How University of Stirling Sport Transformed Operations and Team Onboarding
University of Stirling Sport replaced their previous system with OpsPal, achieving streamlined task management, digital operations and accountability, and simplified onboarding for sports union teams.
Organisation:
University of Stirling Sport (UoSS)
Sector:
University Sport Facilities
Sites Using OpsPal:
Multi-site university sport operations
Service Area:
Stirling, Scotland
Key Decision-Maker:
John Monteith, Manager responsible for Operations
Key Outcomes Achieved:
Task Management
Clear visibility of all operational tasks across facilities
Document Control
Single source of truth for all procedures, policies, and documentation
Team Accountability
Digital trail of who has read and understood critical information
About University of Stirling Sport (UoSS)
The University of Stirling is one of Scotland’s leading universities, with internationally recognised sport facilities and a strong commitment to sporting excellence. University of Stirling Sport (UoSS) manages extensive sports facilities serving both students and elite athletes.
Their operations include:
- Multiple sports facilities across campus
- Management of university sport clubs and societies
- Support for Sports Union teams
- Coordination of hundreds of student sports participants
- Compliance with university and sporting body requirements
- Staff training and operational standards
- Health and safety management across diverse sporting activities
With responsibility for such a diverse and dynamic operation, UoSS needed robust systems to manage tasks, ensure compliance, onboard new teams each academic year, and maintain consistent operational standards.
Managing operations across multiple facilities and supporting dozens of Sports Union teams—each with unique requirements—presented significant operational complexity that their previous system struggled to address.
The Challenge: Previous System Inadequacies
Before implementing OpsPal, University of Stirling Sport was using a different operational management system that wasn’t meeting their needs. The limitations of their previous approach were creating operational challenges that impacted efficiency, compliance, and their ability to scale their operations effectively.
Task Management Difficulties
The previous system didn’t provide clear visibility of operational tasks across the facilities. Staff couldn’t easily see what needed doing, what had been completed, and what was overdue.
This lack of clarity meant:
- Tasks could be missed or forgotten
- No systematic way to track completion
- Difficult to ensure consistency across sites
- Managers lacked real-time oversight of operational status
- Staff were unsure about priorities and responsibilities
For a complex operation like UoSS, with multiple facilities and varied activities running simultaneously, this lack of task visibility created operational risk and inefficiency.
Document Management Challenges
Storing, updating, and distributing procedures, policies, and documentation across all staff levels was cumbersome and unreliable with their previous system.
The Problems:
- No single place to store all operational documents
- Difficult to update documents and ensure everyone accessed the latest version
- No way to track who had read critical information
- Manual processes for sending out updated documents
- Uncertainty about whether staff had the information they needed
This was particularly challenging given the range of documentation required:
- Operational procedures for different facilities
- Health and safety policies
- Training materials
- Equipment protocols
- Emergency procedures
- Compliance documentation
- Sport-specific guidelines
Without a centralised, trackable system, ensuring that everyone had access to current, relevant information required significant manual effort and guesswork.
Sports Union Team Onboarding Complexity
One of UoSS’s most time-intensive challenges was onboarding Sports Union teams at the start of each academic year.
The Annual Challenge:
- Dozens of sports teams needing induction
- Each team requires tailored information specific to their sport
- General university and safety information needed by all
- No efficient way to deliver this at scale
- Difficult to prove that teams had received necessary information
- Resource-intensive manual process each year
The previous system didn’t support efficient, scalable onboarding for sports teams, meaning that UoSS staff had to invest considerable time each academic year in a manual process that couldn’t guarantee that all teams had received and understood the necessary information.
Lack of Accountability and Audit Trail
Without clear read receipts and user-level tracking, UoSS couldn’t demonstrate that individuals or teams had accessed and understood critical information.
This created:
- Compliance risks: Inability to prove that safety information had been communicated
- Accountability gaps: No way to confirm who had and hadn’t read documents
- Audit challenges: Difficult to provide evidence during inspections or reviews
- Management uncertainty: No confidence that communications had reached their audience
For a university sport operation with duty of care responsibilities for hundreds of students and multiple stakeholders, this lack of accountability represented a significant governance concern.
Scalability Limitations
As UoSS continued to develop their operations and expand their services, the previous system wasn’t able to scale effectively with their needs.
The limitations meant that growth and improvement initiatives were constrained by the capabilities of the operational management system rather than being enabled by it.
The Solution: OpsPal’s Digital Operations Platform
Why University of Stirling Sport Chose OpsPal
UoSS needed a platform that could:
- Provide clear task visibility and management across all facilities and staff
- Create a single, centralised repository for all operational documents
- Enable efficient, scalable onboarding for Sports Union teams
- Provide digital accountability with read receipts and audit trails
- Support tailored information delivery to different teams
- Scale with their growing and evolving operations
- Replace their inadequate previous system with a purpose-built solution
OpsPal’s platform addressed all of these requirements. Unlike generic systems or their previous solution, OpsPal had been designed specifically for operational management in facilities environments—exactly the use case that UoSS needed.
The platform’s structure—procedures, tasks, training, and problem management—aligned perfectly with how university sport operations actually function. The ability to assign documents to specific users or teams and track read status would transform UoSS’s ability to ensure information reached the right people.
Critically, OpsPal’s flexibility meant that UoSS could tailor information for different sports teams whilst maintaining central control and oversight—exactly what they needed for their annual Sports Union team onboarding challenge.
John Monteith, Manager responsible for Operations, led the evaluation and recognised that OpsPal offered the scalability and functionality that their previous system lacked.
Implementation Journey
University of Stirling Sport’s implementation of OpsPal has been progressive and strategic:
Phase 1: Foundation and Core Setup
- Migration from previous system
- Central setup of organisational structure
- Upload of critical procedures and policies
- Configuration of user access and permissions
- Staff training on OpsPal platform
Phase 2: Task Management Rollout
- Implementation of daily and weekly operational tasks
- Setup of task schedules and assignments
- Configuration of reminders and notifications
- Integration into daily operations
Phase 3: Document Management Enhancement
- Systematic migration of all operational documents
- Organisation of procedures by facility, role, and requirement
- Setup of read receipt workflows
- Training staff on document access and updates
Phase 4: Sports Union Team Preparation (Ongoing)
- Development of onboarding resources for sports teams
- Creation of sport-specific and general information modules
- Planning for digital video content integration
- Preparation for academic year rollout
As John noted, UoSS is “still getting the system built for all staff” and “still exploring the full range of uses and expanding the areas that can benefit from being on OpsPal.”
This phased approach has allowed UoSS to implement OpsPal thoroughly and thoughtfully, ensuring that each component is properly configured before expanding to the next area.
The Results: Operational Transformation
The move from their previous system to OpsPal has significantly improved University of Stirling Sport’s operations across multiple areas. The transformation is evident in their day-to-day operations and strategic capabilities.
Enhanced Task Management and Visibility
OpsPal has provided UoSS with clear visibility of all operational tasks across their facilities, addressing one of the key limitations of their previous system.
Operational Benefits:
- Clear task visibility: Staff can see exactly what needs doing and when
- Progress tracking: Managers can monitor completion status in real-time
- Priority management: Visual indicators (green/amber/red) show task status
- Accountability: Every task has clear ownership and tracking
- Consistency: Same standards applied across all facilities
- Reduced risk: Nothing falls through the cracks
The transformation in task management has improved both operational efficiency and staff confidence. Everyone knows their responsibilities, managers have oversight, and critical operational tasks are completed systematically.
Centralised Document Management
OpsPal has solved UoSS’s document management challenges by providing a single, centralised location for all operational information.
What This Enables:
“Having the ability to store every document, procedure, policy that UoSS requires for all staff levels in one place and be able to easily update as required and then send out read requests to all users in one easy action takes away a lot of the guess work in making sure everyone is covered and has read and understood all the documentation they require for their job role.”
Specific Benefits:
- Single source of truth: Everything stored centrally, no scattered documents
- Version control: Always the current version, no outdated information
- Easy updates: Change once, notify everyone affected instantly
- Read requests: Send notifications to relevant users automatically
- Compliance confidence: Know that everyone has access to what they need
- Reduced administration: No more manual document distribution
This centralisation has transformed how UoSS manages operational information, eliminating the uncertainty and manual effort that characterised their previous approach.
Streamlined Sports Union Team Onboarding
One of the most significant improvements OpsPal will bring to UoSS is the streamlined onboarding of Sports Union teams at the start of each academic year—a process that was previously resource-intensive and difficult to scale.
The OpsPal Approach:
Tailored Information Delivery: “Tailoring specific parts of documents for each sports union team ensures they have access to all relevant information for their team. Overall, this task is now easier and less resource-intensive for UoSS staff to deploy to teams each academic year.”
Each sport has unique requirements, risks, and procedures. OpsPal allows UoSS to:
- Create core information that all teams need
- Develop sport-specific modules for different activities
- Assign relevant content to each team automatically
- Deliver consistent messaging whilst accommodating unique needs
Efficient Process: “Using OpsPal for sports union team inductions at the start of each year streamlines the process and ensures all necessary information is covered and recorded.”
Rather than manual, time-intensive onboarding for each team, UoSS can now:
- Set up onboarding modules once
- Assign teams to appropriate content
- Track completion automatically
- Scale to dozens of teams without proportional staff time increase
Digital Accountability: “Registering sports teams onto OpsPal as individual users, where they are assigned to read documents, provides UoSS with a digital trail should there be any questions around whether the sports team received the necessary information.”
This accountability feature is critical for university sport operations:
- Proof that teams received required information
- Evidence of what was communicated and when
- Clear audit trail for governance purposes
- Protection for both UoSS and the teams
- Confidence in compliance status
User Login Requirement: “The OpsPal user login requirement for viewing and reading documents provides a digital trail, enhancing accountability and ensuring all team members have accessed the necessary information.”
This user-level tracking means UoSS can demonstrate:
- Who accessed which documents
- When they were read
- Whether acknowledgement was completed
- Which teams need follow-up
Enhanced Induction Resources
UoSS is planning to further improve their induction approach using OpsPal’s capabilities:
Digital Video Integration: “We are planning to further enhance our induction resources on OpsPal, updating text and image-based content and replacing with digital short videos.”
This evolution recognises that:
- Video content is more engaging and effective for training
- Easier for users to understand complex procedures
- Can show rather than just describe tasks
- More accessible for diverse learning styles
- OpsPal supports multimedia content seamlessly
The ability to embed video content within OpsPal procedures means that UoSS can create rich, engaging induction materials that improve understanding and retention whilst maintaining the centralised, trackable approach.
Improved Compliance and Governance
The combination of centralised documents, read receipts, and audit trails has significantly improved UoSS’s compliance and governance capabilities.
Governance Benefits:
- Clear evidence that staff and teams have necessary information
- Audit trail for inspections and reviews
- Systematic approach to information distribution
- Reduced compliance risk
- Confidence in duty of care requirements
For a university sport operation with multiple stakeholders and regulatory requirements, this improvement in governance capability is invaluable.
Scalability for Growth
OpsPal’s flexibility and scalability mean that UoSS can continue to expand their use of the platform as their operations evolve.
Future Capabilities: “Over the next few months, we looking at using OpsPal to extend our induction approach for UoSS new staff to include Sports Union teams at the start of each year.”
“As we are still getting the system built for all staff, we are still exploring the full range of uses and expanding the areas that can benefit from being on OpsPal.”
This scalability means that:
- New facilities or activities can be added easily
- Additional teams can be onboarded without system changes
- New types of content can be integrated
- Processes can evolve as UoSS grows
- Investment in OpsPal continues to deliver value
Testimonial
What John Monteith Says
“The University of Stirling Sport made the transition from their previous system to OpsPal, a move that has significantly improved their operations and task management. OpsPal has helped resolve the issues we faced with our old system, resulting in substantial improvements in our day-to-day operations.”
OpsPal Features Used by University of Stirling Sport
UoSS uses these OpsPal features across their sport facilities:
✓ Procedures – Central repository for all operational procedures, policies, and documentation with version control
✓ Tasks – Daily and weekly operational task management with visibility across all facilities
✓ Training Matrix – Staff and team training records tracked digitally with compliance monitoring
✓ Document Management – Single source of truth with easy updating and distribution to relevant users
✓ Read Receipts – Digital accountability showing who has accessed and acknowledged documents
✓ User Management – Individual user logins for staff and Sports Union teams providing audit trail
✓ Tailored Content Delivery – Ability to assign specific documents to specific users or teams
✓ Multimedia Support – Integration of video content for enhanced induction resources
✓ Audit Logging – Complete record of all document access and task completion
Key Success Factors
What has made University of Stirling Sport’s OpsPal implementation successful:
1. Strategic Approach UoSS took a phased, thoughtful approach to implementation rather than rushing to deploy everything at once.
2. Clear Problem Definition They understood exactly what wasn’t working with their previous system and what they needed from a replacement.
3. Leadership Commitment John Monteith’s operational expertise and leadership ensured the implementation addressed real operational needs.
4. Focus on Scalability Choosing a platform that could grow with their operations rather than constraining them.
5. User-Centric Design Recognising the importance of systems that work for frontline staff and teams, not just management.
6. Continuous Improvement Ongoing exploration of additional uses and enhancement of existing processes.
What’s Next for University of Stirling Sport
UoSS continues to build out their OpsPal implementation with clear strategic goals:
Short Term (Next 3-6 Months):
- Complete system build for all staff
- Implement Sports Union team onboarding
- Develop video-based induction resources
- Refine document management workflows
Medium Term (6-12 Months):
- Full rollout to all Sports Union teams
- Comprehensive evaluation of first year’s usage
- Identification of additional use cases
- Further enhancement of digital resources
Long Term:
- Continued expansion of OpsPal usage
- Integration with other university systems
- Ongoing process improvement
- Setting new standards for university sport operations
With OpsPal now central to their operations, UoSS has the foundation to continue raising standards, improving efficiency, and demonstrating operational excellence across their sport facilities and programmes.