How effective are your meetings?
How often do you hold meetings with your team? Are the parents involved? Are they effective? There is a lot you can do to prepare for these meetings and make them more engaging with your audience. In the #CJJblog this week as the second part in my Coaching Tactics mini-series, I give you the three main meetings I hosted with my team during my coaching career and give you some tips on how you can implement them into your process as well. Enjoy.
- Opening Day. This meeting done on opening day of tryouts, was an introduction to our Ten Commandments to make, stay, and play in the Greece Athena Boys Basketball Program (see picture below). We would discuss personal mission statements, the program mission, and how we are going to be successful together. I also established the three main focus areas of our Foundational Triangle: 1) Constant and never-ending improvement (CANEI formula), 2) Work ethic, and 3) Unselfish team play.
- Team goals and expectations. For this meeting, I would invite all players into a meeting room at the school and we would discuss our team non-negotiables: 1) Always on stage, 2) Always be on time, and 3) No drugs, alcohol, or tobacco. We would also do a very effective activity where we would draw a large symbol (logo, heart, etc.), then proceed to write items each team member contributes to the team. Things we DID want to see from the team members went inside the drawing (ex: positivity, hustle, sportsmanship, etc.). Things we DID NOT want to see from the team members went outside the drawing (ex: selfishness, negativity, laziness, etc.). We also discussed our goals as a team, both on the court (record, postseason accomplishments, etc.) and off the court (academics, community service, etc.). Captains were also voted on at this meeting and everyone got a say in who we chose. We would watch a goal-setting video to start to establish roles on the team as well.
- Parent-Players Meeting. This was hosted at my home, which (obviously) included the parents. At this meeting, the parents have a voice and work out volunteer responsibilities, as well as get introduced to the Ten Commandments. We would then break out into 7 groups: 1) Freshmen players, 2) Freshmen parents, 3) Junior Varsity players, 4) Junior Varsity parents, 5) Varsity players, 6) Varsity parents, and 7) Coaches. Each group was asked “What are your expectations for this season from the other groups?” A spokesperson from each group would read aloud their responses.
Did You Know? Coach Jim Johnson recently recorded a podcast interview with his good friend, and President of iHeartMeadia Sports, Kevin LeGrett. You can listen HERE.
Life Tip #34: Use the 6P Formula: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance
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