| Professional Courtesy = Common Courtesy |
By Paul Payne, NSCAA Vice President for Education
As coaches, we are pulled in all directions by players, administration and parents. With all the demands a coach at any level has, it’s difficult to stay on top of the constant barrage of phone calls, e-mails, faxes and other modern-day forms of communication. But because of these modern-day conveniences, we have a professional responsibility to practice common courtesy in responding to other individuals as quickly and efficiently as possible. By doing so, hopefully we can expect the same of those with whom we interact.
Two recent examples highlight this issue. A group of club and high school coaches were invited to attend a day of training sessions by a prominent coach. Of those invited, four attended the sessions, several responded with regrets, but a larger number never bothered to phone with any response. It should not have mattered that the invite came from a “name” coach – all are owed the courtesy of a reply.
In my own position as a head men’s college coach, I saw a similar pattern. I tracked for one week the number of answers or callbacks I received to e-mails and phone messages that I had placed in a single day. I sent 11 e-mails that would have at least required an acknowledgement of receipt and made five phone calls that asked for a return call. One week later I had four replies to my e-mails and one phone call.
Do the math: More than half of my e-mails and calls were never returned. Personnel on my own college campus as well as fellow coaches were part of the group that never bothered with a response. I’m concerned that this is a trend that we as coaches need to recognize. Coaches must practice professional courtesy with everyone so we don’t become part of the growing numbers that believe it is acceptable (intentional or unintentional) to ignore others.
Although it may take a few minutes of your time, you can do several things to make sure you are one of the responsible professionals.
Keeping a log helps you stay on top of missed calls. Saving messages on your answering machine as well as old-fashioned writing them down helps you deal with missed phone calls. We often think “I’ll call back when I get a chance” and before you know it you’ve forgotten who called or what their number was. Even leaving a short message lets callers know you have received their messages.
E-mail is a simple way to stay on top of your correspondence. If possible, answer every e-mail as quickly as you can, and if time restricts you from a lengthy reply, just a short acknowledgement is helpful. Something as simple as “Thanks for the e-mail” lets a person know an e-mail has been received and read. We all know that some e-mails take off into cyberspace so as a sender, it’s nice to know that your e-mail has been received.
If you need to respond to a larger number of e-mails with the same message, consider an e-mail address book or create a word document to send as an attachment. For college coaches, I have found this useful in responding to the vast number of recruiting inquiries I receive.
Often we are away from our office for long stretches and can’t promptly respond to e-mail and phone messages. Don’t use this as an excuse for not taking care of your correspondence. Program your answering machine to announce the days you will be away and when you are expected back. If I phone someone and they announce they are “out of the office until …” I know not to expect a call back immediately. That little courtesy goes a long way.
Have an instant reply programmed into your e-mail in much the same manner. When an e-mail is sent, an instant reply can announce your absence from the office. If you can access your email from another location, that enables you to stay on top of the daily deluge of e-mails and to answer those that need an immediate reply.
I occasionally hear, “I don’t use e-mail.” That’s fine if you work where e-mail is not available or accessible. However, if your school, university or business supplies e-mail access to you, it’s your professional responsibility to learn how to use it. Utilizing technical support staff to assist you goes a long way in helping understand the ease and convenience of this modern-day form of communication.
We all forget at times to get back to someone in a timely fashion. At the same time we are inundated with e-mails and phone calls that are general in nature. One can’t possibly respond to all correspondence, whether phone, letter or e-mail. However, it’s our responsibility as professionals to use proper judgment in deciding which ones need a prompt reply. I’m sure as someone is reading this article they’ll say “What nerve he has, I remember he never got back to me.”
Many years ago I attended a coaching course, and my instructor, Nick Zlatar, ended the course talking about the 90/10 rule. That day he applied it coaches interacting with players and parents, but I think it is applicable here as well. Probably 90 percent of us efficiently keep up with our daily correspondence, but that leaves 10 percent who are deficient. I guess I’m dwelling on the 10 percent rather than the 90 percent, but if everyone is more aware of this professional responsibility, it will become one that we will all do better.
I recently observed another example of what I believe is a lack of professional courtesy in the college ranks. In the last several months, my assistant coach has applied for many advertised coaching positions. I have supported him as he looks to break into the head coaching ranks or move on to a Division I program. To date he applied for 20 positions and has received one letter acknowledging receipt of his resume and four responses informing him that the position had been filled. These were all advertised positions in either the NCAA News or posted on the NSCAA web site. He had spent time constructing separate letters to each school, and in 15 cases he never even received acknowledgement that his materials had been received. I recognize that there is a flood of applicants for these positions; however, if it’s advertised and you ask interested candidates to take the time to submit required documents, you owe that individual the courtesy of a reply. I hope these examples are the exception, and people in our business are better at exhibiting what is nothing more than common courtesy.
Editor’s note: The NSCAA’s Vice President for Education, Paul Payne also is the men’s coach at Bloomsburg (Pa.) University.
|
|
| The Technical Area, NSCAA eNewsletter |
 |
|
|
 |
| Soccer Journal - Published seven times a year in print and once annually online, Soccer Journal is the Official Publication of NSCAA and is one of the few publications in the world produced exclusively for soccer coaches. learn more |
| Insurance - Members in the United States automatically receive $1 million in professional liability insurance, providing coverage for most soccer-related activities. learn more |
| Academy Programs - The benchmark of soccer coaching education is the NSCAA Coaching Academy program. learn more |
| Convention - The NSCAA Convention is "The World's Largest Annual Gathering of Soccer Coaches." Held each January learn more |
| Awards and Recognition - The NSCAA administers an outstanding awards and recognition program which includes Coach of the Year, All-America, long-term service and special recognition awards, designed to recognize excellence in soccer, academics and service to the game. learn more |
| Licensed Apparel - A full line of distinctive coaching gear sets you apart as a member of the NSCAA through our licensed apparel program with adidas. learn more |
| For more details, please proceed to the Benefits of NSCAA Membership Page |
|
|
