A new year is here and I am sure your clubs are busy with brand-new members, as well as reinvigorated current members. It is easy to get wrapped up in the January rush and forget about the systems and processes that keep your club on track. Take a few minutes and review these five operations items to make sure you are starting 2017 off on the right path.
Inventory check: Look over some of the items that you only order two or three times a year. Think of items like barcodes or membership codes, back-up repair pieces for equipment, hair dryers, etc. Are you stocked up for the first part of the year?
Systems audit: We all have systems that we think are being followed because we have taught and trained on them. However, the busy time of January is a perfect opportunity to check in and see if the systems are still working. Is it meeting our needs the way we intended?
Do a cleanliness inspection: Pretty basic, right? True we do these all the time, so mix it up. Take your team around as part of your weekly meeting, or do it with your front-line teams. See what observations and findings they have. Inspect with a team of fresh eyes.
Re-boarding of staff: If you don’t have this in your 2017 plan, make it a priority. Have a formal re-boarding process for your team. It could be a one-on-one review of training sheets and role plays, or a group setting where you review the systems, processes and service standards that are important to you.
Communicate goals and team focuses: Review your 2017 goals and focuses with your team. For many of us we think we do a good job at this; in reality our teams say otherwise.
Look over your communication strategy for your team goals as well. Do you mainly use face-to-face communication, newsletters, white boards, internal Facebook groups or only email communication? Ensure the lines of communication are wide open with your team. It can only help.
Andrew Barranco is the regional operations and aquatics manager for Merritt Athletic Clubs. Email him at abarranco@merrittclubs.com.
