Your Guide To Studio Manager Roles And Responsibilities

Streamline your studio management!

Have you ever thought about taking your passion for dance to the next level and making it a career? Maybe you’ve considered becoming a manager at a dance studio, or even opening your own dance studio. We cover the essential dance studio manager roles and responsibilities, as well as qualities that will help you in the job. 

Getting Started In The Industry

If you have a passion for dance, you are likely already a top candidate for being a dance studio manager. Whether you are a former dancer or just love dancing, you should consider pursuing a job as a studio manager. You will get to make a living in a world that you love and spend your days with people who also love dancing.

Dance studios are always looking for a reliable and proficient manager. Your position will offer you the personal growth and freedom you want while also giving you an enjoyable way to earn your paycheck.

It depends on the studio, but there are usually some requirements for being hired for studio manager jobs. 

You’ll have to have organization skills and some experience managing schedules. While you don’t have to be a dancer, it certainly helps to have the knowledge so you can adequately advise and assist the studio’s customers. Finally, most studio owners will want to hire someone who has been in charge of an office and staff.

Qualities Of A Great Dance Studio Manager

We’ll discuss more about the roles and responsibilities later, but these are the types of soft skills or personal qualities that owners look for in a studio manager. 

Exceptional organizational skills

From enrollment forms to progress reports, liability waivers to invoices – there’s a lot of paperwork involved in running a dance studio. Paperwork isn’t the only thing that a studio must keep organized, of course. Inventory, class schedules, and email correspondence also must be orderly.

Calm under pressure 

A good dance studio manager is patient, and still thrives when the environment gets intense. Let’s face it. Things will get stressful when you’re running a dance studio – especially during busy times like recruitment and recital seasons. 

As a dance studio manager, it’s critical that you can make important decisions that are supported by facts, and not emotions during such times.

Great communication skills

Whether you’re talking to other employees or potential students, you must be able to communicate clearly. Whether written or spoken, good communication avoids miscommunications or mistakes. 

You’ll also need to be able to master different communication channels as well, like emails or text alerts for programming changes. 

A natural leader 

They say great leaders earn respect instead of demanding respect. You must be kind, listen well, be willing to learn and adapt, and be available to your team. When you act respectfully, you get respect in return.

As we discuss later, great dance studio managers also appreciate their employees and understand that they are part of a team. They give credit where it’s due, and help boost morale at every opportunity. When everyone is happy and feels appreciated, work simply feels easier and more joyful.

Dance Studio Manager Roles And Responsibilities

If you’re interested in starting a career in dance, the most common dance studio manager roles and responsibilities include:

  • Scheduling classes, students, and instructors
  • Managing staff, including instructors, other employees, and vendors 
  • Processing new registration requests 
  • Hiring and onboarding new team members
  • Advising current and potential customers on which classes to take or instructors they’ll love 
  • Carefully tracking financial information, such as payment details and expenses 
  • Keeping records of your customers and staff so that you can get in touch with them when needed
  • Running marketing campaigns to help bring in new dancers to the studio
  • Helping to resolve conflicts with students, their parents, and/or your instructors 
  • Managing many daily tasks with a dance studio software 

Some of these tasks will take more attention than others, so let’s look at them in more detail. 

Scheduling 

One of your most important jobs as a dance studio manager will be scheduling. Not only will you be setting up classes and then adding dancers to them until you are at full capacity, you’ll be in charge of scheduling instructors for classes. 

This requires careful monitoring of the studio calendar and being able to keep track of who will be in which rooms at which times.

Thankfully, many studio software tools automate this task. With a tool like Studio Director, you’ll effortlessly manage class schedules, set up wait lists for popular classes, and handle any enrollment changes. 

Managing staff 

The happiness of your staff will have a direct impact on the success of your studio. But, in order for your staff to function as a cohesive whole, you have to actively create a team environment within your studio as a manager. 

One of the best ways to do that is by setting goals for each team and every individual. With clear goals they’re all driving toward, your team will learn to rely on one another and cooperate on the task at hand.

In addition, keep lines of communication open. Implement an “open-door policy” as a studio manager so that employees feel comfortable discussing any issues with you. Creating a place where your team feels heard and acknowledged will go a long way toward setting a positive tone for your studio. 

Perhaps the most fundamental part of any winning team is an overwhelming loyalty and trust among the group. You accomplish this by taking each of your employees’ attitudes toward work into account and then reassuring them — through your attentive action and supportive approach — that you value their unique contribution to the greater whole. Demonstrate compassion and empathy for each employee. 

When an issue needs to be addressed, don’t shy away from providing constructive feedback to help your employee perform better. Likewise, be sure to recognize your staff’s accomplishments, both collectively and individually. Even if it costs little to no money to do so, the effects on employee morale will be more than worth it in the end.

Using dance studio software 

Using the right type of software is like having a virtual employee working on your behalf 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year long. 

With dance studio management software like Studio Director, you’ll be able to:

  • Manage inventory and retail products 
  • Handle online class scheduling and registration 
  • Provide multiple payment processing options to clients
  • Communicate easily with students and their parents 

The best dance studios have a good manager, and a good dance studio manager uses the best tools to run it more efficiently. 

Ready to see how a tool like Studio Director can help you in your dream job? Set up a free demo with Studio Director today!

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