Tips From The Pros

SECURE THE RESOURCES YOU NEED TO MANAGE HIGH QUALITY PLAYING SURFACES

Words of Persuasion

There are really two keys to being a successful sports field manager. First, you have your field management system dialed-in, a daily read-and-react update to your ultimate goal: a moving target of “the best field possible”. Sports field managers put the vast majority of their time and effort into this part, out on the field, making and executing a 100 decisions a day. We spent too little time and effort on the second key to our success: Advancing and advocating for our departmental mission within the organizational structure. We too often lack the skills needed to define, educate and sell our mission within our own organization, or to field stakeholders like athletes, equipment and training staff, parents, coaches, referees, and leagues. You have to be good on your organizational field before you can be good on your playing field. What is your brand within the organization?

Marketing departments are not always the most popular amongst sports field managers. Their ideas sometimes conflict with field quality, but they gas the engine with revenue and I like to watch them work. My take-away is that persuading people and advancing a cause may be as simple as putting yourself in the other’s shoes. The ability to put themselves in the perspective of the people that they are trying to persuade sets the great sales people apart, and it is a key to our success as field managers. Try it, it works. Make everyone you deal with in selling your field management program a potential customer and you need to sell them to some extent. Likely, you’ll find that most issues can be mitigated simply when they know you understand their plight. First, identify their goal. Then, repeat it to them. “So, you need to satisfy a contractual obligation to a sponsor with some sort of field event. Well, let’s see what we can do?” Instead of just asking for a new piece of equipment like a kid during the holidays, first identify management’s goals. Then show how a 2nd mower, financed correctly, would help in management’s goal of reducing the high labor costs. Don’t personalize anything, big mistake. It’s not “my field”, it’s the sports field manager’s responsibility. It’s our organizational liability. It’s our duty of care to the athletes. Regardless of how your ‘client’ is reacting, you should only react with a calm, rational disposition. With contentious issues, don’t get emotional even if your client goes there. Take the higher road. Talented salespeople don’t just cave to their client’s needs, but start working on the problem from the client’s point of view. You’ll know when you have them. Once they realize that you want to help them accomplish their goals also, they suddenly see very clearly your issues; and a short education about your mission, and the duty of care to the athletes your mission involves, meets with understanding. Now a fertile seedbed has been developed to establish a win-win solution, and you’ll begin to develop your organizational brand within management’s eyes as a problem solver rather than a problem identifier.

It’s often the “short education about your mission” part where we fail in the process. All the turf skills and groundsmanship in the world won’t help you if you have no communication skills. Remember back in your school days? Teachers occasionally brought in guest lecturers from industry to talk to the class about the “real world”. I remember how they would always include a discussion about the importance of communication skills, but in my youth I just blew-off such talk. If I knew my turf, problems would take care of themselves. Younger sports field managers especially fall victim to this trap. The ability to organize an argument and communicate it effectively is an absolutely key part of the SFM’s skills toolbox.

Writing vs Verbal

The more important issues are best communicated in writing. Written communications greatly aid those who struggle with verbal communications, or when you need some time to think over an issue. Written communications slow the process, reduces mistakes and allow for the time needed to organize thoughts and choose efficient words. Sports field managers get burned a lot less when they communicate to user-groups in writing. Any issue you struggle with can be well-organized when you begin by writing about it. You’d be surprised what you can come up with when you just get on the keyboard and start writing.

Reading really improves both verbal and writing skills. Readers speak and write well. They persuade with perspective and word choice. If you can’t find time to read, try audio books. You’ll be surprised how many times you can find a few minutes while driving or at others times to get a quick chapter in. Read the classics, they are classics for a reason.

Verbal skills establish your expertise, that you have a good command of the subject. Have you ever noticed how anyone at the top of any organization seems to have a great command of language? They speak and write about complex issues with simple and clear phrases and anecdotes that can be quite effective, utilizing trending phrases like “low-hanging fruit” and “move forward”. Beyond catch phrases of the day, good organizational leaders find and use the words that direct meaning to others. They use words as tools.

So the idea here is to constantly build on our language skills. It is words that carry the power to persuade in an organizational environment. For example, look at pollster and political consultant Frank Luntz. He is often credited with a huge public opinion shift on the “the estate tax”. It enjoyed strong support nationally. Only the very wealthy have estates, so it won’t really apply to me. Luntz successfully swung public opinion strongly against the tax simply by changing the word “estate” to the word “death”. Not really changing the law at all, Luntz changed public opinion strongly against “the death tax” by simply choosing his words wisely. Why would we tax someone just for dying?

Ever notice how coaches always call a stadium practice a “walk-through” even though they will often be in cleats and going pretty much full-speed? Those who get things done understand the power of words. Is it synthetic turf or fake grass? Improving language skills is like any other endeavor, it takes smart practice and persistence.

Turf Tips 101: Craft, Deliver and Close

Advancing your cause and advocating for your departmental mission starts with getting your goals in line with the overall organizational mission. So if you truly put yourself in the shoes of your clients (your bosses, your stakeholders, the decision makers), you’ll quickly realize that they are dealing with many other important issues, besides just yours. They have a ton on their plate and naturally favor those managers that do their homework, then boil the issue down to its essential elements for them, always ready to expand in great detail when called upon. They are looking for objective discernment, not subjective judgments. What kind of data or objective measurements can you bring to bear in favor of your departmental cause? Doing your homework means building upon the objective data in your case, and eliminating the emotional arguments.

Consider your audience.

Just as a parent has to continually adjust their methods to different children to make the same point, the art of persuasion is to continually deliver the consistent message in ways carefully crafted to the person or persons you are dealing with. For example, you might persuade a head coach that we need a second mower in a different manner than you would persuade an administrator. Use the same message delivered in the most effective way for that audience.

Timing is key.

When you make an argument and engage in the persuasive arts, timing is key. There is a lot of research behind the idea. Scroll down to the Resources of the Month at the end for a link to a video about this and some ideas on how to use this knowledge to improve the chances of successful outcomes. Time of day can be a very important key to the success of an argument made to a stakeholder. The time of year is also important. I imagine that even the right day of the week you choose to persuade may be helpful.

Do the homework.

Too often, the sports field manager sounds like all he/she wants is an easier job instead of wanting to get their departmental goals in line with the organization. Start crafting your idea, cause or response by collecting as much solid information or evidence as you can on the subject. Even when you know where it will lead, you must collect the information first, then make conclusions. Unsupported conclusions go nowhere with those who decide things, that’s how they got to be the one deciding things.

Anticipate the counterarguments.

Explore the counterarguments to your point and include them in any report you generate. This shows the decision-makers that you don’t have a political point of view and you have analyzed the issue from all angles. Be reasonable with the other side of your argument and don’t make contrary points of view look foolish. Exploring and respectfully refuting counterarguments adds strength and credibility to yours.

Only after you collect the data, and have trimmed all the emotional fat off your cause, will you be ready to produce a report that you can advance up the organizational flagpole. Do your homework first, then generate a report and your cause stands a much greater chance. The form your report takes really depends on the situation. Often a simple written report suffices to get the ball rolling. Don’t just walk in, unprepared, and chat with your boss about important issues. She will most likely just send you out to do your homework, and she’ll think less of your proposal right from the start. Come in prepared, having anticipated all the questions in advance.

Be visual, not just verbal.

In sports field management, we work in a visual world. Problems and challenges can often be better shown than described. Power-point type presentations with images and video can be of great value in bringing the field to the stakeholders, rather than bringing them to the field. Present any data in a visual way that best makes the point. Keep this general framework in mind with any report: the problem, the solution, and the cost.

Start the report with a brief summary, then go onto the details further in the report. Busy stakeholders appreciate this. You are essentially making a plan. That starts with a realistic assessment of where things are right now. Next, paint a picture of where things need to be in order to better advance the organizational cause. Finally, a plan is detailed to get from here to the better position. Include timelines and decision points (when key decisions need to be made by). Build benchmarks into the plan as a way to track progress. Detail the costs associated with the plan. Show your boss that you have shopped around to get the best prices. The idea here is to arm the decision makers with everything they need to objectively assess the proposal. A well-crafted report will let them know that if they do approve of your proposal, they won’t have to manage the project, you already have those plans detailed. Decision-makers don’t want to create more work for themselves.

The Close.

Only after the homework is done and you have delivered the issue is it time to sell, to close the deal. Why do only sales people seek out sales training? Sales skills are important in every job everywhere. My only exposure was when I started my job as a lawn service salesman back in college. Way oversimplified I’m sure, but here is what I remember.

Ask, go silent, agree, and ask again.

Any sales pro will tell you that you have to ask to get what you need. It’s called the close, and it often follows a simple flow plan. Ask, go silent, agree, and ask again. “Mr. Johnson, I’ve shown you all the facts, so can I proceed with this plan?” Ask directly, then go silent. No matter how long it takes, the next words come out of their mouth. If the answer is yes, your work is done. If the answer is no, it will almost always come with a reason. “I don’t know, Ross. This is a lot of money.” Immediately agree with them, whatever the reason given. “Your right, that is a lot of money, but it will help us cut these costs and these costs, and over time will save us this amount of money”. Then, ask again and go silent in awaiting a response. Close, go silent, agree and re-close. Many sales training courses say you need to try to close 7 times before you give up. That seems a bit much, but you get the picture. In selling and persuasion, persistence pays off.

Most sports field managers I know are better in the field than they are in their offices, I’m no different. No doubt it has to be this way. Like many managers these days, we are over-tasked. You can’t let the day-to-day of your field requirements slide, you’ve got to excel out there. But this doesn’t diminish the importance of building your professional brand with your organization as a manager or director that gets it, and conducts themselves as part of a larger cause. That starts with building communication skills. Next comes the ability to craft an argument. There is a big difference between impassioned arguments and emotional rants, and it has to do with preparation. No one likes a wet towel. Complaining rarely makes anything better. People are naturally drawn to positive, enthusiastic people and projects. They want to join in with the optimists who would rather light a candle than curse the darkness.

Advocating for investment in your operation is your job as a professional. How you do it makes all the difference and goes a long way towards being treated with professional respect at work.

Resources of the Month

Here is a “Talks at Google” video of Daniel H. Pink speaking on his book “When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing”.

An interesting piece in Forbes magazine “21 Simple Ways to Persuade People”

End Quote

“Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion.” -Aristotle