VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT

5 key learnings from The Super Bowl LI - Rosterfy

Rosterfy's top 5 learnings from The Super Bowl LI when it comes to engaging and managing your volunteers.


While Super Bowl LI has been over for a while now, there are some valuable lessons that we’ve been able to reflect on following our involvement in one of the world’s most watched events. We've summarized our top 5 learnings from The Super Bowl LI, designed to take your volunteer management program from good to great!

1.Passionate people make an event successful

The people of Houston are passionate about football and their city - that was made very clear during the lead up to the Super Bowl. Everyone wanted to participate and make sure that visitors to Houston had a sensational experience. This was paramount to the event's success. Workforce Managers received 35,000 applications for the 10,000 volunteer positions which gave an immediate indication of people’s desire to get involved.

2. An effective online interviewing system is a game-changing process

Having to sift through 35,000 applications sounds like a nightmare of a task. The Super Bowl implemented an online interviewing process which made for getting the very best volunteers far more efficient. It was exciting to see this process come to life and work so well at the Super Bowl. There were minimal mistakes, and people received volunteer positions best suited for their skill set. A lot of time and energy was saved by implementing an effective online interviewing process.

3. Hire experienced management who remain calm under pressure

We noticed that when it came to crunch time or things were slightly uncertain, that people naturally looked to leaders for advice and guidance. The Super Bowl is definitely a time when stress levels are high, but due to the experience of managers everyone was able to keep calm and continue to perform at their highest level. Effective leaders know that the buck stops with them. They are confident in their jobs, and they realise that their words and actions represent the event or company, and so act accordingly. Hiring managers and directors who successfully motivate and instil passion into their staff are crucial.

4. Online check-in mode creates real time productivity

It’s important to create an effective plan ahead of the game but when you’re in the thick of an event like the Super Bowl. Things change and they change quickly. You have to correct and adjust as you go along, this means you need an effective system to create changes and communicate those changes to everyone (IRL) In Real Time. The on site check-in system used during the Super Bowl gave management a fantastic oversight of the entire venue. It also enabled them to see where they needed to place more people, where they could pull those extra volunteers, and the ability to communicate to everyone else where those volunteers were going.

5. Treat people equally

While respecting everyone equally seems like a no-brainer, it’s not always a given. No matter what their position, people were always treated as equal at Super Bowl LI. Showing appreciation to those who contribute to making an event a success goes a long way to building strong relationships as well as cultivates a willingness in staff to go the extra mile.

Read more about what it's like on the ground in this article: A Week in Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII - Rosterfy.

Whether you're running a volunteer army of ten or tens of thousands, Rosterfy makes it easy to manage your volunteers and workforce via one centralized system.

If you’d like to learn more, why not book a demo of our product today?

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