Will PeddieDirector of Football OperationsUCLAWhy did you decide to implement Teamworks at UCLA?I first found out about Teamworks from the email newsletters and new customer announcements, so I reached out to get some more information. Then we met in person at the DFO convention. I was having some frustrations with poor communication and having to deal with countless Excel spreadsheets and wasting paper. As soon as I learned about everything Teamworks had to offer, I wanted it right away without ever seeing it. I had heard so many great things from other schools and knew it could benefit our program immediately.What issues does Teamworks solve that were not being addressed before?Teamworks has made it easier to send information to our players and staff. Any forms, files, messages, and other information we need to collect or need to send out is much simpler. It is a huge stress reliever to know that I can rely on Teamworks to deliver information effectively and efficiently.How have the players reacted to Teamworks?The players love it! I use the mass text and mass email every day, so they may be complaining about the number of texts, but being able to relay information to all our athletes at a moment’s notice has helped ensure that everybody is on the same page with practice and other team meetings.The players especially love the calendar function because they all have their calendar readily available on their phones. We have found that our student-athletes are much better about time management and being on time for appointments. Our players always have their phone with them, so they love having their schedules, texts, and all other information at the tips of their fingers.How have the coaching staff and other staff members reacted to Teamworks?When I showed our head coach how to send messages to the entire team and coaching staff directly from the mobile app, he loved it. The rest of the coaches love being able to see the players calendars on a hourly and daily basis. Even just receiving reminders about time changes and staff meetings has been helpful to all of us.Our staff has been using Teamworks as a centralized calendar. We integrated our campus academic system with Teamworks, which gets automatically updated with any changes to their academic calendar. Then I can add in practice times and team meetings. The training staff schedules rehab and treatment appointments. Academics records study hall hours. Even our sports media staff uses the calendar to schedule interviews. All of our staff is able to see each player’s calendar as a collaborative schedule being updated with all of their appointments.What is the bottom line value Teamworks has created for your program?The biggest added value has been having everybody on the same page. Our guys cannot use the old excuse of “I didn’t know” or “I didn’t get this” because we can see the delivery reports of our messages and the calendar is always available for them. Everything is located in one spot, so if I need to update any information on the fly, everybody will be able to see those changes immediately. All of the different staff groups have bought into Teamworks and now we are getting other teams on board, so we are also helping other parts of the athletics department as well. Teamworks is a well-rounded tool that can help any program. There is no reason not to have Teamworks.Overall, there is less stress and less doubt about where our players are and where they are supposed to be. We have gotten to the point where everybody knows to check Teamworks for the most up-to-date information. Teamworks creates a sense of certainty and improves the structure and efficiency of our program.How would you rate Teamworks' training, implementation, and customer service?I was completely pleased with the training and implementation process. I got trained, asked tons of questions, and got responses right away. Everybody else that works with the program got trained on how to use the system with the idea that the more people who understand the system, the better.The customer service was first class. I really felt like it was important to the Teamworks staff that we were comfortable using Teamworks. Even after we fully rolled out, the customer service stayed great. The Teamworks staff worked with our university IT to set up class integration with the Teamworks calendar which has really helped us out.Would you recommend Teamworks to other programs?I would absolutely recommend Teamworks to anybody. It makes everything from an operations standpoint much easier and much more efficient. Teamworks really opened my eyes to how efficient our operations position can be. I am no longer running around stressed or frustrated. You are wasting your time if you don’t have Teamworks.There is nothing even close to what Teamworks can offer. The ease and total functionality is unmatched. An operations job can be stressful with everything constantly changing and so many people to notify of those changes. With Teamworks, everything is right there at your fingertips. I can be anywhere and change anything on the schedule, send an email to our staff, text all of our players, or make any other information updates. Everything is all in one spot for the entire Football department.Also, I was pretty surprised how many other teams were interested. Men's Volleyball, Softball, and Women’s Basketball at UCLA have all joined or started a trial with Teamworks, and they are all using it. Other teams have seen just as much value as we have in Football.