Chapter 4 - Building the Fan Services & Experience Team
Fan Services & Experience is typically led by a manager who serves as the communication link between the executive team and the team members executing operations. This role carries dual accountability: to leadership (for team performance and goal achievement) and to team members (for support, guidance, and development).
Executive Alignment & Team Communication
Managers participate in executive meetings to understand organizational goals and priorities. They communicate these goals clearly to their teams, define individual responsibilities, and explain how each team member’s contribution supports the broader objectives. Managers are accountable to leadership for ensuring their teams meet agreed goals.
Effective managers are communication hubs: they receive goals and expectations from leadership and translate them into clear assignments for their teams. Equally important, they capture feedback from team members and fans and communicate trends upward. This dual flow of information is what enables continuous improvement.
Team Support & Development
Managers train new team members and provide ongoing support during task execution. They act as motivators and support systems during operational challenges. On a regular basis, managers evaluate the performance of each team member individually, identify opportunities for improvement, and support team members’ professional development.
Feedback & Continuous Improvement
Managers work continuously with multiple feedback channels to capture fan and team feedback on service quality and operational effectiveness. They work with their team to analyze feedback, identify trends, and make adjustments where required. This feedback loop is essential for maintaining service standards and identifying areas for team support or additional training.
Resource Planning & Capability Gaps
As managers evaluate team performance and operational needs, they identify gaps between current staffing capability and event requirements. These assessments inform decisions about team structure, hiring, training priorities, and external support.
A skills gap analysis compares the skills required by the organization to achieve its goals against the existing skills within the staffing pool. This analysis reveals where capability gaps exist and helps define the qualities needed by future hires. The ideal candidate profile typically includes:
Hard skills and technical competencies specific to the role
Soft skills required for collaboration and guest interaction
Relevant work experience
Educational background or certifications
Once the ideal candidate profile is defined, a job description can be prepared that articulates:
The role’s responsibilities and duties
Required skills, proficiencies, and competencies
Experience and educational background expected
Reporting lines and team context
When well executed, job descriptions attract appropriate applicants and serve as a basis for the selection process, ensuring alignment between candidate capability and role requirements.
Once developed, a well-written job description serves as:
Hiring guide (attracting right applicants)
Induction tool (helping new team members understand role)
Performance standard (basis for evaluating success)
Clarification for cross-training (defining scope)
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HSE (UK Health and Safety Executive) - The Purple Guide to Health, Safety and Welfare at Music and Other Events
https://www.thepurpleguide.co.uk/purple-guide-liteAssociation of Volunteer Managers
https://volunteermanagers.org.uk/learning-and-events/Pine, B.J., & Gilmore, J.H. - “The Experience Economy: Work is Theatre & Every Business a Stage” (2011) - Citation: Pine, B.J., & Gilmore, J.H. (2011).
https://archive.org/details/experienceeconom00pine