Last updated Feb 22, 2024
The Pennine Scout District in the UK includes over 30 scouting groups in the Rochdale, Middleton and Heywood townships. It’s a busy organization with a lot going on! They’ve used Teamup for years to manage activities and schedules for all the groups. Recently Alan Sharkey, District Commissioner for the Pennine District, told us about how they’ve expanded their use of Teamup to build smart operational solutions for other aspects of the organization. From handling backend processes to creating public schedule visibility, Teamup is a tool that contributes to the overall well-being of the scout group.
“I am proud of what we have been able to achieve with Teamup.”
-Alan Sharkey, District Commissioner for the Pennine District
Operational solution 1: Easy reporting and transparency
Adult scouters in the district are required to inform the District Commissioner when they plan an activity away from their normal scouting location. To make it easy to send in these reports, Alan uses a shared Teamup calendar. Each group of scouts has a customized calendar link. The adult scout leader simply posts their activities on the shared calendar, which automatically sends Alan an email notification.
There’s also a read-only view of the shared calendar, which all the groups can access. This way, Alan explains:
“…everyone can see what everyone else gets up to and either join in or take those ideas for their own groups. I know of no other calendar app with this functionality.”
Operational solution 2: Sharing availability and enabling booking
For many social groups and special-interest communities, day-to-day operations require much more than a list of scheduled events. A large part of daily functioning is managing availability of people, facilities, resources, and activities.
Older methods of tracking and sharing availability, such as using a spreadsheet and relying on back-and-forth calls or emails, are inefficient and error-prone. A better operational solution is to eliminate the information bottleneck by making availability visible to the entire group. The Pennine Scouts did just that!
Here are a few examples of how they use Teamup to share availability.
Sharing time availability
Here’s how Alan shares his time availability, with an operational solution powered by Teamup:
“I have a Teamup calendar linked to three of my own email based calendars. I give out a read-only link to anyone who wishes to book my time so they can see when I am free and busy. This helps a lot as I am quite busy with the different roles in Scouting.”
Sharing space availability
The embedded calendar for this campsite, with options for outdoor camping or lodge accommodations, shows both approved and provisional bookings, as well as times when the campsite is closed. The sub-calendars for self-reservation have the Add-only, no details permission. This permission allows people to add their own booking to the calendar, but prevents them from modifying or viewing the details of other bookings.
For another building the group manages, which allows self-booking as well, they’ve created a helpful guide to make the process easier for all group members and others who wish to reserve the space.
Sharing facility availability
To share availability for these two facilities, the group set up side-by-side embedded calendars to show bookings that have already been made (both confirmed and pending). After checking to see that a facility is available on the desired dates, groups can submit a booking request via the online form.
Sharing activity/resource availability
In addition to booking the building space and camping areas, groups can book various activities for their stay. There’s a wide variety of activities available, from crossbows and climbing to pioneering and pedal karts. An embedded calendar shows activity bookings, so groups can see what’s available and plan their own activities.
We’re always excited to hear how Teamup is helping real people do their work in ways that are easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable! Want to get started with your own operational solutions, powered by Teamup? Create your own calendar here, or get inspired with more user stories.
