How a Children's Rugby Program Reclaimed Its Coaches' Weekends

Introduction

Rugbytots offers fun, play-based rugby classes for children aged two to seven, with several locations across the UK. 

‍The program is more than just a sports class; it's a PE-style delivery with a rugby flavor, designed to create "memorable moments" for children and their parents. It focuses on developing skills like teamwork and resilience while ensuring the kids have a great time. 

For Tom Brown, the owner of Rugbytots, the goal is to provide a supportive and fun environment, not just for the children, but for his coaches as well.

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The Challenge: No Way to Disconnect

With coaches and classes spread across different regions, communication was a major challenge. While the classes are mostly on weekends, administrative and coaching info was being sent out all week long, leading to a disorganized and stressful work environment.

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This created several key problems:

• No Work-Life Separation: Coaches were getting important work messages on their days off. This made it impossible for them to fully disconnect and created a poor work-life balance for the team.
• A Lack of Structure: There was no set schedule for sharing information. This made managing the team difficult and meant coaches couldn't be sure they had what they needed for the weekend's classes.
• Scattered and Inefficient Communication: Communication was a messy mix of texts and emails. It was hard to track conversations and make sure every coach got the right information at the right time.

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"As much as I was using WhatsApp for my social and my business, separating the two has just made life so much easier."

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The Solution: Why Zenzap?

Rugbytots needed a work communication app that could bring structure to the week, allowing them to reliably share information while respecting the coaches' time off. 

Tom chose Zenzap because it provided the exact flexibility and features to create an organized workflow that worked for everyone

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"For me, structure allows for success…Zenzap is the structure I was always looking for, so it's allowed me to achieve what I'm looking to achieve."

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Key Features in Action

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Scheduled Messaging

The ability to schedule messages was the key to solving the team’s biggest problem. Leadership can now prepare all coaching information during the week and schedule it to be delivered only on the days their coaches are working.

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Organized Chats

The Rugbytots team created chats based on their workflow, such as "Tuesday Coach Information Delivery Day" and "Friday Top-Up." This structure ensures that coaches know exactly when and where to expect important updates, so they can check in and make sure they don’t miss anything.

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A Professional Platform

By moving all work conversations to Zenzap, the team now has a single, organized place for everything. This has made it easier to manage the team and has created a more professional and efficient way of working.

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"As far as a coach is concerned, they're not getting disturbed on the days that that information isn't coming through... they know then they can clue in to Tuesdays and Fridays as key delivery days."

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The Impact: Structure, Success, and a Happier Team

The switch to Zenzap has fundamentally changed how the Rugbytots franchise operates. The new, structured system has not only made the business more efficient but has also created a better work environment for the entire team.

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The transformation was clear across the business:

• Coaches have their personal time back. They are no longer bombarded with messages on their days off. They can check Zenzap on their workdays, confident they will have all the information they need, when they need it.

• The business runs on a clear and predictable schedule. The leadership team can manage the week more effectively by preparing and scheduling all communications in advance. This has replaced chaos with a calm, organized workflow.

• Managing a remote team is simple and effective. With coaches spread across broad geographic areas, having a single communication hub has been essential for keeping the business running smoothly.

"The coaches can set the hours and days in which they can receive information, and therefore they can manage their work-life balance."

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Conclusion

Rugbytots' passion for creating positive experiences for children was being held back by a disorganized communication system that was stressing out its coaches. 

Zenzap provided the structure and flexibility they needed to solve this problem, helping them build a more professional, efficient, and balanced business. 

By implementing a tool that respects everyone's time, the Rugbytots team can now focus on what truly matters.

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"The best form of communication is something that just makes the easy things easy and the hard things less hard. And I think that's vital to run a business like this."

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