I previously outlined what I think are the factors which drive coaching success, and how I define success in this discussion. In this post I address one of those factors – administration.
What is administration?
If it’s outside of actual volleyball – playing or training to play – then it probably falls in some way into the category of administration. It’s all the stuff you have to do to facilitate the volleyball stuff. That’s both in terms of planning and execution.
Some admin work links directly with what you do in the gym. That’s stuff like scheduling, ordering equipment, making travel arrangements, and dozens of other details. Then there’s stuff with less immediate volleyball impact, but which are important for the future. In this category are things like academic monitoring, recruiting, fundraising, alumni relations, and sponsorship interactions.
Check out this list of all the types of admin stuff college programs have to do.
Efficiency
There aren’t many coaches who really enjoy admin work. It’s stuff that has to be done, though. That being the case, we might as well do it as quickly and effectively as we possibly can. In other words, efficiency.
This is a really valuable skill for coaches. A lot of it has to do with mentality. If you’re moaning about doing stuff you don’t want to do, then chances are it’s going to take longer and get done less well than if you just accept the need and get to work.
And efficiency doesn’t just apply to admin work. It’s also something that factors into the practice planning aspect of training.
Prioritization
Something else that also ties in with how you handle training is how well you set your priorities. That means how well you order the things you need to work on. It also means how good a job you do sticking to those priorities in your actual work.
Conclusion
We may not think of the administrative side of being a coach as having much influence on the performance of our team. If you mess things up, though, you can find out very quickly how linked it is to your success. Imagine not properly registering a player and having to forfeit every match they played in.
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