{"id":107,"date":"2018-07-19T15:32:25","date_gmt":"2018-07-19T15:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cricketclubmanager.com\/blog\/?p=107"},"modified":"2018-08-04T15:54:00","modified_gmt":"2018-08-04T15:54:00","slug":"why-cricket-clubs-face-communication-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cricketclubmanager.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/19\/why-cricket-clubs-face-communication-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Cricket Clubs face communication challenges?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why is communication a concern for club managers?<\/span><\/h1>\n

The ever-evolving communication of today\u2019s communities sets a clear message for a community sport that is cricket \u2013 Catch Up! Fall behind, and you lose!<\/p>\n

What\u2019s there to lose, you ask?<\/p>\n

Members \u2013 Your best hope of running a cricket club successfully<\/p>\n

Come to think about it, running a cricket club effectively isn\u2019t rocket science. It is, however, time-consuming, and also it could be exhausting if you\u2019re the only one running the club with little to no help.\u00a0The last thing you\u2019d want here is losing your members to other clubs.<\/p>\n

What role does communication play in managing a cricket club?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Here are some scenarios that highlight the need for\u00a0effective communication.<\/p>\n

Selecting and Managing Teams \u2013\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Key tasks include player selection, assigning roles, replacing players on the team.<\/p>\n

Most common mistake club admins make while executing these tasks is depending on Excel or instant chat applications like WhatsApp. Instant communication is the need of the hour. However, apps like WhatsApp are not\u00a0the\u00a0ideal choices when it comes to these tasks, despite their instant messaging feature.<\/p>\n

When it comes\u00a0to Excel, you lose out on time, as it comes with complexity levels that not all the club members would be comfortable with. Apart from its complexity, Excel isn\u2019t a cricket-club-specific app to rely on.\u00a0 A lot of manual work goes into creating, editing, and managing team rosters using Excel.<\/p>\n

Even if you manage time to create Excel sheets, and create your teams, assign roles, this plan will backfire when the time calls for last minute changes.<\/p>\n

Two reasons –<\/p>\n

A \u2013\u00a0<\/b>Not everyone uses Excel on their phone, so, cannot stay updated on the teams created by the admin.<\/p>\n

B \u2013\u00a0<\/b>No instant updates to members, means last minute change in availabilities\u00a0is\u00a0very likely.<\/p>\n

Where does this leave you?<\/p>\n

Scheduling Practice Sessions and Matches<\/b><\/h4>\n

The most common means of communication used for scheduling practice sessions and matches by club admins is WhatsApp. Apart from that, Facebook also finds a place in many clubs\u2019\u00a0communication\u00a0strategy (or habit, if you may).<\/p>\n

Match and Practice schedules are subject to players\u2019 availabilities. WhatsApp clearly lacks a structure to track these availabilities or even indicate them. Since its goal is to send and receive messages, it fails to meet the communication needs of a cricket\u00a0club, which\u00a0go beyond peer-to-peer chat.<\/p>\n

Why is effective communication on WhatsApp or Facebook for clubs a challenge?<\/i><\/h4>\n

The simple answer is the tidal wave of content demanding members\u2019 attention, so much so, that they don\u2019t have a minute in their day that they can dedicate to their cricket club group on WhatsApp or Facebook.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a club owner or a manager trying to reach a club member in a\u00a0WhatsApp\u00a0group, you\u2019re competing with everyone on their contact list for a minute of your member\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n

Good luck beating that tidal wave of content!<\/p>\n

Clubs also organize Events \u2013 practice\/matches on Facebook. This may seem like a good idea to reach your fans on Facebook and connect with them.<\/p>\n

However, if you\u2019re planning to track who among your players is interested or is actually going for the practice on the said venue and date, then, you\u2019re in for a disappointment. Why?<\/p>\n