Volunteers are the backbone of any swim meet, ensuring the event runs smoothly and efficiently. From timers and stroke judges to concessions attendants and check-in helpers, each role contributes to creating a well-organized environment where athletes can focus on their performance. Volunteers help manage logistics, maintain fairness, and keep the meet on schedule, all of which are crucial to the success of the event. Without their support, it would be nearly impossible to coordinate the many moving parts of a swim meet, making their contribution invaluable to both the team and the swimmers.
SwimTopia simplifies the process of organizing swim meets by providing teams with user-friendly tools to manage volunteers, jobs, and shifts effortlessly. With its centralized platform, teams can easily create job templates, set up shifts, and allow parents to sign up for volunteer roles directly through the website. SwimTopia also enables automatic job sign-ups, role restrictions for specific tasks, and streamlined communication with volunteers, all of which save time and reduce administrative hassle.
Managing Jobs and Shifts for Your Team’s Meets and Events
Your team’s Meets and Events can be more organized and successful with well-managed Jobs and Shifts. These roles allow members to sign up for tasks on your team website, helping ensure your event runs smoothly. You can manage Jobs and Shifts within the Schedule tab in the Manage Team admin console.
- Understanding Jobs & Shifts
- Access Your Jobs & Shifts
- Open and Close Job Sign-Up Status
- Set up Your Jobs & Shifts
- Assign Members to a Shift
- Communicating with Volunteers
- How To Video: Manage Volunteer Jobs and Shifts
- Volunteer Assignments During Registration
- More Resources
Understanding Jobs & Shifts
A Job refers to the task to be completed (ex: Ready Bench, Lane Timer, Stroke Judge, Snack Bar Attendant), while a Shift indicates when the job needs to be performed (ex: First Shift, Events #1-10, or Set-up/Clean-up).
Every job must have at least one shift, which can be based on a specific meet event or timeframe.
Accessing Jobs & Shifts
To start managing jobs and shifts, click on the event name listed in your schedule. This will allow you to add and manage jobs and shifts specific to that event.
Managing Sign-up Status for Jobs
The Job sign-up status plays a critical role in controlling whether parents can sign up for meet or event jobs. This status is easily controlled from the Status tab for each meet, ensuring that the correct sign-up options are available at the right time.
To adjust the status for job signups, navigate to Schedule > Meet Name > Status.
There are different statuses for job sign-ups that control when and where members can sign up online:
- Open: Allows sign-ups during registration and outside registration (parent account login required).
- Pending: Enables sign-ups during registration but disables them afterward (no button visible on the website).
- Closed: Disables sign-ups during registration but allows parents to view jobs outside of registration (login required).
Auto-Open and Auto-Close Entries
For added convenience, teams can enable auto-open and auto-close functionality for job signups. This feature allows you to pre-set the exact date and time when signups will open and close. Once set, the system will automatically change the job sign-up status, simplifying the process for team administrators.
With auto-open and auto-close enabled, there’s no need to worry about manually opening and closing signups—SwimTopia takes care of it for you!
Setting up Jobs & Shifts
When ready, navigate to the Jobs tab. Here, you can either copy an existing job template or create new jobs and shifts from scratch.
Option 1: Copy from Template
To save time, you can create reusable job templates for recurring meets and events. If you already have a template, click on Actions, select Copy from Template, choose your desired template, and click Save.
Option 2: Create New Jobs & Shifts
If you prefer creating new jobs, follow these steps:
1. Create a Job: A job is a top-level description that describes the task to be done. Click Add Job from the green Actions button, enter job details, and decide if shifts are defined by time or meet event number.
Check the box to enable online sign-up and click Save. Remember, if the job requires a specific role (like a Stroke Judge, which might need training), check the appropriate box to restrict sign-ups to members who qualify for that role.
- You can limit only those team members assigned to a particular role to the ability to sign up for a job by checking the box and selecting that role. You may find the following Help Center articles helpful:
2. Add Shifts: Jobs are invisible to members until you create shifts. Each job requires at least one shift to be assigned to it. A shift is a subset of your top-level job and can be assigned either by the time of day or meet event. For example, a shift can be assigned to a Referee, Starter, Stroke, or Turn Judge.
Click “+Add Shift“, then enter in the shift name, the start and end, the number needed (leave blank if there is no requirement) and the number of points earned for volunteering (if your team has requirements that need to be met).
Important Note: If you have issues creating shifts based on an event range, ensure your meet has a defined event list, or switch to creating shifts by timeframe.
Assigning Members to a Shift
Members can self-assign themselves to shifts during registration or online sign-up, while admins can manually assign members using the Edit Assignees tool. Keep in mind that if someone isn’t appearing in the list, they might already be scheduled for another shift at the same time. You can adjust this by disabling schedule conflict checks for certain jobs.
Online signup on the website by Team Members:
Manual Signup by Team Admin:
Communicating with Volunteers
You can easily email all volunteers assigned to a shift by clicking the Letter icon next to their names. Alternatively, to email all volunteers working at the event, click the All Assignees button.
You may notice a Reports tab on the Jobs page from within each meet. You can find information on this feature in our Volunteer Reports post.
How-To Video
For more detailed guidance, please watch our How-To video:
Volunteer Assignments During Registration
Some teams prefer having parents sign up for all their volunteer positions during the registration process. With SwimTopia’s registration system, you can set minimum point requirements to ensure each family meets their volunteer quota. These requirements can be based on the number of athletes (e.g., 10 points for the first child, 7 points for the second, etc.) or set per family. For teams that handle volunteer signups during registration, it’s essential to have all events, jobs, and shifts organized and added to the calendar ahead of time. For more information on this feature, please see our Help Center article: Registration Form – Volunteering Section
Additional Resources:
By following these steps, you’ll have a smooth and efficient system for managing jobs and shifts at your team’s meets and events, ensuring everyone knows what to do and when to do it! By offering these features all in one place, SwimTopia helps teams stay organized, ensuring swim meets run smoothly and stress-free for everyone involved. You may also find the following information helpful while you set up your volunteers:
- Boost Efficiency with Job Templates: How to Create, Apply, and Update in SwimTopia
- Role Call: Ensure Only the Pros Handle Key Volunteer Jobs!
- Mastering Volunteer Management: Essential Reports for a Smooth Swim Season
- E-Book: SwimTopia’s Top Tips For Better Swim Team Volunteer Management
- Quick Tour of Volunteer Management Features
- From Our Community: Volunteer Signups: – How Does Your Team Manage Them?
- Volunteer Point Scale Example
- Help Center: Jobs and Shifts
- Help Center: Volunteer Reporting
- Help Center: Assigning Volunteers to Roles
- Help Center: Registration Form – Volunteering Section
Published 10/09/2024. SwimTopia regularly releases new features, enhancements, and updates. Please visit our Help Center for the latest information on Volunteering/Jobs & Templates.
