As a sports business leader, one of your most important responsibilities is to ensure that your team can keep the company running in your absence. After all, if you’re the only one who knows how everything works, what will happen if you decide to step down from your position? Fortunately, you can take a few steps to ensure that your team is prepared to step up and keep the business going strong, even if you’re not there. Here’s what you need to do.
Create detailed standard operating procedures.
The first step is to create detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for every aspect of the business. This way, anyone on the team can consult the SOPs and know what they need to do in any given situation.
An SOP is a manual that includes step-by-step instructions for completing a task. It should cover everything from how to answer interviews to how to deal with an athlete’s complaint. For many sports companies, varying sets of SOPs are available for different departments.
These SOPs also go through regular updates and changes to ensure they are always accurate and up-to-date. Especially in the sports industry, specific regulatory bodies mandate that your SOPs meet their standards.
Either way, what matters is that you have SOPs in place so that anyone on the team can pick up and complete a task, even if they’ve never done it before.
Hold regular training sessions.
Once you have SOPs in place, it’s essential to hold regular training sessions so everyone on the team is up-to-date with their responsibilities. Doing so will help ensure each individual is on the same level of expertise and can be trusted to complete their tasks correctly.
The first thing to focus on is ensuring everyone can hold meetings and give presentations. Sports businesses require consistent communication, especially in highlight events and conferences. So, providing avenues to work on this area must be your priority before anything else. Luckily, many service providers offer facilitation training for corporate groups and teams. With this training, your team members will know how to lead discussions, handle conflict, and make decisions that move the business forward.
Aside from that, teaching the staff how to use different tools and software related to their responsibilities is also essential. After all, they won’t be able to do their job correctly if they’re not familiar with the necessary tools. So, make sure to schedule regular training sessions for this purpose.
Whichever way you choose to conduct your training sessions, the important thing is that you be proactive in nurturing your team’s skills and capabilities. By doing so, you can be confident to leave the business in their capable hands, even when you’re not around.
Delegate authority appropriately.
Another critical step is to delegate authority appropriately. Make sure that each team member clearly understands their roles and responsibilities and knows who to go to for approval or guidance in different situations. Organizing these areas will avoid confusion and chaos when you’re not around. You can do this by creating a simple org chart that outlines the chain of command. This way, everyone knows who to report to and who they need to get approval from before taking any action. Aside from that, it’s also important to give team members the autonomy to make decisions within their area of expertise. Doing so will help them feel empowered and motivated to do their best work. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should give them free rein to do whatever they want. There should still be guidelines and boundaries in place. But as long as team members know these, they can make decisions confidently and keep the business running smoothly, even in your absence.
Develop a succession plan.
Last but not least, you need to develop a succession plan. This strategy will ensure that the business can continue to run smoothly, even if something happens to you or another key team member.
Part of this is ensuring everyone on the team has the necessary skills and knowledge to take on additional responsibilities. For example, if you’re the only one who knows how to use specific software, then you need to train someone else on the team to use it too. That way, if something happens to you, someone else can pick up where you left off and keep the business running.
Putting all these steps in place may seem like a lot of work. But if you want to ensure your team can keep the business running smoothly in your absence, it’s essential to put in the effort upfront. By taking these measures, you can have peace of mind knowing that your business is in good hands, no matter what.
