Facility and Program Operations Management
What this domain tests
The administrative side of the role: budgeting, staffing, scheduling, equipment lifecycle, records, marketing, retention, and quality improvement.
Core rules and concepts
- Distinguish operating from capital budgets, and fixed from variable costs. Break-even members = fixed costs ÷ (revenue per member − variable cost per member).
- Staffing: valid certifications, onboarding, continuing education, coverage at peak hours, and named emergency roles on every shift.
- Scheduling: capacity utilization = used slots ÷ available slots; peak and off-peak pricing smooths demand.
- Equipment: preventive maintenance schedule and log, warranty tracking, downtime tracking, and a replacement reserve funded from revenue or based on useful life.
- Records: secure, retained per policy and law, backed up, and handled under applicable privacy rules.
- Retention: the first 30–90 days determine much of long-term membership; track attendance, reach out at drop-off, use satisfaction or Net Promoter scores and exit interviews. Acquisition usually costs far more than retention.
- Quality improvement: PDSA cycles and KPIs such as retention rate, revenue per member, utilization, incident rate, and satisfaction.
- Marketing, pricing, program mix, and partnerships round out the operational picture.
Worked example
A club has $40,000 in monthly fixed costs, $60 revenue per member, and $15 variable cost per member. Break-even = 40,000 ÷ 45 ≈ 889 members. With 1,100 members, monthly contribution is (1,100 × 45) − 40,000 = $9,500. Cutting the price to $50 lowers contribution to $35, so break-even rises to about 1,143 members - the discount must add roughly 250 members just to hold profit.
Traps that cost marks
Confusing revenue with profit; omitting variable costs from break-even; cutting maintenance as an easy budget fix; celebrating a price cut that raises volume but lowers total contribution; chasing acquisition while ignoring onboarding and retention.