Stepping Into Live Delivery: What Our Team Learnt at the Commonwealth Games
At Trivandi, we want everyone on the team to have the chance to grow. So we offered some colleagues who don't usually work in operations the opportunity to be redeployed to the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games and experience live delivery first-hand. Here, four of them share what they learnt.
Emma Holmes
Glasgow role: Workforce and Volunteer Deputy Venue Manager
Trivandi role: Assistant Manager, Trivandi Academy
I had the privilege of welcoming volunteers (also known as the Legends) and staff to site each day and working closely with the workforce volunteer team. I knew that every volunteer was giving their time and energy to support the Games, but what overwhelmed me most was the incredible camaraderie within the group.
Volunteers would recognise each other from previous events, sometimes from the past year, sometimes from Games and events many years before, and those connections created an immediate sense of community on site. The 'Legends' would regularly arrive well before their shifts began simply to support the team and help wherever they could. They gave far more than their time and energy to their roles; they brought an extraordinary level of care, generosity and love to the experience. They made gifts for one another, went out of their way to help others, shared stories and experiences, and built friendships that extended beyond the Games, with many meeting up and looking out for each other in their everyday lives too.
The Legends brought an extraordinary level of care, generosity and love to the experience.
The workforce volunteers, alongside all the Legends, were, quite simply, incredible, and their generosity, enthusiasm, and sense of community have been one of the key takeaways from my time in Glasgow.
Sumeya Osman
Glasgow role: Workforce and Volunteer Deputy Venue Coordinator
Trivandi role: Project Coordinator, Operations & Delivery
One of the biggest things I learnt during Glasgow 2026 was how quickly things can change once you move into live delivery. Even with all the planning and preparation beforehand, there were always unexpected workforce or operational issues that needed resolving in the moment. At Tollcross International Swimming Centre, this could mean adapting to last-minute changes, resolving scheduling and attendance queries, responding to volunteer needs and working with different functional Areas to make sure the right information was communicated and things continued to run smoothly.
What surprised me most was how much you have to rely on your own judgement during live operations. There isn't always time to wait for someone else to tell you what to do, so I became much more confident in assessing a situation, finding a practical solution and knowing when something needed to be escalated. There were also times when I picked up tasks or issues simply because I could see they needed to be dealt with, rather than waiting for them to be assigned to me.
Successful delivery isn't only about having a strong plan in place; it's also about how well the team responds when the reality on the ground changes.
The experience showed me that successful delivery isn't only about having a strong plan in place; it's also about how well the team responds when the reality on the ground changes. For me, one of the biggest learnings from Glasgow was the importance of being adaptable, communicating clearly, trusting your judgement and being willing to step in wherever needed to keep the operation moving.
Ben Bulley
Glasgow role: Venue Management Coordinator
Trivandi role: Assistant, Operations & Delivery
During Glasgow 2026, I worked as a Venue Management Coordinator at Hall 5 of the SEC, the boxing venue. One area we underestimated as a challenge was the athlete seating. Boxers had their own allocated seats to watch and support their teammates, and the atmosphere was electric.
However, when emotions ran high between competing nations, the passion sometimes boiled over, and language barriers between teams made tensions harder to calm down. After security had to step in a couple of times, we decided to tackle the root of the issue instead of reacting to each incident.
We repositioned a security guard to the front corner of the athlete seating, and our Venue Head of Security, kept a close eye on the stand for early signs of rising tension. In our morning briefings, we also flagged when the highest-tension bouts were scheduled in each session, so the team knew when to be most alert.
As a result, incidents dropped noticeably for the rest of the competition.
My key takeaway was the value of using the information you already have to anticipate issues and working closely with other functional areas to stop them happening again. It's a lesson I'll carry into future events.
Kate Mills
Glasgow role: Spectator Services Manager
Trivandi role: Manager, Operations & Delivery
I had the privilege of looking after spectators at The SEC Armadillo, home of Para Powerlifting and Weightlifting at Glasgow 2026.
My role involved giving spectators a warm welcome, helping them navigate the auditorium, answering questions, and dealing with any seating and welfare issues. Helping us do all of this was a fabulous team of volunteer Legends. Many of them were Glasgow locals and could answer those slightly unexpected questions, such as where to find the Scotties in the City dog sculpture!
While overseeing spectator operations, I was lucky enough to experience just how exciting these two sports are to spectate. Here’s why:
- The bar loaders - Members of the military, they carried out their role with the speed, discipline and precision of an F1 pit stop.
- The weight increases - Athletes were increasing their weights in real time, all while working against a ticking clock to begin their lift.
- The suspense - Waiting for the ‘Good lift’ signal never got old!
Volunteers are brilliant and they will run the show for you.
We had spectators coming back for additional days, telling us how they were hooked. It certainly made our job easier when spectators were excited to return.
One challenge was listening to two radios while simultaneously trying to talk to spectators in helpful, friendly manner, all within a busy live-event environment. Calmness was the key!
My biggest learnings from this opportunity?
- Volunteers are brilliant and they will run the show for you.
- Don’t just sit back and wait for spectators to ask for help. Be proactive and ask them if you can help.
- Speak up at briefings and debriefs. Share your thoughts and observations so they can be picked up, considered, and improvements made if necessary.
Thank you, Glasgow 2026!
This type of hands-on learning isn't just for our own team. Through Trivandi Academy, we design and deliver experiential learning programmes for clients, helping people build skills and transfer knowledge to take back to their own organisations.
