Athletic Management, 16.2, February/March 2004, http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/am/am1602/slug.htm
New technology
offers many new and exciting ways to communicate. But you must know
when to use what form--and when to come out from behind the
screen.
By Dr. Vincent Mumford
Vincent Mumford, EdD, is Director of
the Sports Leadership Program at the University of Central Florida. He
is the former Athletic Director at the College of Southern Maryland and
Baltimore City Community College.
Not too
long ago, athletic directors had three basic modes of communication
available to them: face-to-face meetings, the telephone, and regular
mail. Today, in the course of a day, you may use your office phone, fax
machine, e-mail, cell phone, pager, home phone, voice mail, conference
call, instant messaging, and regular postal mail to communicate with
coaches and staff.
Newer technology certainly provides us with more
ways to communicate than ever. But does more mean better? Do you find
yourself forgetting to answer a voice mail because it's not on your
computer, like an e-mail? Or do you sometimes neglect to answer a
letter you've received through the regular mail because it seems less
urgent?
The diversity of communication tools we now have at our
disposal can make us better communicators, but only if we have a
strategy for using all these tools effectively. The following are some
tips on when and how to tap into today's technology to improve your
communications skills.
Connecting Personally
With all the
tech-gadgets out there, it's tempting to stay inside your office and
communicate electronically over and over again. However, no form of
technology can improve on actually being face-to-face with your staff.
Even though it may be more time consuming, it's important to
intersperse e-mail conversations with a walk to a staff member's office
to chat.
The only way you can build a stronger relationship with
someone is by seeing them and hearing their voice. Nuances of
conversation--pauses, facial expressions, and body movements--just
don't come through on an e-mail, and it's those nuances that allow you
to know how to motivate your staff. They also allow you to see red
flags and intervene before a problem arises.
You must create
opportunities to have crucial face-to-face time with your staff,
especially since some employees may have very little contact with you
otherwise. Ultimately, sincere, personal interaction gives more weight
to the e-mail or print communications that occur between meetings.
But when should you choose a face-to-face conversation over e-mail?
Here are some guidelines:
Use e-mail to:
o Communicate simple
concepts like setting appointments or giving phone numbers.
o Share
agendas or meeting minutes.
o Communicate one-way when little or no
discussion is required.
o Keep in touch with people.
o Verify
information.
o Convey public announcements.
Use face-to-face
communication when:
o Communicating complicated concepts.
o There
is a good chance for miscommunication.
o You want as much feedback
as possible.
o The topic involves strong opinions or emotions.
o
The topic involves reaching a group consensus.
o Communicating
criticism or bad news.
o You are conveying private
information.
Making Things Clear
Great administrators learn
how to take the complex and make it simple. At the beginning of any
project or task, they describe the nature of the work or situation, the
overall goals, the timetable, and possible obstacles or delays. They
provide the big picture and show each team member the role they play in
that big picture. If used correctly, technology can help this process.
If overused, it can muddy the waters.
Here's what not to do:
Don't describe a project over the course of many e-mails that are
directed to a large group. "John -- Here's one more detail to remember
about the project and I'm cc'ing Jane because maybe she has some
insight here." Another don't: Don't provide different details in
different forms of communication. Compile all notes and instructions in
one package--as one PDF file, in one PowerPoint presentation, or in one
folder.
However, technology can help make a project simpler now that
word processing programs allow us to easily make charts and graphs and
PowerPoint can make details come to life. For example, if you're
communicating with staff on budget cuts, don't just tell them each to
cut back by five percent. Instead, paint a bigger picture for them. Use
computer generated charts or graphs to show your overall department
goals, and use different colors to illustrate each staff member's area
of concentration.
Organize It
In some cases, the technology
we use for communicating has outdistanced our ability to keep up with
the communications. Many athletic administrators and coaches complain
about the number of calls, voice mails, faxes, and e-mails they get on
a daily basis, often citing communication overload. The solution is to
streamline the communication process. Some ideas:
o Try to use only
one of each type of communication (one voicemail box, one phone, one
e-mail address, one regular mailing address, etc).
o Set aside a
time to handle communications each day. For example, as an athletic
director, I scheduled an hour each day to handle phone communications:
11:30 a.m. to noon and 4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Why these times? Because
most people want to go to lunch at noon and home at five so they were
less likely to engage in prolonged conversations on the phone.
o
Use voicemail to screen calls during meetings, work sessions, or staff
conferences. Return phone calls at your designated "communication
times."
o Have an assistant screen your calls to discourage
solicitors, filter incoming calls, and avoid phone tag with business
and personal contacts.
o Prioritize your communications. Delete all
junk e-mail or spam immediately. Prioritize your e-mail messages into
categories like reply, forward, delete, read later, and file.
o
Sort snail mail into categories like toss, refer, act, and file, then
act accordingly.
Involve Everyone
It's important to allow
all staff members to contribute to setting goals, to communicate their
ideas for a project, and to have a chance to be heard on any area of
operations. A great way to streamline this process is through an
intranet site. An intranet site is like a Web site that only your
department personnel can access. These sites typically allow staff
members to share calendars, set appointments, and share documents, but
can also provide a forum for discussion and commentary.
For
example, your site can have a suggestion system where employees and
leaders can exchange concerns and ideas. You can even give rewards to
employees who submit adoptable, tangible ideas. This is a great way to
involve those staff members who are shy about speaking up at
meetings.
Another method for hearing more voices is setting up a
listserv. A listserv allows a select group (administrators,
student-athletes, or even parents) the ability to "subscribe" to a
discussion. Contributions to the listserv are distributed to the entire
subscriber base via email so everyone on the list has the ability to
provide input and be heard.
Set The Tone
The last, but
possibly most important, tip is to set the right example for
communication in your department. As technology changes and new gadgets
enter our workplace, how you, as the leader, utilize those tools will
set the tone for others. If you answer your cell phone while meeting
with someone else, so will your staff. If you use e-mail to reprimand
an employee, don't be surprised if your staff yells their complaints
back to you through e-mail. If you handle disagreements without
face-to-face interaction, don't expect all staff members to truly
understand one another.
Good communication is the hallmark of an
excellent organization. In this information age, leaders often look to
technology as the solution to their communication woes. However, the
answer is not so simple. Communication is a learned skill. Developing
better communication habits--like many other endeavors in sports and
life--takes time, practice, and patience. With careful thought, you can
fit technology into the equation in a way that leads to simplicity,
efficiency, and better understanding among all staff members.