.
- VPs and Heads of Events building or scaling event organizations
- Field marketing leaders sizing regional teams
- Partner marketing leads managing co-marketed program volume
- Operators moving from tactical execution to strategic planning
Sara's Perspective
Capacity is a strategy decision - not an HR one.
Most event teams don't have a capacity problem. They have a tiering problem. Without a shared definition of what a Tier 1 flagship, a Tier 2 regional program, and a Tier 3 activation actually require, every manager negotiates their own workload.
When you tier your portfolio, capacity becomes math - not a conversation about who's overworked.
This framework gives your team the same operating language I use with the executive event organizations I advise. Adapt the weights and thresholds to your reality, and you'll have a defensible plan for headcount, ownership, and portfolio design.
Design a team that can actually deliver.
Get the Capacity & Tiering Framework and put your team on a portfolio your managers can execute at the highest quality.
Instant digital download. One-time purchase. No subscription.