The Lean Game-Day Staff: Strategies for Cross-Training and Utilizing Part-Time Staff Effectively
This week, I was taping an appearance on a podcast (link to be posted soon!) on Operational Efficiency with Jeremy from the Sports Marketing Machine, and a great topic (albeit briefly) came up that I thought could use some exploring.
If you’re running a minor league or independent sports organization, you know the drill: your front office is lean. We’re not operating with the cushy, hyper-specialized departments of a major league club. Everyone performs multiple roles, and when game-day hits, you rely heavily on your part-time, seasonal staff to make the experience work.
The danger? Treating these part-timers like disposable cogs.
When you operate lean, your part-time staff isn't just a cost center—they are your flexible roster and your first line of defense against operational failure. Getting the most out of them isn't about hiring more people; it’s about smarter training and deployment.
Here is how successful lean organizations strategically leverage their game-day personnel.
1. Stop Hiring for "One Position"
Most teams hire an usher for ushering, a ticket scanner for scanning, and a merchandise rep for the store. This is the single-position trap. It creates bottlenecks and dead time, and it leaves you exposed when a key person calls out sick fifteen minutes before first pitch or one part of your ballpark is exposed with understaffing.
The Fix: The Utility Player Approach
You need to hire utility players—people who can proficiently cover 2-3 key roles.
Cross-Training as Standard: Every hire in Guest Services and the Box Office should receive basic training on ticket scanning, directional wayfinding (ushering), and basic gate security protocols.
The "Opener" and "Closer": Train your most reliable part-timers to be your "Closers"—the ones who can handle money/reconciliations at the Box Office and manage post-game cleanup supervision. Similarly, train your "Openers" to handle set-up and early patron entry at any gate.
In baseball, the best teams don't just have specialists; they have a bench of players who can cover multiple positions. Your part-time staff should be your bench.
2. Prioritize "Will" Over "Skill"
The specific skills required for most game-day roles (scanning a ticket, pointing to a restroom, running a POS system) are easily trainable. They take minutes, not days, to master.
What is not easily trainable is attitude, or “will.”
Your part-time staff directly interacts with customers during their highest-emotion moments—a frustrated ticket problem, a complaint about a delayed game, or a simple request for directions. You need people with:
Grit and Coachability: The ability to stay calm under pressure and take direction instantly.
Genuine Likability: Customers remember the smile and the help they received, not the job title.
If you have to choose between a perfectly experienced usher with a bad attitude and an energetic, service-minded retail clerk, always choose attitude. You can teach the system; you cannot teach passion.
3. Create a Simple Deployment Matrix
If you are running lean, you cannot afford to have a manager chasing down staff on a radio trying to fill a gap. You need a simple, visual plan for deployment that makes management instant.
The Three-Tier System: Classify your part-time staff into tiers based on their training level:
Tier 1 (Specialist): Can do 1-2 roles, but are experts (e.g., experienced parking attendant).
Tier 2 (Utility): Can cover 3-4 roles and are your primary floaters/fill-ins.
Tier 3 (Supervisors/Leads): Can do any role and manage reconciliation or open/close a complex station (these are your bench players who are groomed for front-office roles).
The Daily Flex Plan: Every game day, managers should have a written rotation schedule showing where the key Tier 2 Utility players will move if a situation arises (e.g., "If Gate 3 line gets longer than 15 people, Utility Player A moves from Wayfinding to Scanning").
This system allows for proactive redeployment, turning potential bottlenecks into smooth operations before the customer even notices a problem.
Final Thought
Running a lean organization is not an excuse for poor service; it’s a mandate for smarter operations.
Your investment in cross-training your part-time staff is an investment in your operational resiliency. It eliminates dead time, reduces managerial stress, and ensures that a single missed shift doesn't derail your entire game-day experience. Hire for flexibility, train for range, and manage for instant deployment.
At GameDay Advising, we help teams design staffing models and training protocols that maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of lean front offices. Click here to schedule a 30-minute conversation about how we can help you build your ultimate utility roster.
