| Frequently Ask
Questions
1.
What are the steps or phases in the PIVOT
process?
PIVOT Recreation
Resources is a toolbox for leaders in recreation. We offer
a wide diversity of skills and knowledge that can be applied
throughout the life of a recreation agency.
The fundamental approach in most all of the assignments include,
establishing a foundation of the current situation that the
agency is in. Then defines the ultimate goal in which the
agency would like to attain and then develop tactics for implementing
and accomplishing the change.
This can include a management organizational issue, or developing
a whole new recreation facility. The key to both tasks include
developing the information necessary to make timely and result-oriented
decisions.
Top Of Page
2. At what stage
of the process can PIVOT
be engaged?
PIVOT Recreation
Resources has worked with over 100 different agencies and
collectively has 40 years of experience in recreation management
and operation. This skill set can greatly accelerate the learning
curve for clients when embarking on a new endeavor. The benefit
of bringing PIVOT Recreation Resources in at the beginning
of the process will allow the agency to benefit from the proven
approach that has been used successfully by PIVOT, thereby
minimizing false starts in re-learning lessons learned from
other projects. This will allow your agency to benefit from
the experience of PIVOT in
maximizing the opportunity for success in a timely manner.
Top Of
Page
3. How does
PIVOT deliver value to
the process?
We have been told one of the main contributors
of the PIVOT process is being
another member of the senior management team. PIVOT
was geered to answer your questions, but also question your
answers as the agency develops strategic initiatives and tactics
to implement them. This extension of your senior management
team also applies to the day-to-day activities of managing
an agency. If we don’t know the answer, it is likely
that through our vast network, we will be able to find relevant
information fast that will increase your likelihood of success.
Top Of
Page
4. What is
the optimum time to bring PIVOT
Recreation Resources into a project? Why?
Thinking with people outside the organization
can save significant time and funds. Understanding the influence
of a project, facility or organizational planning effort requires
initiation long before the first shovel of dirt or administrative
action is taken. Most all successful projects are those that
incorporate PIVOT Recreation
Resources team early.
While PIVOT
will have value at any stage and life of an agency, those
that include PIVOT is a strategic
partner benefit from the complete knowledge base PIVOT
has to offer. While we can be used strategically for specific
initiative or issues, those clients that bring us on as a
member of the brain trust of the organization capitalize on
the synergy of an additional team member or resource. This
allows the agency to multiply its benefit from the PIVOT
relationship.
Top Of
Page
5. How does
PIVOT work with Recreation Departments?
The majority of our relationships are working
directly for an agency. We find this direct connection and
responsibility maximizes the trust and communication in meeting
the needs of the agency. Our responsibility is extended beyond
just the agency and also being a resource for the department
and agency leaders to help them be successful and grow in
their current initiative. Many park and recreation leaders
find themselves cut off from a mentoring environment and the
PIVOT relationship often fosters
individual development, which contributes to the success of
the agency.
Top Of
Page
6. How does
PIVOT work with architects and designers?
PIVOT has two
relationships with the design community. The first is providing
information necessary when looking at a new construction project.
Often information is needed in understanding how the facility
will be programmed and used. PIVOT’s
experience can help define the needs of the building to meet
the needs of recreation not only today, but for the life of
the facility. Often owners, in addition to the physical requirements,
are looking for operational analysis when making construction
decisions. PIVOT has completed
over 100 Facility Impact Studies looking at the demographics,
needs assessment, programming opportunities, fee schedule,
and revenue and expenses, so the design team and agency can
make a knowledgeable decision about how to go forward in physically
sustainable manner.
The second area of contribution to the design
team is supporting the agency after the facility opens. Very
often after the ribbon cutting, the team that created this
wonderful facility scatters and moves on to the next project.
PIVOT is there to stand by
the owner after the ribbon cutting to fine tune and adjust
the planning effort into a workable operations plan. This
can include training for unique skill sets in the recreation
facility, marketing initiatives, business planning. We have
found that delivering recreation experience is an ever-changing
market that must be aggressively managed and understood to
continue to meet and exceed the needs of the community while
maintaining the financial goals of the agency. By increasing
the likelihood of a successful facility, this reflects positively
on the architect designer.
Top Of
Page
7. Why is
the PIVOT Recreation Resources process
a superior alternative to more traditional methods?
We at PIVOT
Recreation Resources consider ourselves teachers, mentors
and leaders. Our role is to work with you to become better
managers in your organization. We don’t lecture to our
partners! We guide you through a process to help you and all
of your employees to become more effictive leaders in your
organization.
One of the founding principals of the PIVOT
organization is looking to the future. PIVOT
has observed that many tools available to the recreation professional
often look at a historical prospective about what worked and
what didn’t work. PIVOT
is all about looking to the future with an understanding of
the past. We are more interested in trying to determine what
the anticipated needs are going to be in 5 to 10 years than
what worked 3 or 4 years ago. The definition of recreation
programming is continuing to change. It is PIVOT’s
ambition to lead that change and be associated with agencies
looking to successfully define the future of recreation and
quality of life in communities throughout the United States.
Top Of
Page
8. If PIVOT
Recreation Resources plays a leadership role, how is that
structured?
We view leadership as an opportunity to facilitate
and foster the capabilities of people in management or elected
roles within the organization. This is accomplished through
coaching, teaching, and learning through others.
PIVOT is a resource
to help leaders become better. It would be a mistake to believe
that hiring an outside firm like PIVOT
can lead change in your agency. For the PIVOT
process to be successful, the agency must see the need
to change and the will to do so. Hiring PIVOT
will not create change. Retaining PIVOT
as a member of your senior management team will greatly increase
the learning curve and bring needed resources to bear, to
accelerate the change process more successfully. PIVOT
will provide the tools and knowledge to your agency to achieve
the successes and goals that you choose to pursue.
Top Of
Page
9. Who hires
PIVOT Recreation Resources? What type of contracting and oversight
is normal?
PIVOT Recreation
Resources is utilized by public, private, and not for profit
recreation service organizations just like you who want to
become or remain extraordinary with the services and facilities
they provide.
While some skill sets are needed more than others
in our work throughout the United States, there is no normal
client relationship. Each relationship is developed on trust
and need through the agency. Since each agency has different
working relationships, PIVOT
adjusts to meet the needs of each agency. PIVOT
uses a systematic qaulty control tool by getting feedback
from the agency on a scheduled basis to monitor performance
and expectation. This allows PIVOT
to adjust to exceed the needs of agency in terms of roles,
scope, and expectation. We guarantee return phone calls and
e-mails by the next business day. And depending upon the situation,
if there is a critical moment in the life of the agency, it
is not uncommon to provide home numbers and cell phone numbers
to be available at a moment’s notice. PIVOT
is committed to your success and will do what is necessary
to help you achieve it.
Top Of
Page
10. What
role can PIVOT perform in a collaborative team effort?
PIVOT performs
best when we are added to the senior management team of your
agency. Many clients find our strategic and understanding
of today’s needs as well as anticipating the future
helps identify initiatives that push the agency into the future.
Many clients look to PIVOT
as a unique skill set and assigns those aspects to PIVOT
that doesn’t exist inside the agency. The goal is to
retain PIVOT services as needed
and not to duplicate skills or efforts already available inside
the agency. As a member of the management team, we are able
to easily compliment the existing team on an as needed basis
and contribute to the long-term goals and objectives of the
agency.
Top Of
Page
11. Does
PIVOT Recreation Resources
have an on-going role in operations after completion?
PIVOT Recreation
Resources is a lifelong partner with those organizations that
employ our services. We want to know that the work we complete
is going to last the test of time.
It is up to the agency. We have found as management teams
change over time in agencies or facilities, that PIVOT
can play a role of the agency knowledge base on how things
are done and why they are done in providing a cohesive management
team for the future. In long-term relationships, we have seen
PIVOT’s role increase
and decrease based on the needs of the management team and
agency. As team members come and go, PIVOT
can act as a safety net of agency knowledge and skills in
providing seamless transitions from one leadership group to
the next.
Other agencies look to PIVOT
to help them get up and running, and then develop the culture
and the on going tools on their own with the knowledge, if
needed, PIVOT can be brought
up to speed on the current issues to help tackle a specific
challenge.
Top Of
Page
12. What
is PIVOT Recreation Resource’s role in staff structuring?
Staff recruiting?
PIVOT Recreation
Resources offers a unique approach to assisting organizations
in the employment process. Identifying excellent employees
for an organization is a time consuming, tedious process that
requires attention to detail. The PIVOT
Recreation Resources process incorporates three pre-employment
analyses:
1. An understanding of the management traits
of the supervisor of the prospective employee
2. An understanding of the position to be filled
3. The values and skills critical to successful job performance.
Once these steps are identified and understood,
PIVOT Recreation Resources
moves into the solicitation and selection process. Once a
pool of candidates is identified, each valid candidate credentials
are analyzed from three perspectives.
• Experience and references are checked
• The candidates that are determined to be most qualified
complete an analysis tool that helps us
to determine if there is a match with the supervisor and
the job expectations.
• Each of the finalists are interviewed by PIVOT
Recreation Resources staff.
The analysis tools help us to focus on the questions
that are used during the interview. Background checks of these
individuals are completed as well. An Executive Summary is
presented to the agency. The summary includes a review of
the process used to determine the finalists, observations
of each candidate, and an appendix with the backup material
supporting the process. The top 3-5 candidates are submitted
to the agency for final review and selection.
These are actually two separate issues. Creating
a functional organizational structure is key to creating seamless
operating environment. The understanding of cross training
opportunities, career development, and reporting structures
that are consist with the culture of the agency are critical
to a management team’s success. For young agencies or
agencies about to rapidly expand,
PIVOT’s facilitation of developing a plan for
this rapid growth can be critical in maximizing success in
creating a seamless tactical plan.
As a result of being included in a number of
organizational structure exercises, PIVOT
has been looked to help agencies find qualified candidates.
It is PIVOT’s belief
that a tremendous change will occur in the next 15 years with
regard to agency leadership. Many of the leaders of the industry
will be retiring during this period. The goal of transferring
this valuable knowledge to the next generation is one role
that PIVOT sees in developing
the recreation market for the future. Based on client need,
we have developed a recruiting tool whereby PIVOT
can actually identify, qualify, and recommend candidates for
a variety of positions in recreation agencies. Many clients
have seen this as benefit when capacity limits the ability
of staff to do it themselves. By outsourcing this to PIVOT,
the values, culture and needs of the agency are incorporated
in the hiring decision with a minimal investment of time by
the agency.
Top Of
Page
13. What is PIVOT
Recreation Resource’s view on facility longevity?
The answer to this question is a difficult one
as there are two facility perspectives to consider. The first
is the existing facility and the second is the facility yet
to be created.
Each is influenced by similar phenomena.
The existing facility is likely to have been
developed to meet the needs of activity that was acceptable
to the user 10- 15- 20 and in many cases 40 years ago. The
consumer of leisure services has become more sophisticated
buyer of services and thus, they have higher expectations
of use. These expectations have been changed due to greater
mobility of the consumer to be able to visit and use a variety
of facility types throughout the world and the transformation
of attitudes from wanting services for free or a reduced fee
to the willingness to pay a fair rate for the services. These
influences have reduced the use of these aging facilities.
This change in expectations has altered the view of what works
best for individual and family use of facilities. Alternative
activity is many times most beneficial to revitalize the use
of these facilities.
New facility longevity is influenced by those
issues mentioned above and the aging of our society. The aging
is not a disadvantage; it only offers new and exciting challenges.
We need to look at the older adult community as several market
niches that require consideration when planning new facility
design and use. Thus, new facilities will be considered lifelong
learning centers, designed for all ages and activity types
rather than traditional designs that focused on youth.
Top Of
Page
14. How long does
the PIVOT Recreation Resources
process take? Does it
add to or compress a timeline?
The length of a project is determined by the
project type, your needs and how the project is modified to
meet the needs of your customers. The work can be completed
as a one-day or a weeklong workshop through PIVOT
Recreation Resources University or it may require up to 120
days which is typical of planning and feasibility studies.
Top Of
Page
15. What are the
reporting and accountability milestones
in the PIVOT
Recreation Resources process?
All PIVOT Recreation
Resources projects incorporate Reality Checks with the customer
on an ongoing basis from the initiation of the project to
conclusion. We also conduct three evaluations on each project.
Formative evaluations determine your expectations before the
project begins. Progress evaluations occur during the middle
of the project to determine if adjustments are needed to the
process. Summative evaluations give us feedback after completion
of the project to determine the level of success of the work
and where improvement can take place with the next client
or partner.
The accountability doesn’t end there though. We continually
check with the customer once the project is completed to determine
if there is continual progress and success from our work.
Top Of
Page
16. What kind of
research, analysis and technology
support does PIVOT
Recreation Resources offer?
While we the PIVOT
Recreation Resources staff has the technical and academic
skills in research and analysis, support for research is garnered
from the University of Illinois, Wake Forest University, and
Western Illinois University. We also utilize the services
of a nationally recognized political analysis organization
called Turco, INC. Interactive meetings can be conducted with
clients through Microsoft Placeware®. Placeware is a product
that allows us to reduce costs to the customer through technology.
Interactive meetings can be conducted with the customer worldwide
through the internet.
Top Of
Page
17. What is the
genesis of PIVOT Recreation
Resources?
PIVOT Recreation
Resources was created as a brand of the nationally recognized
aquatic design firm, Counsilman/Hunsaker & Associates.
PIVOT Recreation Resources
was created to provide feasibility, planning and training
opportunities for organizations that have an interest in maximizing
the likelihood of success in organization and facility endeavors.
Top Of
Page
18. What are the
professional credentials of PIVOT
Recreation Resource’s management?
PIVOT Recreation
Resources leadership includes:
• Employees who have experience in the
management of park and recreation organizations
• Leaders who have managed a wide variety of facilities
including golf courses/driving ranges,
tennis/racquetball clubs, outdoor special
event facilities, restaurants/concession areas, multi-
purpose/full service recreation centers,
competitive and leisure aquatic facilities, fitness centers,
older adult centers, cultural arts facilities,
and neighborhood recreation centers.
Top Of
Page
19. Who would be
on my PIVOT Recreation
Resources team?
Each project is treated as the only project
the PIVOT Recreation Resources
team is working on at any given time. All work is reviewed
by three people so as to not miss any important considerations
that encompass a project. The important consideration is that
while at some point in time there is a project conclusion,
we are lifelong partners with each of our clients. We don’t
simply walk away, we remain a lifelong resource.
Top Of
Page
|
