Glossary & Appendix

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Glossary (Jump to Appendix)
Words are important, and because of this, it is important for the user of the Career Map to understand the purposes of this tool, how its developers defined certain elements. A Glossary of Terms is provided to assist in understanding how certain definitions were applied throughout the Career Map.

Advocacy is the act or process of supporting, promoting, or arguing in favor of a cause, idea, policy, or group of people. It involves actions taken to influence decisions, raise awareness, and create positive change. In short, advocacy is about actively working to make a difference.

An Advocate is someone who supports, defends, or speaks up for a person, group, cause, or idea. They actively promote and work to advance the interests or rights of others. Advocates help raise awareness, influence decisions, and create positive change.

Agency or Organization – for our purposes we utilize these terms interchangeably to mean the parks and recreation department. You may see qualifiers in front of the words if we are making specific reference to a type of agency/organization – e.g. “regulatory” agency, “non-profit” organization, etc.

Asset Management refers to the systematic process of maintaining, upgrading, and operating physical assets - like parks, trails, playgrounds, recreation centers, athletic fields, and facilities-in a way that maximizes their value, safety, and usability over time.

Business intelligence (BI) refers to the technologies, tools, processes, and practices used to collect, analyze, and present data in order to help organizations make better-informed, data-driven decisions.

Business Intelligence (BI) Analytics is the process of using data analysis techniques—within a business intelligence system—to examine historical and current data, identify patterns or trends, and generate actionable insights for decision-making. Analyzing data to understand what happened, why it happened, and what to do next. Business intelligence analytics turns your raw data into strategic insights. It goes beyond just seeing numbers—it's about understanding them and acting on them to improve performance, service delivery, and community impact.

Career is a series of connected jobs and experiences that build toward your long-term professional growth and goals. It’s about development, learning, and progression in a particular field or industry, and discipline within that field. Careers are often linked to one’s passion, skills, and ambitions. A career is the journey of your work life over time.

Certificate is a document showing you have complete a course or training program. Usually does not require an exam or continuing education. Simply put – a proof of participation or completion.

Certificate Program is a structured educational or training program that focuses on teaching specific skills or knowledge in a particular field. When you complete the program, you earn a certificate of completion, but not a degree or a professional certification.

Certification is a formal process by which a professional organization or certifying body verifies that an individual has met specific standards or competencies. Usually requires passage of an exam, ongoing education, and renewal. Usually permits the individual to use letters representing the certification program after one’s name.

Communication refers to how your agency shares information internally and externally to inform, educate, or engage. Key Characteristics: Encompasses all verbal, written, and digital messaging. Includes emails, newsletters, reports, websites, social media posts, and signage. Can be internal (to staff, volunteers) or external (to the public, partners). Goal: Ensure understanding, transparency, and connection.

A Competency Area is a broad category that groups together related knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors required to perform a set of functions effectively. A competency area usually is focused on big-picture; what someone needs to be successful in a role or field; and often includes multiple skills, knowledge and behaviors. The be “competent” in an area requires not just the knowledge of that area, but to be able to apply and put into practice the specific set of skills toward achievement of a specified goal.

Critical thinking is the process of actively and skillfully analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing information in order to form a well-reasoned judgment or decision. It involves not just accumulating information, but questioning it—asking why, how, and what if.

Cross-functional refers to activities, teams, or projects that involve people from different units/divisions/sections working together toward a common goal. What does it mean? Instead of just one unit/division/section handling a task, a cross-functional team brings together members from multiple units/divisions/sections — for example, marketing, athletics, events, risk management, parks — to collaborate.

Cross-Jurisdictional - neighboring cities and/or counties and their parks and recreation agencies.

Dashboard is a visual display that organizes and presents key information, data, or metrics in a clear and concise way. It helps users quickly understand and monitor performance, trends, or important details at a glance. Typically, a dashboard includes charts, graphs, tables, and indicators that update in real-time or regularly.

Direct Report is an employee who reports directly to a specific manager or supervisor in an organization. In other words, if you are a manager, your direct reports are the people who work under you and to whom you give tasks, feedback, and performance reviews. Individuals who report to your direct report are not your direct reports, they are the direct reports of the individual who reports to you.

Discipline – a specific branch of knowledge or academic study within a field, with defined theories, methodologies, and body of knowledge. For the purposes of this Career Map, the term discipline is often used to refer to the variety of work segments within the field. For example a discipline may be parks, therapeutic recreation, athletics, programming, aquatics, natural resource management, environmental education, planning, etc.

Emotional Intelligence (EI or EQ) is the ability to recognize, understand, manage, and use emotions effectively—both your own emotions and those of others. In short, emotional intelligence is about being smart with feelings—your own and other people’s

EQ Assessments are tools designed to measure a person’s Emotional Intelligence (EQ) — that is, their ability to recognize, understand, manage, and use emotions effectively in themselves and others.

Executive (Leaders, Leadership, Management) – when used in the FRPA Career Map, this generally refers to the level of the project, communication, date, presentation. This would be intended to be the leadership team of your organization – Superintendent, Deputy/Assistant Director, Director.

Field – a broad study, work, or interest that encompasses multiple disciplines or professions. For the purposes of this Career Map, the word “field” is used as a reference to parks, recreation, cultural affairs, leisure service, community services, etc. For brevity, the words “parks and recreation” are often used to refer to the field.

Gantt chart is a visual project management tool that displays a timeline of tasks or activities against a calendar. It helps you plan, schedule, and track progress by showing: What tasks need to be done, When they start and end, How long they take, Which tasks depend on others. A Gantt Chart usually is formatted with

The vertical axis (left side) listing tasks or activities.
The horizontal axis (top) showing time (days, weeks, months).
Bars representing each task’s duration.

Hard skills are specific, teachable abilities or knowledge sets that you can learn and measure. They are often technical skills needed to perform a particular job. Unlike soft skills (which are more about how you work), hard skills are about what you can do. They’re usually gained through education, training, or hands-on experience.

Industry – an economic sector consisting of business and organizations involved in producing goods or services related to a field or profession. For the purposes of this Career Map, the term industry is used as an inclusive reference to the individuals and organizations that provide services as professionals, as well as the individuals and organizations that support the field by supplying products and services. This would include not only our professionals within the field, but also our commercial partners and suppliers.

Interdepartmental – this refers to inside your parks and recreation department.

Job is a specific position or role where you work to earn money, and is usually focused on short-term tasks or responsibilities. Jobs are often seen as a simple way to pay the bills, and may not necessarily be linked to long-term goals or personal growth. A job is work you do now.

Jurisdictional Management/Leaders - could be City/County Administration, or other City/County Agency Heads within your City/County.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are specific, measurable metrics used to evaluate how well an individual, team, or organization is achieving important objectives or goals. KPIs track progress toward a target; measure success in critical areas; and help make informed decisions.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Capacities (KSAC)—are often used in workforce development and job analysis. They relate but have distinct meanings:

Knowledge

- What it is: The information and understanding you have about a subject.
- Acquired through: Learning, education, training, or experience.
- Example: Knowing the safety regulations for a public pool.

Skills

- What it is: The practical application of knowledge—your ability to perform tasks.
- Learned through: Practice and repetition.
- Example: Operating pool equipment or leading a fitness class.

Abilities

- What it is: The natural or developed talents that enable you to perform tasks or behaviors.
- Often more general and enduring than skills.
- Example: Ability to communicate clearly or think critically.

Capacities

- What it is: Your potential or capability to develop skills and abilities in the future.
- Often refers to mental, physical, or emotional resources you bring to learning or performing tasks.
- Example: Capacity to learn new software or adapt to changing environments.

Kotter’s Change Model is an 8-step process developed by Dr. John Kotter, a Harvard Business School professor, to help organizations successfully implement change. It focuses on leading people through change by addressing both the rational and emotional aspects of transformation.

License is legal permission from a government or regulatory body to practice a profession or specific activity. It can be required by law. Usually must be renewed and may require exams or continuing education. Examples: Licensed Landscape Architect, Commercial Pesticide Applicator License, State Issued Teaching License

Marketing and Promotion are about driving participation and engagement in your programs, services, and events through targeted messaging and outreach. Key Characteristics: Focused on selling an idea, service, or program. Uses tactics like flyers, social media ads, banners, brochures, and email campaigns. Goal: Increase awareness, attendance, revenue, or registration. Often tied to data and audience targeting.

Natural and Cultural Resource Management is the responsible planning and use of natural resources—like land, water, air, plants, animals, and ecosystems—to meet current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. The ability to identify, restore, preserve, protect and sustainably manage cultural resources which are physical or intangible elements that reflect the cultural heritage, history, traditions, or lifeways of a community. Key Elements of natural resource management include conservation (protecting ecosystems, habitats, and biodiversity), resiliency (ability of natural systems like forests, wetlands, rivers or ecosystems, to withstand, recover from, and adapt to disturbances such as climate change, wildfires, floods, droughts, disease outbreaks or human impact, while continuing to function and provide essential benefits), and sustainability (ensuring resources are used at a rate they can replenish) the ability to identify, restore, preserve, protect and sustainably manage cultural resources which are physical or intangible elements that reflect the cultural heritage, history, traditions, or lifeways of a community.

OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results. It’s a goal-setting framework used by individuals, teams, and organizations to set clear, measurable goals and track their outcomes. OKRs help teams stay focused on what matters most and measure progress clearly.

Organizational culture refers to the shared values, beliefs, norms, and practices that shape the behavior and interactions of people within an organization. It influences how employees communicate, make decisions, solve problems, and work together. Essentially it is the "personality" of an organization.

Organization or Agency – for our purposes we utilize these terms interchangeably to mean the parks and recreation department. You may see qualifiers in front of the words if we are making specific reference to a type of agency/organization – e.g. “regulatory” agency, “non-profit” organization, etc.

Organizational design is the process of structuring an organization's roles, responsibilities, systems, and workflows to effectively achieve its goals and strategy. It involves arranging people, teams, and resources in a way that maximizes efficiency, collaboration and adaptability. This is a systems approach and mindset.

Partner is an individual, organization, or group that works collaboratively with your organization to achieve shared goals. In the parks and recreation industry, partners often bring resources, expertise, funding, or community connections to support programs, events, or facility development.

Patron is a person who uses or visits a facility, service, or event, often without necessarily being enrolled in a specific program.

Performance management is an ongoing process where organizations ensure that employees’ work aligns with the company’s goals and standards. It involves setting clear expectations, monitoring progress, providing feedback, and supporting employee development to improve performance over time. Good performance management helps boost productivity, engagement, and employee growth while ensuring the organization meets its targets.

Presenting involves delivering structured information using visual aids (like slides) to a specific audience, often with a clear goal (inform, propose, update, train, etc.). Examples: Presenting a new park design to a city planning board; Giving an annual report at a department meeting; Proposing a grant-funded program to community stakeholders.

Profession – a career or occupation requiring specialized education, skills, training, and ethical standards, often certified or licensed.

Program Participant is an individual who actively takes part in a specific program or activity organized by an organization, such as a parks and recreation department.

Promotion and Marketing are about driving participation and engagement in your programs, services, and events through targeted messaging and outreach. Key Characteristics: Focused on selling an idea, service, or program. Uses tactics like flyers, social media ads, banners, brochures, and email campaigns. Goal: Increase awareness, attendance, revenue, or registration. Often tied to data and audience targeting.

Public Relations focuses on building and maintaining a positive public image and trust with the community, media, and stakeholders. Key Characteristics: Strategic storytelling and relationship-building. Often involves media relations, press releases, and crisis communication. Goal: Protect and enhance the reputation of your agency. More about influence and credibility than advertising.

Public speaking is the act of delivering a spoken message to an audience in a structured, deliberate manner with the goal of informing, persuading, entertaining, or inspiring. Public speaking is the broad skill of speaking clearly, confidently, and effectively in front of an audience. Giving a welcome speech at a community event. Examples: Giving a welcome speech at a grand opening; Speaking at a city council meeting; Answering questions at a public hearing.

Resource Management is the process of planning, allocating, and overseeing the use of resources—such as people, time, money, equipment —to achieve specific goals effectively and efficiently. For our purposes we have separated Natural Resource Management from Resource Management.

Risk Management is the process of identifying, assessing, and controlling risks that could affect a project, business, or organization. The goal is to minimize negative impacts and maximize opportunities. Effective risk management helps organizations avoid surprises, reduce losses, and achieve their objectives smoothly.

The SBI Model stands for Situation-Behavior-Impact. It’s a simple and effective feedback framework designed to give clear, specific, and constructive feedback. The SBI model helps keep feedback focused, objective, and actionable, making it easier to understand and improve.

A Skill is a specific learned ability to perform a task or activity well. Skill is the ability to do something specific, usually developed through training or practice. Skills are the building blocks of competencies. Skills most often are narrower and more specific; can be technical or soft; and are measurable and often teachable.

Soft skills are personal attributes and interpersonal abilities that help you interact effectively and harmoniously with others. Unlike hard skills (technical knowledge or job-specific abilities), soft skills relate to how you work and communicate.

Stakeholder is any individual, group, or organization that has an interest in or is affected by the actions, decisions, or outcomes of a program, project, or organization. Stakeholders can be internal and/or external.

Appendix

In this section we have expanded on some of the terms included in the Glossary. The expansion is simply a way of better explaining the item by examining steps, importance, application, etc.

Key Components of Business Intelligence:

1. Data Collection – Gathering raw data from multiple sources (e.g., software systems, surveys, financial reports).
2. Data Integration – Combining and organizing data into a usable format.
3. Data Analysis – Applying tools and techniques to identify trends, patterns, and insights.

Key Functions of BI Analytics:

1. Descriptive Analytics – What happened?
  Uses reports and dashboards to summarize historical data.
  Example: “Summer camp registrations dropped 10% compared to last year.”
2. Diagnostic Analytics – Why did it happen?
  Explores cause-and-effect relationships.
  Example: “Camp attendance dropped due to overlapping school start dates.”
3. Predictive Analytics – What might happen?
  Uses past trends and statistical models to forecast future outcomes.
  Example: “Camp registrations will likely increase if we open registration earlier.”
4. Prescriptive Analytics – What should we do?
  Recommends actions based on analysis.
  Example: “Add a targeted marketing campaign for early registration incentives.”

In Parks and Recreation: BI analytics can help:

Optimize program scheduling based on past attendance data.
Forecast budget needs by analyzing seasonal spending patterns.
Improve outreach by identifying underserved populations.
Enhance staff scheduling using peak usage times at facilities.

Example in Action:

You use BI analytics to:

Pull registration data from your recreation software.
Analyze which age groups dropped out mid-season.
Discover it correlates with after-school schedule conflicts.
Adjust future program timing to better align with community needs.

Competency is a broader combination of skills, knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes that enable someone to perform effectively in a role or situation.

More holistic
Tied to job performance or standards
Includes how and when skills are applied

Examples:

Leadership
Conflict resolution
Community engagement
Program planning and evaluation

Key Characteristics of Critical Thinking:

Analysis – Breaking information down into parts and examining relationships.
Evaluation – Judging the credibility and strength of arguments and evidence.
Inference – Drawing logical conclusions based on evidence.
Explanation – Clearly and concisely justifying your reasoning.
Self-Regulation – Reflecting on your own biases, assumptions, and thought processes.

Example:

Instead of just accepting a news article at face value, a critical thinker would:

Check the credibility of the source.
Consider possible bias.
Look for supporting or contradicting evidence.
Ask what assumptions are being made.
Form an independent conclusion.

Why is it important?

It helps you communicate better.
Build stronger relationships.
Make thoughtful decisions.
Manage stress and conflict.
Lead and work well with others.

The main components of Emotional Intelligence:

Self-awareness: Knowing your own emotions and how they affect your thoughts and actions.
Self-regulation: Controlling or redirecting your emotions, staying calm and positive.
Motivation: Being driven to achieve goals for reasons beyond money or status.
Empathy: Understanding and considering others’ feelings, perspectives, and needs.
Social skills: Managing relationships, inspiring others, and handling conflict effectively.

What do EQ Assessments measure?

Self-awareness: Understanding your own emotions.
Self-regulation: Managing your emotions and impulses.
Motivation: Being driven to achieve goals.
Empathy: Recognizing and understanding others’ emotions.
Social skills: Building relationships and managing interactions well.

Why are EQ assessments important?

They help individuals and organizations improve communication, teamwork, leadership, and conflict resolution.
Many workplaces use them for hiring, leadership development, or coaching.

Examples of KPIs for Parks and Recreation: These KPIs help parks and recreation managers track how well their services meet community needs and where improvements might be needed.

Visitor Attendance - Number of visitors to parks and recreation facilities per month or year.
Program Participation - Number of participants in recreational programs, classes, or events.
Customer Satisfaction - Average satisfaction score from visitor surveys or feedback forms.
Facility Maintenance Response Time - Average time taken to address maintenance requests or repairs.
Revenue Generated - Income from park entry fees, rentals, or concessions.
Volunteer Hours - Total number of volunteer hours contributed to park activities or events.
Community Engagement - Number of community events hosted or partnerships formed.
Safety Incidents - Number of reported safety incidents or accidents per month/year.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Capacities (KSAC)—are often used in workforce development and job analysis. They relate but have distinct meanings:

Knowledge

What it is: The information and understanding you have about a subject.
Acquired through: Learning, education, training, or experience.
Example: Knowing the safety regulations for a public pool.

Skills

What it is: The practical application of knowledge—your ability to perform tasks.
Learned through: Practice and repetition.
Example: Operating pool equipment or leading a fitness class.

Abilities

What it is: The natural or developed talents that enable you to perform tasks or behaviors.
Often more general and enduring than skills.
Example: Ability to communicate clearly or think critically.

Capacities

What it is: Your potential or capability to develop skills and abilities in the future.
Often refers to mental, physical, or emotional resources you bring to learning or performing tasks.
Example: Capacity to learn new software or adapt to changing environments.

How They Work Together:

Knowledge is the foundation (the “what you know”).
Skills are what you can do with that knowledge (the “how you do it”).
Abilities are your underlying qualities that help you perform (the “your natural talents”).
Capacities are your potential to grow and improve in these areas.

Kotter’s 8 Steps for Leading Change:

Create a Sense of Urgency
Help people see the need for change and the risks of not changing.
Example: Showing declining park usage stats to justify a new community outreach plan.
Build a Guiding Coalition
Form a team of influential leaders and stakeholders to champion the change.
Example: Bringing together staff, volunteers, and community members to support a new recreation program.
Form a Strategic Vision and Initiatives
Develop a clear vision of the future and how to get there.
Example: "We aim to make our parks more inclusive and accessible for all residents by 2026."
Communicate the Vision
Share the vision frequently and clearly through multiple channels.
Example: Using staff meetings, social media, and newsletters to explain the goals and benefits of the change.
Empower Others to Act on the Vision
Remove barriers, provide training, and encourage risk-taking and innovation.
Example: Giving front-line staff authority to adjust programming to better serve diverse community needs.
Create Short-Term Wins
Achieve and celebrate visible improvements early on.
Example: Launching a successful pilot event that brings in new community members.
Sustain Acceleration
Keep pushing for more change, using momentum from early wins to tackle bigger challenges.
Example: After a successful pilot, roll out inclusive programs to all recreation centers.
Institute the Change
Anchor the new behaviors in the culture so they stick.
Example: Updating hiring practices and staff training to reflect a commitment to equity and inclusion.

Why It Works: Kotter’s model helps overcome resistance, build broad support, and guide lasting change by focusing not just on what changes, but how people experience that change.

How OKRs work:

Objective: A clear, inspiring goal you want to achieve. It’s qualitative and answers the question, “What do we want to accomplish?”
Key Results: Specific, measurable outcomes that show progress toward the objective. They answer, “How will we know we’ve succeeded?”

Example OKR:

Objective: Improve community engagement in local parks.
Key Results:

Increase park event attendance by 30% this quarter.
Launch 3 new recreational programs by the end of the quarter.
Achieve a 4.5/5 average satisfaction score on visitor surveys.

Key parts of performance management:

Goal setting: Defining clear, measurable objectives for employees or teams.
Monitoring: Tracking progress regularly through check-ins or reviews.
Feedback: Giving constructive feedback to recognize achievements and address areas for improvement.
Development: Offering training, coaching, or resources to help employees grow.
Evaluation: Conducting formal performance reviews to assess overall results and plan next steps.

Key steps in risk management:

Risk Identification: Spotting potential risks.
Risk Assessment: Analyzing the likelihood and impact of each risk.
Risk Prioritization: Ranking risks based on their severity.
Risk Mitigation: Planning and implementing actions to reduce or eliminate risks.
Monitoring and Reviewing: Continuously tracking risks and the effectiveness of your actions.

How it works:

Situation: Describe the specific situation where the behavior happened. (When and where did it happen?)
Behavior: Describe the exact behavior you observed, without judgment or interpretation. (What did the person do?)
Impact: Explain the effect the behavior had on you, the team, or the project. (How did it make you or others feel? What was the result?)

Example:

Situation: “During yesterday’s team meeting…”
Behavior: “…you interrupted several people while they were speaking.”
Impact: “…which made it hard for others to share their ideas and disrupted the flow of the meeting.”

Skill is the ability to do something specific, usually developed through training or practice.

Often task-based
Can be technical or soft
Measured by proficiency

Examples:

Writing a grant proposal
Operating landscaping equipment
Using Excel or RecTrac
Speaking clearly in front of a group