Whether off or on the court, effective communication between you and your partner or coach is key. If you struggle to communicate quickly and clearly with the right person, you’ll probably have a difficult time with everything from training to competing.
Club management is no different. When essential club operations are on the line, sharing information and solutions quickly is critical. If you find yourself having to chase others down for information, spend time searching for important files, or share messages effectively with your whole staff, it’s time to make an investment in improving internal communication at your club. By implementing specific organizational strategies, technologies and tools, and communication best practices, you’ll be able to resolve the headache of poor internal communication.
Internal Organization and Structure
For many racquet sports clubs, a casual, fun, relaxed atmosphere is part of what makes them great. However, a casual club culture can sometimes negatively affect efficiency and effective communication. Some club administrations may lack an obvious chain of command or communication, leaving staff members in charge of certain aspects of a project but struggling to work together to see the overall project through. In order to improve internal communication, club managers should establish—and help their staff to embrace—a clear organization of leaders and resources.
An important first step in establishing a clear internal structure is to establish a clear chain of command. Once your staff knows who to turn to for different issues, they can communicate more effectively about project needs. For example, let’s say some staff members are struggling with a technical issue on a project. Rather than submitting IT support tickets themselves, they should report the issue to their supervisor so that the supervisor can submit the ticket and be alerted when it is resolved. Otherwise, the IT team would end up wasting time and money handling redundant requests. By following the leadership chain of communication, racquet sports clubs can become much more efficient.
Communication Software Programs
Improving internal communication at your club is easy when you have the right tools. Though many racquet sports clubs may currently rely on traditional methods of communication, choosing to modernize with digital communication tools can make a huge impact in making club communications more efficient.
Since many of your staff members are constantly on the go teaching lessons and classes, making your essential communications accessible by phone is critical. None of your staff members or patrons should have to go to a physical location to view a note, calendar, or announcement—it’s inconvenient and inefficient.
Here are some digital tools that can help your club meet its wide variety of communications needs:
- For business management: Programs like Google and Outlook can house project files and let you communicate about them through several different local channels.
- For instant messaging: Apps like Slack or GroupMe can allow your team to keep your work communications in one place rather than having important messages get buried in your email inbox or text messages. These tools can also make your team more efficient by removing the need for in-person meetings.
- For club-specific management: RacquetDesk is a project management tool specifically designed for racquet sports clubs. Clubs can use it to communicate internally about a variety of administrative projects and share announcements with their members.
Although your staff may have different levels of experience with digital tools, now is the time to learn them. By taking the time to invest in learning digital communication tools, your team will be able to communicate much more quickly and effectively, saving time and money.
Best Practices for Internal Communication
Even if your club has already embraced digital tools and a clear internal chain of command, there are still several things you can do to improve internal communication. Scheduling meetings effectively is one way that you can make sure that you are communicating information to as many involved staff members as possible. For example, since your facility may be operating from early in the morning to late at night, it might be difficult for you to hold a meeting with all of your staff at once. Schedule weekly meetings in the afternoon when things are moving slower to get better attendance and make it worth their while by only sharing the most important information.
Encouraging regular feedback is another important practice for improving internal communication. As your staff feels comfortable sharing what is or isn’t working at your club, you will be able to identify and resolve issues that you may not have been aware of. You can help your staff share their feedback by creating communication threads on your club’s instant messaging platform or having team members meet with their managers.
Setting aside time to invest in improving internal communications at your club may be difficult, but the overall savings of time and money will make it all worth it. As you help your staff become more efficient by defining their roles and chain of command, incorporating digital communication software, and following communication best practices, you will have the tools you need to succeed and grow your club.
RacquetDesk Can Help
RacquetDesk is a cloud-based club management software solution designed specifically for racquet sports clubs and organizations. Our expertise provides us with unique insight into successful coaching styles, club management requirements, and player needs, which has allowed us to design key solutions that racquet clubs need.
Our team brings combined experiences in software, facility management, and tennis/racquet sports to provide service and support for you and the needs of your clients and members. We aim to help you stay organized so you can spend more time on what matters most: your clients.
Level up your club management by scheduling a demo with RacquetDesk.