The 6 best Ways to Organize Your Gym’s Scheduling
Creating your gym’s scheduling can sound easier than it really is. You face challenges from trying to fit everything together, including instructor availability, class type, instructor level, member feedback, popular/unpopular time slots, and other factors. You’re not alone if the process gives you a headache. But creating an effective gym schedule doesn’t need to be so hard — and it’s worth it for member onboarding and retention.
Here are six tips on keeping your scheduling organized:
#1: Fit Your Budget
First thing’s first, you can’t add classes to the schedule if your gym can’t pay the instructor for the class. So before you do anything else, figure out the designated budget you’ll put toward your instructors and any other expenses for classes. This will help you figure out how many classes to put in your schedule per pay period.
#2: Track Participation
You’ll find previous data on participation invaluable when you’re creating an organized schedule. Look at measures like class attendance, popular time slots, and slow time slots. If you don’t have this information, start collecting it to improve your gym’s inner workings for yourself and your members. Gym management software simplifies the process of collecting data.
#3: Get Feedback
To give your members the best experience, it’s important to be open to their suggestions. Get their feedback through a member survey, which you can carry out on-site or through email. This is a great way to learn about which classes members would prefer at which times and whether changes would encourage non-participants to come. Consider whether another factor such as providing childcare would help participation. You can also get feedback from your instructors while keeping in mind you may need to prioritize member wants over instructor preferences.
#4: Consider Class Type
Think about whether the intensity and style of each class works better in the morning, afternoon or evening. For example, members may want a high-energy class in the morning and a rejuvenating stretching and yoga class in the evening. Consider your class types, your instructors’ and members’ opinions, fitness trends, competitor schedules and what has/hasn’t worked for your gym previously.
#5: Put Together Your Schedule
Enter classes into your gym schedule one piece at a time. Remember that the schedule won’t be set in stone, so you can play with it to get it right. Start by keeping your most popular classes in their time slots because you don’t want to fix something that isn’t broken. But consider adding those popular instructors to slow time slots as well to encourage participation during those times. Have diverse class types and instructors to give your members choices.
Use the information you learned from members, instructors, and other sources to fill in your schedule. You can also do some trial and error to see how things work out. Try a schedule, track how it works out and find areas of improvement. Be open to feedback on the new schedule and consider changing something when it makes sense to do so.
#6: Simplify the Process With Gym Management Software
Gym management software makes the scheduling process easier for gym owners. It can help you track relevant data such as classes offered, member attendance and instructors. With Paramount Acceptance software, you have everything you need in one place, so you’ll be able to look at employee availability and days off, payroll, member profiles, class attendance and much more in one program. It also helps you create the master class schedule and allows members to access it in real-time and sign up for classes online.
