Managing Communication In Sports

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Undoubtedly, the coach’s ability to manage effective communication and team expectations are two of the most important components to ensure success on the sporting field. However, as important as it is, many coaches still fail to prioritize communication among their athletes.

Ask any elite coach or manager, and they’ll tell you that sporting organizations that emphasize communication perform better and have a much more cohesive team unit. Subsequently, such teams can overcome challenges and thrive in the face of adversity, while other teams “self-implode.”

By the article’s end, you’ll better understand why effective communication and managing expectations are so important. But more importantly, you’ll learn easy-to-implement strategies to improve these areas and help players reach their full potential. 

Is Sport Communication Different From Workplace Communication?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines communication as “a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behaviour.” Sounds like sporting communication to me.

The most common type of communication in an office or workplace setting is verbal and written. Colleagues discuss work projects during team meetings and email each other throughout the week to ensure things are getting done.

However, communication in a sporting setting can take different forms. The types of communication used will vary from sport to sport and situation by situation. For instance, in baseball, coaches use signs to communicate with players, while in basketball, coaches can yell, that’s right, yell, from the sidelines to get their message across to players. 

What Is the Importance of Communication in Sports?

Sports teams that can effectively communicate with one another have greater levels of cohesiveness and tend to develop stronger bonds. These stronger bonds help teams overcome challenges, especially in times of adversity, such as extended losing streaks or a shock loss. 

Coaches aren’t just responsible for implementing practice drills or strategizing a game plan for (hopefully winning) a series of tournaments; they are also responsible for creating an environment where players are encouraged to communicate positively.

What Makes a Sports Coach a Good Communicator?

• Great listeners (remember, communication runs both ways).
• Personable and trustworthy.
• Open to new ideas and non-judgemental.
• Leads healthy discussions among team member.
• Adapts communication style to athletes’ ages.

Applications That Help Coaches With Communication

When focused on player evaluations specifically, there are 3 major problems that really stood out to us.

1. Athletes almost never received any formal feedback on their performance after an evaluation
2. Coaches spend countless hours doing data entry into spreadsheets to try and make sense of the data
3. Parents are often unsatisfied with the justification for the placement decision of their kids and very seldom receive information to help understand what their child needs to work on and develop

It all comes down to information. A coach’s time is already spread thinly that they rarely have the time to reformat information in a spreadsheet, let alone share a format consumable for each athlete. As a result, the athlete and his/her parents never understand WHY they didn’t make the top team, or what areas they need to work on the most.

Today we can solve common headaches with evaluations and provide players better feedback than ever before. Having the evaluators gather information through the SkillShark app or website simplifies everything to the point that the young athlete can now receive a player report card on their performance before they even have their cleats off. A coach can spend time analyzing results and historical player trends instead of doing days of data entry. Lastly, parents can finally have a clear indication of what their child needs to work on in order to be considered for the top team next year.

The Role of Communication in Sports Management

Sports managers act as the primary link between the board and the head coach, helping to keep operations in check. Empathy, patience, active listening, and clarity are key characteristics needed for effective communication between both parties.

Sports administrators also play critical roles in other areas that demand high levels of communication skills, such as:

• Budgets
• Managing and coordinating events
• Booking travel and accommodation
• Scouting and human resources
• Conflict resolution 
  
  

TeamSnap is a great application to help with sports management. As a coach, registration, and team management are important for organizing your season, and more often than not, this process can be quite tedious. Team Snap makes it easier to organize your season and will take care of everything from scheduling to attendance and communication. 

League and team administrators can easily access registration, payments, communication, scheduling, and reporting to bring you a true all-in-one club solution. With the next evolution of TeamSnap for Clubs & Leagues, you have everything you need to manage your clubs and teams in a solution your administrators, coaches, managers, and parents will love to use.

How to Set Expectations for Elite Sporting Teams

Many rookie coaches make the mistake of thinking that their players and coaching staff know exactly what is expected of them. But truth be told, players and staff can be left in the dark without clearly defined expectations and objectives. 

As a coach, it’s your role to communicate these expectations. Remember, people are not “mindreaders.” Let’s take a look at three components that are vital when it comes to setting expectations in a sporting environment. 

1. Clearly define your expectations

Ensuring your goals and expectations are clearly defined is the most critical component when setting expectations. Many coaches find that instead of focusing on defining the expectation, it’s better to define the behaviors “expected” to achieve those expectations. 

Writing down your expectations is one of the best ways to communicate your goal, objectives, and expectations to your players and coaching staff. This way, there can be no ambiguity when evaluating athlete and coaching performances. 

2. Schedule team meetings

Scheduling regular team meetings is another critical component of the expectation puzzle. During team meetings, try to provide players and coaching staff with as many examples as possible to help them grasp and gauge exactly what is being communicated and, more importantly, what is expected.

Team meetings also present the perfect opportunity for players to ask questions and give feedback to the coach. Remember, what one thing means to one player might mean something entirely different to another, and team meetings provide the ideal place to clear those discrepancies up.

3. Reinforce your expectations

Finally, the best coaches in the world continually reinforce their expectations and lead by example. When athletes, parents, and coaching staff see you as the coach “practicing what you preach,” it makes it much easier for the entire organization to buy into your coaching philosophy, goals, and objectives.

Conclusion

Effective communication and managing expectations go hand-in-hand and are critical to the success of any sporting team, regardless of the level. Make sure your expectations are clear, well-defined, and unambiguous. Stick to these fundamentals, and you’ll be well on your way to getting the most out of your athletes and the wider sporting organization