Area Manager Gym Performance Checklist
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About this area manager checklist
Multi-site gym performance is where guesswork creeps in. One club feels “fine”, another is firefighting, and you only find out when complaints land or equipment downtime spikes. This area manager gym performance checklist gives you a consistent way to review member experience, equipment uptime risks, cleanliness hotspots, and rota pressure points — then turn what you find into owned actions.
It is not a full gym walkthrough or compliance audit. It focuses on day-to-day execution and people practices, so you can spot patterns across clubs and coach duty managers in the moments that matter.
What this checklist covers
- Member experience consistency (arrival, queue risk, and how issues get closed out)
- Equipment uptime and downtime risk (repeat failures, ageing open issues, and whether the reporting process is actually working)
- Cleanliness hotspots that slip under pressure (toilets, showers, touchpoints, bins)
- Staffing and rota pressure points (peak windows, floor presence, and shift control)
- Duty manager coaching prompts to drive consistent behaviours across your region
- Action cascade so tasks are owned, acknowledged, and completed — with a clear follow-up date
Who it is for
This checklist works best for area managers and operations teams who support multiple gyms and want a repeatable performance review that complements audits. Use it on planned visits, support visits, and follow-ups — especially when you need to understand whether standards hold during peak periods.
How to use it on a club visit
- Start with context: capture the visit type and the trading period you observed so comparisons are fair.
- Look for patterns, not perfection: focus on what is repeatable across shifts and across clubs.
- Coach in the moment: use the stop, start, continue prompts to lock in one or two behaviours that will change outcomes.
- Make actions unavoidable: every meaningful gap becomes an action with an owner, due date, and acknowledgement.
- Close the loop: agree a follow-up date while you are on site.
Why this approach reduces guesswork
Audits can tell you whether a club meets a standard on the day. This checklist tells you whether the club can run the standard every day — when the rota is tight, when equipment fails, and when the floor gets busy. That is the difference between “we think it’s fine” and knowing what is actually happening.
Want this checklist inside Ocasta?
Ocasta replaces scattered notes and inconsistent follow-ups with structured checklists, clear ownership, and real-time visibility across clubs. You get the insight to spot trends early, and your teams get the clarity to act fast — so performance improves in every moment.
Disclaimer: This checklist is for general guidance only and does not constitute legal, regulatory, health and safety, or professional advice. You are responsible for ensuring compliance with applicable laws, standards, and internal policies.
Included questions
Here's what's included in this area manager checklist:
Visit context and club basics (5)
Capture the essentials so patterns show up across clubs — not just one-off issues.
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Text
Visit date
Use the local date for this club visit.
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Text
Club name
The site you are reviewing today.
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Person
Duty manager on shift
Who is accountable for today’s shift execution?
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Dropdown
Visit type
Keep this consistent so you can compare like-for-like visits.
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Dropdown
Which trading period did you see?
Execution often changes under pressure — note what you observed.
Member experience consistency (5)
Focus on the repeatable moments that drive retention: arrival, availability, and how issues are handled.
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Yes/No
Arrival experience is consistent and welcoming
Check: clear entry, friendly acknowledgement, and no confusion about where to go next.
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Dropdown
Front desk queue risk today
If queues form, members feel it immediately. Choose the closest match.
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Yes/No
Member issues are logged and closed out reliably
Ask for an example from this week and confirm it has an owner and a clear outcome.
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Text
Top three sources of member friction this week
Examples: equipment downtime, cleanliness, overcrowding, temperature, noise, lockers, showers.
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Vibe
Overall member experience today
Your judgement call based on what you saw and heard on the floor.
Equipment uptime and downtime risk (5)
Avoid the classic trap: the audit looks fine, but members keep finding broken kit. Look for repeat downtime and slow actioning.
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Yes/No
Any critical equipment is currently out of service
Critical means it materially affects the member experience (for example, key cardio bank, popular cable station, or a full functional zone item).
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Number
How many items are out of service today?
Count anything unavailable or unsafe to use.
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Number
Age of the oldest open equipment issue (days)
If no open issues, enter 0.
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Yes/No
The team can explain the equipment reporting process clearly
Listen for: how it is logged, who owns it, expected response times, and how members are informed.
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Dropdown
Preventive checks completion this week
This is about day-to-day discipline, not formal servicing.
Cleanliness hotspots and standards under pressure (5)
Look for the places that slip first when the rota is tight: toilets, showers, bins, and touchpoints.
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Yes/No
Toilets and showers are clean, stocked, and smell fresh
Check soap, paper, bins, and visible cleaning attention (not just ‘acceptable’).
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Yes/No
High-touch points are being cleaned consistently
Examples: handles, screens, mats, lockers, water points, studio kit.
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Yes/No
Bins are managed and not overflowing
Spot-check changing rooms and busy workout zones.
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Dropdown
Cleaning coverage during peak periods
Choose what actually happens, not what the plan says.
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Vibe
Overall cleanliness standard today
Your judgement call across the full club, not one area.
Staffing, rota pressure, and shift control (5)
This is where guesswork creeps in: unclear cover, competing priorities, and no one owning the floor.
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Yes/No
The rota is filled with no unplanned gaps this week
If there were gaps, capture what was de-prioritised as a result.
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Dropdown
Highest pressure time window for this club
Use this to compare patterns across clubs and plan support.
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Yes/No
Duty manager has a clear shift plan and priorities
Ask: ‘What are your top three non-negotiables today — and what will you drop if it gets busy?’
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Dropdown
Floor presence from the team
Members notice when the team disappears into the office or behind the desk.
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Text
Staffing notes and constraints
Capture the reality: vacancies, sickness, training gaps, time lost to admin, or local factors.
Duty manager coaching prompts (5)
A short, repeatable coaching conversation that improves consistency across clubs.
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Text
One thing to stop doing this week
Pick a behaviour that creates waste, rework, or inconsistency.
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Text
One thing to start doing this week
Make it specific and observable on shift.
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Text
One thing to continue doing
Reinforce what is working so it sticks under pressure.
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Dropdown
Confidence in the duty manager’s shift control
Your view of how reliably they can run a busy shift without standards slipping.
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Text
Coaching notes
What did you see, what did you ask, and what did you agree?
Action cascade and follow-through (6)
Turn findings into owned actions — and make completion visible. No more ‘I thought someone else had it’.
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Yes/No
Actions have been created for all key gaps found today
If it matters enough to mention, it matters enough to own.
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Yes/No
Each action has a clear owner
Avoid ‘the team’ as an owner. Name a person.
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Yes/No
Each action has a due date that matches the risk
If the risk is immediate, the due date should be immediate.
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Yes/No
Actions have been acknowledged by the owner
Acknowledgement prevents silent failure and makes follow-through predictable.
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Text
Agreed follow-up date
When will you check progress and close the loop?
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Signature
Area manager sign-off
Confirms this review was completed and actions were agreed.