The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations is the membership organisation for Scotland's charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises. Charity registered in Scotland SC003558. Registered office Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh EH3 6BB.
Operational management
Once you’re set up, your main focus is likely to be on the day-to-day running (sometimes called operational management) of your village or community hall. A well-run space means you can deliver services and activities efficiently, you use any staff or volunteer time well and you can both cover costs and even create a financial surplus to invest or keep as reserves.
We know that this can be challenging though – especially as all of us face the cost-of-living crisis and its continued impact.
In this section, we’ll look at covering day-today running tasks, keeping costs down, and planning for the future.
Hub handbook
A key document for most community spaces is a procedure & operations manual or a ‘Hub Handbook’. This document is a way of bringing all relevant and necessary information and instructions together in one place. A ‘guide for everything’ that can be used by management committee members, staff, volunteers, tenants, users and visitors alike. You can see this example Hub Handbook from the Muir Hub.
The nature of community spaces is that changes will occur in both working practices and the various persons responsible and involved. Therefore:
- Periodic updates should be made to operational documents and manuals and communicated appropriately
- Regular training and information sessions should also be held for all management committee members, staff and volunteers.
- An induction process and information pack for all new persons should be developed, actively used and kept up-to-date, meaning that anyone can pick up the manual and understand what the process is for each activity.