While leisure centres are fantastic hubs for community health and activity, they are hotbeds for a myriad of operational challenges that can quickly turn into significant issues if not managed effectively. Adopting a “Digital Game Plan” provides the tools to proactively address these issues using digital operations software, leading to safer, more efficient, and ultimately more successful sports operations. Here are examples of common problems across the 10 key areas and why they’re such a headache:
1. Collating Data – Before It’s Essential
- Problem: Manually collecting and consolidating information for incident reports, staff training needs, or task management costs is a giant drain on resources. Imagine a slip and fall in the swimming pool area; to defend against a potential claim or properly investigate, you need to quickly gather staff rotas, cleaning logs, incident reports, training records for relevant staff (e.g., first aid, poolside supervision), and maintenance checks for the area. Doing such tasks manually involves sifting through paper files, contacting multiple departments, and chasing up various individuals.
- Why it’s an issue: This process is incredibly time-consuming and inefficient. The presentation highlights a “Real Life Challenge” that requires gathering all necessary information to defend an incident in under 2 minutes and 30 seconds using digital operations software. Manually, the procedure could take hours, days, or even weeks. Delays can compromise the integrity of evidence and lead to higher legal costs, potential fines, reputational damage, and even loss of operating licence if compliance isn’t met. It also means staff are diverted from their core duties.
2. Checking Things Are Completed
- Problem: Are all the changing rooms cleaned to standard? Has someone performed a safety check on the gym equipment today? Have all staff read the latest risk assessment for the new exercise class? Manual checks, sign-off sheets, or relying on verbal confirmation can lead to uncertainty. The presentation poses the challenge: “In less than 1 minute, can you check how 4 departments are getting on with job completion?” But to do this, you need digital operations software.
- Why it’s an issue: Lack of verifiable completion means you can’t be sure about safety, cleanliness, or adherence to procedures. This can lead to:
- Safety Hazards: Unchecked equipment or unclean areas pose risks to users.
- Compliance Breaches: Failure to ensure staff have read risk assessments could lead to non-compliance with health and safety regulations.
- Inconsistent Service: If tasks aren’t consistently completed, the quality of service for customers will vary, leading to complaints and a poor reputation.
- Accountability Gaps: It’s hard to hold staff accountable when there’s no clear record of who was meant to do what, and whether it was done.
3. Spend All the Necessary Time Training and Developing Staff
- Problem: Leisure centres have diverse roles requiring specific training (e.g., lifeguard qualifications, first aid, gym instructor certifications, handling pool chemicals, manual handling, customer service). Keeping track of who needs what training, when certifications expire, and ensuring everyone is up-to-date, especially with casual staff or high turnover, is a constant battle.
- Why it’s an issue:
- Safety Risks: Untrained or out-of-date staff can lead to serious accidents or an inability to respond effectively in an emergency.
- Legal Liability: Operating with unqualified staff can result in significant legal repercussions and invalidate insurance.
- Poor Service Quality: Staff who aren’t properly trained in customer service or specific operational procedures can provide a subpar experience.
- Inability to Deliver Services: If key staff aren’t trained for specific tasks (e.g., maintaining specific equipment), services may have to be halted.
- High Costs: Last-minute, reactive training due to lapsed certifications can be more expensive than planned, proactive training.
4. Digital operations software Must Free Up Time (Saving Time for Each Department)
- Problem: The goal is simple: technology should free up time, not create more work. Manual processes for reporting problems or logging tasks, like a broken toilet seat, often involve multiple steps, paper forms, and chasing people up.
- Why it’s an issue:
- Lost Productivity: Staff time is diverted from core duties to administrative tasks.
- Delays in Resolution: Slow input and review processes mean problems take longer to fix, leading to ongoing issues for customers and staff.
- Frustration: Inefficient systems lead to frustration for both those reporting issues and those responsible for resolving them.
- Lack of Communication: Without quick, efficient ways to input and communicate issues (e.g., with pictures), clarity is lost.
5. Managing All Problems Through to Completion (So Many Plates Spinning)
- Problem: With countless daily tasks, maintenance issues, and staff responsibilities, it’s easy for things to fall throSomeone might fail to allocate a reported problem or forget a follow-up action from a meeting.
- Why it’s an issue:
- Customer Dissatisfaction: Unresolved issues directly impact the customer experience, leading to complaints and potential loss of membership.
- Increased Costs: Small problems left unaddressed can escalate into larger, more expensive repairs (e.g., a leaking tap becoming a major flood).
- Safety Concerns: A broken piece of equipment or a slippery floor that isn’t quickly addressed can lead to injury.
- Lack of Accountability: Without a clear system, it’s hard to know who is responsible for fixing the problem or why it’s taking so long.
- Compliance Risks: Missed follow-up actions from audits or meetings can lead to non-compliance.
6. Consistent Training for Each and Every Staff Member
- Problem: Inconsistency in training can lead to significant issues. Different shifts or trainers might impart information differently, or outdated versions of procedures might be in use.
- Why it’s an issue:
- Inconsistent Quality: Varied procedures lead to inconsistent service and operational standards.
- Inefficiency: If there’s no single “right way” of doing something (e.g., cleaning protocols, opening/closing checks), processes are less efficient.
- Higher Training Burden: If there’s no consistent standard with version control, training new staff becomes more complex and prone to individual interpretation.
- Increased Risk: Inconsistent safety procedures can elevate the risk of accidents and liability.
7. Sharing of Best Practice Between Departments and Sites
- Problem: If one team discovers a more efficient way to perform a task or handles a situation particularly well, this valuable knowledge often stays siloed within that team or site.
- Why it’s an issue:
- Missed Opportunities for Improvement: The entire organisation misses out on potential efficiency gains or service improvements.
- Reinventing the Wheel: Other departments or sites spend time and resources trying to solve problems that have already been addressed elsewhere.
- Inconsistent Performance: Some areas excel while others struggle, leading to an uneven standard of operation across the business.
- Lack of Collaboration: A culture of not sharing best practices hinders overall organisational learning and collaboration.
8. Effectively Inducting Every Member of Staff
- Problem: New staff inductions can often be a rushed tick-box exercise, overwhelming new hires with too much information or missing crucial details entirely. This can lead to new hires not knowing what they need to know. When shifts change or staff leave, essential information about ongoing issues, facility quirks, or critical tasks can be lost during handovers.
- Why it’s an issue:
- Slow Onboarding: New staff take longer to become fully productive and confident.
- Increased Mistakes: Lack of critical information can lead to errors, safety breaches, or poor customer service.
- Demotivation: New staff feeling unsupported or ill-equipped are more likely to become disengaged or leave.
- Operational Disruptions: The loss of key information during handovers can lead to delays or missed tasks.
9. Collating Effective Information for Consistent 1-to-1s for All Team Members
- Problem: Regular one-to-one meetings are crucial for staff development and performance management, but gathering relevant data (e.g., task completion rates, training progress, reported issues, feedback) can be a chore. This often means 1-to-1s are based on “feeling” rather than “fact”.
- Why it’s an issue:
- Ineffective Performance Management: Without objective data, 1-to-1s are less impactful and may not address genuine performance gaps or development needs.
- Lack of Accountability: It’s difficult to set clear objectives or track progress if data isn’t readily available.
- Demotivation: Staff may feel unfairly assessed if discussions aren’t backed by facts.
- Time-Consuming Preparation: Managers spend excessive time trying to pull together fragmented information for each meeting.
10. Having All the Above Information Available to Every Person in the Business That Needs It (All in One Place)
- Problem: Information is often scattered across different systems, spreadsheets, or even paper files (e.g., risk assessments in one place, training records in another, task lists on a whiteboard).
- Why it’s an issue:
- Lack of a Holistic View: Managers and staff cannot easily see the full picture of operations, risks, training, and ongoing issues.
- Delayed Decision-Making: Critical decisions are hampered by the inability to access comprehensive, real-time data quickly.
- Inefficiency: Staff waste time searching for information rather than acting on it.
- Communication Breakdown: If people don’t have access to the same up-to-date information, miscommunications and errors are more likely.
- Increased Risk: Incomplete or fragmented information can lead to oversights in safety or compliance.
In the future, organisations will question how they ever managed to run complicated businesses without digital operations software; our customers would never return to their previous methods. If you would like to see what some of our customers have said, have a look here: BH LIVE, The University of Glasgow
To find out more about OpsPal you can visit our website at opspal.co.uk, or you can book in a demonstration here
