8.1 Introduction
1 Creating a maintenance schedule of work (sometimes called a calendar of work) can be a great help to everyone involved in looking after a pitch. These schedules are not ‘set in stone’ guides but are meant as forward planning and progress planning and monitoring tools, basically a management ‘work in progress tool’. This means that they should be updated on a regular basis as the year progresses. At, or towards, the end of the year, the actual work carried out can be compared with the original schedule. Differences in the two can then be identified and investigated to help improve forward planning for the following year.
2 A change in finances, staff availability, weather (distinguishing between both general weather and the more extreme weather, although the latter does seem to be becoming more frequent), ground conditions, machine breakdowns, receipt or delay of materials, unavailability of materials, vandalism, unforeseen usage, excessive damage from planned usage, reschedule usage, and other reasons, can all impact when activities can actually take place.
3 So, plan out what might be realistically anticipated, monitor the situation, and adapt it accordingly. This is a much better approach than not putting it down as a record and trying to remember everything. This is not a very helpful approach for everyone involved, especially if the person with the only detailed knowledge of the schedule becomes ill, leaves, or suffers a long-term illness or injury and is unable to return to work. Being proactive is much better than being reactive, and this should make it much easier to effectively communicate what is involved to others.