Sports and Web 3.0

Sports and recreational clubs at all levels from local to state to national are still cautioustly adotpting technology, members are still online and offline, and the community still views sports clubs from a one dimensional perspective. But the world is evolving past that…quickly and while sports just start to catch up with 2.0 we’re moving to 3.0. So what is 3.0 and how will it change your sports club or administration.
This new table built by Dr. John Moravec details the evolving way we’re all learning, trying out technology, and growing as a community. Essentially, we’ll reach a new state of web skills when we reinvent technology tools to better enhance our personal learning. While the table refers to teaching and education it is obviously only a short jump to similar community organisations. We will be at 3.0 when community clubs are everywhere and not viewed as places to throw a ball with limited interaction and broader acknowledgement, understanding and interaction from the community.

web 3.0 education

The above table obviously refers to Teachers and education. But you can see how we would tailor it to sports. Through utilising an administration backbone that would allow pluggable User Interfaces (UI) and in turn User Experiences (UX) an entirely new view on funding, resources, volunteers and overall administration starts to take place.

Do you agree with the descriptions in this table? What is being left out of the web 3.0 discussion right now? How long will it take to reach this new level of supposed understanding? Will we ever actually make it?

Being a Club President

Being a President of a sporting club is a very different role. Still the visionary and champion of culture, they are the ultimate leader. Yes a team captain is a leader, but this type of leadership is not the same thing. What works as a captain and to lead by example, has the opposite effect when you are the President. Leading not by doing, but by inspiring, enabling, and holding people accountable.

Everyone has a slightly different definition, but the real secret to success is going to be delegating as much as possible to free up your time for thinking and driving new opportunities. This is even more important in a not-for-profit group.

Dan Pallotta on changing your mind about your not-for-profit

This talk by Dan Pallotta has a whole lot of relevance to all not-for-profit groups including sporting clubs.

Convincing persuasion…

Getting your volunteers on board, to help your club achieve things can be tough. Taking a moment to reflect on how you do this can be overly beneficial.

At TidyClub we are strong believers in increasing the level of transparency within your committee and broader member base. Firstly so everyone knows that things are happening in a legitimate fashion, but secondly and just as importantly is to help with on-boarding your members to the mission the club has before it.

Now the question is do you persuade or do you convince…and there is a difference.

Engineers convince. Marketers persuade. Persuasion appeals to the emotions and to fear and to the imagination. Convincing requires a spreadsheet or some other rational device. Now what if you have both?

It is far easier to persuade someone after they are already convinced, when they have the facts before them. But you must have both to make wonderful things happen. 

Luckily you have TidyClub!

NFP Staffing PR Crisis

The Lort Smith Animal Hospital in Melbourne is facing a PR crisis after a fake job ad was placed on job search website Seek, advertising for a new CEO. The ad detailed behaviour that accused the current CEO of self-centeredness, ignorance, disconnect with mission, disrespect, and a lack of communication. The job ad has since been taken down, but is still viewable on Google Cache. The story has been circulated on prominent news websites, and popular talkback radio as well. 

This isn’t a situation that is unique to the not for profit sector - there are many tales, both true and of the urban myth ilk, that report employees doing similar things in retaliation for workplace dissatisfaction.

So what can we learn from this?

  1. Connection to mission. NFP staff are passionate about their work - if they weren’t, they’d be working in the corporate world and earning 20% more. They want a CEO and leaders who are connected to mission and passionate about what they do.
  2. Staff management. NFP staff value a collaborative culture, rather than a dictatorial top-down culture. They’re passionate, and they want their opinions to be considered and included.
  3. Honesty and integrity. NFP staff value transparent operations. They work hard to bring in much needed funds for the mission, and they don’t want to see wastage. 

These are the top three concerns highlighted in the job ad - concerns that a healthy and functional NFP will address regularly through staff surveys, open management discussions, efficient internal communications and collaborative work teams.

As for the Lort Smith Animal Hospital, the Board need to seriously consider the allegations in this fake job ad. They may all be false, and nothing more than the ravings of a single disgruntled staffer. Or they might all be true, and representative of more endemic issues in the organisation. Either way, the Board needs to investigate these claims from a purely due diligence perspective as they are ultimately responsible for the performance of the organisation.