Fourteen IAAF staff spent the end of last week at the Arena Birmingham as part of a two-day workshop to help plan the Championships, which will see more than 400 athletes from 150 countries take part from March 1 to 4. 

It will be the second time the event has taken place in Britain, after the same venue played host in 2003.

The IAAF received updates from representatives of all of the Organising Committee's functional areas, including competition, event presentation, accommodation, ticketing, accreditation and protocol.

The delegation toured Arena Birmingham, which also hosted the 2007 European Indoor Championships and has staged numerous editions of the Indoor Grand Prix.

"This is a vastly experienced local Organising Committee and we are confident their planning and preparation are on track to deliver an amazing IAAF World Indoor Championships next March," said the IAAF's competition and events director Paul Hardy. 

"The momentum of the extremely successful IAAF World Championships in London this summer is rolling on to Birmingham where great competition, innovation and organisation can be expected."

Championships director Joan Durose added that Birmingham - currently the only bidder for the 2022 Commonwealth Games - was "delighted" to welcome the IAAF back to the English city.

"The two-day workshop was extremely useful and gave us an opportunity to provide an update on all the hard work we have done so far and also to talk in detail with our IAAF counterparts about our plans for the Championships," she said.

"With less than 150 days to go, it is a crucial time for the organising team as we work towards delivering the best ever IAAF World Indoor Championships."

Birmingham City Council and British Athletics are organising the event in close cooperation with Arena Birmingham. 

All three organisations were represented at the workshop.