[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":244},["ShallowReactive",2],{"marketing-blog-blog\u002Fhow-many-people-you-need-on-the-front-door":3,"marketing-blog-related-blog\u002Fhow-many-people-you-need-on-the-front-door":224},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"category":203,"date":204,"description":205,"draft":206,"extension":207,"image":208,"imageAlt":209,"imageCredit":210,"imageCreditUrl":211,"meta":212,"navigation":213,"path":214,"readTime":215,"seo":216,"stem":217,"tags":218,"__hash__":223},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-many-people-you-need-on-the-front-door.md","How many people you need on the front door","The CheckInHub team",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":194},"minimark",[10,14,17,22,25,28,34,38,41,109,118,122,125,154,162,166,169,181,184,188,191],[11,12,13],"p",{},"Staffing the front door is a guessing game for most organisers, and the guesses tend to run in one of two directions. Either you over-staff out of nervousness and pay people to stand around for most of the arrival window, or you under-staff to save money and watch a queue form that you cannot clear. Both are avoidable. The number of people you need on the door is not a feeling. It is a calculation, and once you have done it once you will never staff a door blind again.",[11,15,16],{},"The calculation rests on two things you can estimate: how fast each check-in point processes a guest, and how quickly guests actually arrive. Get those right and the staffing falls out of the maths.",[18,19,21],"h2",{"id":20},"arrivals-are-not-evenly-spread","Arrivals are not evenly spread",[11,23,24],{},"The single biggest mistake is to take your total headcount, divide it across the arrival window, and staff for that average. Nobody arrives at the average rate. Guests bunch up, heavily, in the period just before the first session. A six-hundred-capacity conference does not see ten guests a minute across an hour. It sees a trickle early, then a hundred and fifty people in the fifteen minutes before the keynote, then a long tail.",[11,26,27],{},"You staff for the peak, not the average, because the peak is where the queue forms and the queue is the failure you are trying to avoid. A door that is comfortable on average and overwhelmed at the peak is a door with a queue, and the average will not be any comfort to the people standing in it.",[29,30,31],"blockquote",{},[11,32,33],{},"Staff for the fifteen minutes that matter, not the average across the hour that does not.",[18,35,37],{"id":36},"the-simple-version-of-the-maths","The simple version of the maths",[11,39,40],{},"You do not need a model. You need an honest estimate of two numbers and a bit of arithmetic. Here is how the throughput of a single check-in point shapes the team you need for a sharp arrival peak.",[42,43,44,63],"table",{},[45,46,47],"thead",{},[48,49,50,54,57,60],"tr",{},[51,52,53],"th",{},"Check-in method",[51,55,56],{},"Seconds per guest",[51,58,59],{},"Guests per point per 15 min",[51,61,62],{},"Points for a 150-guest peak",[64,65,66,81,95],"tbody",{},[48,67,68,72,75,78],{},[69,70,71],"td",{},"Searching a paper list",[69,73,74],{},"30 to 45",[69,76,77],{},"around 25",[69,79,80],{},"6",[48,82,83,86,89,92],{},[69,84,85],{},"Typing a name into a laptop",[69,87,88],{},"20 to 30",[69,90,91],{},"around 35",[69,93,94],{},"4 to 5",[48,96,97,100,103,106],{},[69,98,99],{},"Scanning a code",[69,101,102],{},"around 8",[69,104,105],{},"around 100",[69,107,108],{},"2",[11,110,111,112,117],{},"The table tells the whole story. The faster each check-in, the fewer points and people you need to clear the same peak. A door scanning codes at around eight seconds a guest clears a hundred and fifty arrivals in fifteen minutes with two lanes. The same peak on a paper list needs six. The method you choose is the staffing decision, made earlier than you realised. This is the practical side of ",[113,114,116],"a",{"href":115},"\u002Fblog\u002Fcutting-the-queue-at-the-registration-desk","cutting the queue at the registration desk",": faster check-in is fewer staff for the same flow.",[18,119,121],{"id":120},"build-the-team-around-the-points","Build the team around the points",[11,123,124],{},"Once you know how many check-in points you need at the peak, the team is not just the people at those points. A front door has a few roles, and skipping the supporting ones is what turns a well-staffed door into a slow one.",[126,127,128,136,142,148],"ul",{},[129,130,131,135],"li",{},[132,133,134],"strong",{},"Scanners or desk staff",", one per check-in point, processing the routine arrivals.",[129,137,138,141],{},[132,139,140],{},"A greeter or queue manager",", directing people to the next free point and keeping the line orderly.",[129,143,144,147],{},[132,145,146],{},"An exceptions person",", handling the not-on-the-list and change-of-detail cases away from the main flow.",[129,149,150,153],{},[132,151,152],{},"A floating supervisor",", watching the whole door and able to open or close a lane as the pace shifts.",[11,155,156,157,161],{},"The exceptions role is the one most often missed, and its absence is what makes doors stall. When a tricky case lands on a main point, that whole lane stops while it is sorted. Pull those cases to a dedicated person and the routine lanes keep flowing. The way you divide these duties up is itself worth getting right, which is the subject of ",[113,158,160],{"href":159},"\u002Fblog\u002Froles-not-chaos-structuring-event-crew","roles, not chaos: structuring event crew",".",[18,163,165],{"id":164},"right-size-as-you-go","Right-size as you go",[11,167,168],{},"Even a good estimate is still an estimate, and the real arrival pattern will differ from your plan. The teams who staff doors well are the ones who adjust on the day rather than committing to a fixed number and hoping. That means watching the door and moving people as the pace demands.",[170,171,172,175,178],"ol",{},[129,173,174],{},"Before the peak, have everyone in position, because the rush starts faster than people expect.",[129,176,177],{},"During the peak, keep every point open and the floater ready to add a lane.",[129,179,180],{},"After the peak, close points and release crew to the room, where they are now more useful.",[11,182,183],{},"This is where live numbers change the job. When you can see arrivals landing in real time, you are not guessing whether you are about to be busy. You can watch the rate climb, open a lane before the queue forms, and stand a point down the moment the rush passes. The same supervisor who would otherwise be reacting to a queue is now staying ahead of one.",[18,185,187],{"id":186},"spend-the-staff-where-they-count","Spend the staff where they count",[11,189,190],{},"Staffing the door well is not about having more people. It is about having the right number at the right moment, doing the right jobs. A fast check-in method lets you cover a busy door with a small team. Clear roles stop that team tripping over each other. Live data lets you flex as the day moves. Together they let you spend your crew on the welcome rather than on clearing a queue you could have avoided.",[11,192,193],{},"CheckInHub gives you the fast check-in that shrinks the team and the live view that lets you flex it, so you can staff the door for the peak that matters and stand people down when it passes. Do the maths once, build the roles around it, and watch the numbers on the day.",{"title":195,"searchDepth":196,"depth":196,"links":197},"",2,[198,199,200,201,202],{"id":20,"depth":196,"text":21},{"id":36,"depth":196,"text":37},{"id":120,"depth":196,"text":121},{"id":164,"depth":196,"text":165},{"id":186,"depth":196,"text":187},"Managing crew","2025-02-21","Too few door staff and you queue; too many and you waste money. Here is how to work out the right number for your arrival pattern.",false,"md","https:\u002F\u002Fimages.unsplash.com\u002Fphoto-1774557936610-ea8aa35019bb?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop","Crew gathered at an outdoor event with banners","Leviosa Hou","https:\u002F\u002Funsplash.com\u002F@dsps?utm_source=checkinhub&utm_medium=referral",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-many-people-you-need-on-the-front-door",7,{"title":5,"description":205},"blog\u002Fhow-many-people-you-need-on-the-front-door",[219,220,221,222],"crew","staffing","volunteers","planning","bjsyQzU3h57TznZCcP421yuJLx1UHUrFffbvinL7uRw",[225,231,238],{"to":159,"title":226,"description":227,"date":228,"category":203,"image":229,"readTime":230},"Roles, not chaos: structuring event crew","A crew without defined roles is a crowd of willing people waiting to be told what to do. Structure turns goodwill into a functioning team.","2026-03-13","https:\u002F\u002Fimages.unsplash.com\u002Fphoto-1758691737492-48e8fdd336f7?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop",5,{"to":232,"title":233,"description":234,"date":235,"category":203,"image":236,"readTime":237},"\u002Fblog\u002Fcrew-shift-handovers-that-lose-nobody","Crew shift handovers that lose nobody","Handovers are where multi-day events quietly go wrong. A short, structured changeover keeps the door running when fresh crew take over.","2026-02-27","https:\u002F\u002Fimages.unsplash.com\u002Fphoto-1773883925979-73e8eb2f36ac?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop",6,{"to":239,"title":240,"description":241,"date":242,"category":203,"image":243,"readTime":237},"\u002Fblog\u002Fkeeping-volunteers-confident-on-the-day","Keeping volunteers confident on the day","Volunteers want to help but freeze when unsure. Clear roles, a short brief and a system they can't break keep them confident at the door all day.","2025-10-10","https:\u002F\u002Fimages.unsplash.com\u002Fphoto-1761258772183-6a905c8b95fb?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop",1782495584670]