To all of the Head Coaches out there, we know nobody outside of those of us who have done it realize how administrative the role is. There is so much planning that goes into a successful season. Planning workouts, team events, social media posting, staff meetings, parent meetings, recruiting weekends, team branding, weekly newsletters, meet schedules, staff interviews and so much more.
How do you balance it? Short answer is, you do your best and truly live at the mercy of your staff for their help. Our challenge to you is, how can you do it even better this season?
Monthly Challenge: Make an Outline
The last week of each month when you meet with your staff, lay out what needs to be done for the month ahead. Talk about what each person can do to contribute in the area they will be responsible for. Each month looks different even though most have a similar schedule every year. Here are some additional suggested items for your outline that you maybe haven't planned for before but would help you get closer to your goals -
Marketing Campaign - What part of your program can you target for growth?
Social Media Schedule - How frequent to post and what content are you sharing?
Admin Needs - Tackle that pile on your desk, you know you need to!
A Team Challenge - Chase your team goals in a fun way that motivates your staff!
Team Social Event - Last season was hard on the swimmers, find a fun & safe event!
Weekly Challenge: Divide The Month
Prioritize everything you need accomplished by the end of the month. What can wait, what can't? Break each month to-do's into weekly needs, this makes the to-do list shorter and more attainable. This will help you give your staff weekly goals and can give you the ability to check in with them weekly in more of an oversight position. They are more likely to perform at the level you seek if they know what you need in advance. This way they can dedicate time to the task instead of you throwing it at them last minute because let's face it, you had too much on your plate and forgot you needed it done.Try to shift your workload to the days in your schedule that tend to be less busy so your weekly plans still get accomplished but it is not too overwhelming. Here is a few of our favorite weekly additions that can be done through both social media & e-mails -
Motivation Monday - Targeted towards current athletes.
Wisdom Wednesday - Targeted towards parents or recruits.
Throw Back Thursday - Give some love to your team alumni!
Factual Friday - Information needs for following week.
Swimmer Saturday - Maybe spotlight a new best time or team record!
Daily Challenge: Conquer The Day!
We all know that some days are action packed and other days are smooth sailing. You never know what each day is going to become. All of us know that some days, it doesn't matter what we planned for, it turns out different. Find ways to maximize with time management, take advantage of your early mornings so that you have more of a break in the evenings to enjoy time doing things outside of work. Don't let yourself become the coach answering recruit e-mails or parent complaints at 11:00pm. You owe it to yourself! By using the suggestions below and sticking to them, you can finally write a workout without a million interruptions.
Find 10 minutes a day and dedicate that time to something you love everyday.
Schedule in one hour for e-mails. You heard us, only one hour. Why? Office hours are for more than just e-mails. Obviously, this excludes urgent situations. You have other administrative things you need to do, keep them at an hour and you'll be amazed how many more you get through in that time when it's the only hour each day you do it.
Schedule one hour our for calls. Having this time limit helps you have shorter calls and stay on track knowing you have more to make. You'll learn to be short and sweet if you aren't already.
Schedule an hour towards your workouts. You might not need that long, use the rest of the time to collaborate with another coach or research new sets to try. There is so much content out there, take some time and dive into it. You never know, you just might find your new favorite test set!
Spend time with your staff, if you can't be in the office with them, check in with them. See how you can help each other and work together each an every day. After all, your staff is the backbone of your team. You are at your strongest together!