The Productive Parks 5-Minute Podcast

In 2022, the National Interagency Fire Center reported over 7.4 million acres were burned by 65,646 wildfires--the most recorded in the past ten years.  We’ve all seen the headlines about wildfires. They cause disruptions to transportation, communications, utilities, and water supplies. Wildfires cost the economy billions annually. Uncontrolled fires result in losses in property, crops, resources,...

If you live in certain parts of the country, snow is inevitable. If your agency does snow removal in-house, drivers will face some hazardous conditions. Routine vehicle inspections and staying stocked with emergency equipment like fire extinguishers, reflective warning devices, and road flairs are good starting points for preparing your plows.  But you'll want to go that extra mile... Ensuring the...

Seasonal and lower-wage positions are common for many maintenance teams. Parks maintenance managers often struggle to keep these employees motivated.  We all wish there were enough money to pay higher rates for all the help, but budgets only stretch so far. While pay can be a strong motivator, it’s not the only thing compelling people to show up and do their duties each day. So how do you keep tea...

To those that don't know, invasive plant species can be attractive, fragrant, and even welcomed additions to gardens and landscaping.  Actually, many invasive plants started in people’s gardens.  They got introduced to an area from different countries. Since they lacked natural predators, they were able to thrive. And then they started taking over… In today’s episode of The Productive Parks 5-Minu...

We all want to love our careers, especially if we work in parks and recreation. Being outdoors, using our skills for better parks and facilities, and making a difference in the community can be very rewarding.  But almost every job has some level of stress. A parks maintenance team gets pulled in a lot of directions. The growing season can get extremely busy. Issues pop up at multiple sites. Equip...

Climate change has brought its fair share of challenges. Heat waves, severe weather, and uncontrolled wildfires are becoming more frequent and intense. We’re dealing with more losses to property, natural habits, and life. One way to help reduce the impacts of these hazards is through nature-based solutions. This green infrastructure practice involves finding more natural ways to prevent and manage...

You don’t often hear “recreation” and “emergency management” used in the same sentence. It may seem hard to discover a connection between the two things.  But when you take a closer look, Parks & Recreation departments can be invaluable resources for communities in the case of a disaster or emergency.  Effective emergency management means being creative, adaptable, and resourceful despite the chal...

Every workday morning starts with dispatching safe, reliable vehicles so the maintenance team can complete their daily tasks.  It’s easy to take for granted the critical role vehicles play in the maintenance department’s workflow.  And then… Usually, at the worst possible time, one of the vehicles breaks down. Everyone’s schedule gets thrown off. You realize just how crucial working vehicles are t...

As a manager or supervisor, have you fallen into this trap?  You spend time and energy on employee selection, hiring, and training. Once the workers are on the job, they get left to their own devices.  You let them find their bearings, have the team help manage issues, and deal with the bigger picture.  Before you know it, it’s time for the performance review. This extra paperwork seems more like...

Keep your pickleball courts safe and looking their best for years to come!   After spending the time and money installing a pickleball court, you will want to protect that investment. Pickleball court maintenance helps to increase the playing area’s lifespan and keep it looking good.    In today’s episode of the Productive Parks 5-Minute Podcast, we discuss the different components of a pickleball...

You’ve heard the public’s opinion. They want pickleball courts! So how are you going to deliver? High demand shouldn’t keep your agency from making sound decisions about the best placement and option for installing a pickleball court. Each type of pickleball court installation comes with its set of pros and cons. In today’s episode of the Productive Parks 5-Minute Podcast, we explore the common pi...

Pickleball is America’s fastest-growing sport. Its popularity surged during the height of the pandemic. More and more parks and recreation departments are installing pickleball courts--or getting requests from the community to add some.  If you’re not familiar with pickleball, you may be wondering what you need to add pickleball courts to your parks or facilities. Or if pickleball can be played on...

Your maintenance team has been doing things one way for as long as anyone can remember. Now the decision to shake things up is met with plenty of mumbled (or not so mumbled) complaints and resistance.  Implementing something new, like computerized maintenance management software (CMMS), takes people out of their comfort zones. But it doesn’t mean they have to stay out of those zones--they simply r...

At some point, you will be looking for your next big maintenance equipment purchase. As you probably already know, there is a lot of building maintenance equipment available.  How will you know what is best for your facility?  After all, there are a lot of distractions--the latest technology, newest innovations, hottest trends, and ads targeted at you.  Or you just might want a newer version of so...

Many park districts, parks & recreation departments, and municipalities streamline their operations, registration, marketing, and maintenance tasks with the help of software.  Let’s face it. The days of managing complicated operations tasks with just word documents, spreadsheets, and an email account are becoming a thing of the past. And for a good reason! Good software is designed to make our liv...

For many parts of the country, snow removal is an inevitable part of the winter workflow.  The mowers get placed in storage. The snow throwers come out.  So are your snow throwers ready for the inevitable snowfall? Does your team know how to operate them safely? Is your crew prepared for snow removal during non-business hours if needed? In this episode, we talk about what you need to do with your...

When chainsaws are maintained and used correctly, they are powerful, useful tools helping with tree care and removal, clearing thick brush, and cutting fallen branches into movable pieces. Conversely, chainsaws could be one of the most dangerous pieces of small equipment your team uses when handled and maintained incorrectly. (Just ask anyone that unexpectedly had the chainsaw kick back at them.)...

More parks & recreation departments are adopting sustainability plans to ensure better health for the planet and find ways to save energy, work more efficiently, and preserve the land they manage. A sustainability plan provides strategies to address an agency's impact on the social, economic, and environmental health of the community and beyond. It also allows agencies to reasonably continue progr...

Running a maintenance department requires a special set of leadership skills. Maintenance managers must possess a particular skill set to ensure their crew gets on the same page and executes the tasks that need completion.  Sure, there are obvious skills any leader should have, like communication, integrity, accountability, and the ability to delegate. We’re not going to head down that well-worn t...

In the perfect world, everyone on the maintenance crew is on the same page about what needs completion and how to get it done. Just like your mowers and equipment, you want to be sure employees are working in harmony to efficiently complete tasks. But that isn’t always the case. There are plenty of reasons maintenance crews fall out of sync…that topic probably deserves its own podcast. Instead, we...

What do you do with your commercial mowers once the growing season is over? After all, they probably got a good workout--maybe even dinged up a little by the seasonal workers. After the last mowing, don’t just roll the mowers to the back of the garage and forget about them until spring. The end of the mowing season is a perfect time for inspecting and winterizing commercial lawn mowers.  In this e...

Is your maintenance team struggling with time management? Does the backlog keep piling up? Not sure what your team is doing on their shift? Often, time management problems for the maintenance team reflect underlying issues. When planning, scheduling, and effective communication get established, time management begins falling into place.  In today's episode, we talk about the process of planning an...

Do you know one of the best things most maintenance teams love about paperwork? Finding ways to reduce it! Reducing paperwork and simplifying processes is the idea behind standing work orders. Creating standing work orders can save time and administration costs. But there are some things to consider before adding them to your workflow. In today’s episode, we are going to talk about what is a stand...

Our facilities need attention to stay operational. Scheduling facility maintenance tasks and inspections help your agency detect and resolve issues before they become big problems.  When done correctly, facility maintenance often goes unnoticed. Instead of waiting for something to go wrong, preventative maintenance addresses needs before they affect programming and operations.  In this episode, we...

Parks & recreation departments provide safe, attractive, and fun environments for visitors to enjoy. The daily work of the maintenance department helps ensure public safety as they enjoy our assets. Sometimes it’s easy to take for granted the ways parks maintenance departments help keep the public safe. But when we take a closer look at all they do to ensure public safety, we realize just how impo...