We hear the complaint more and more frequently in various forms. But most of the time, it starts with “Kids these days …”
The complaint revolves around teenagers – and sometimes covers an entire generation – and their phones. “Their heads are buried in the phones” … “They don’t know how to interact with people” … “They have no social skills.”
Once we learn that most of the people being criticized actually can communicate, they just do it differently now, we can start to explore ways to effectively reach them. Adopting their chosen method of communicating is a great start.
So we learn how to use the phone. Sure, that sounds silly. But when we consider that the “phone” is the least-used feature on that mobile device they carry with them all day long, we have taken a big step forward. There are apps on their “phone” they use way more than they actually speak on the phone.
With that in mind, we can understand how and why the communication features DRIVN provides are valuable.
Psychology Campus published a list of 12 ingredients in effective communication between players and coaches. They are:
- Be direct.
- Be complete and specific.
- Be clear and consistent.
- State your needs and feelings clearly.
- Separate fact from opinion.
- Focus on one thing at a time.
- Deliver messages immediately.
- Avoid hidden agendas.
- Be consistent with nonverbal messages (expressions, body language, gestures)
- Reinforce with repetition.
- Make the messages appropriate to the receiver’s level of understanding.
- Look for feedback that your message was received accurately.
If a team has the DRIVN app, most of the above is easier to accomplish. And DRIVN will become one of most important apps your players have. As a result, coaches will have an effective and efficient way to communicate with their players.
For example, crafting a message to a player is tricky. The message, according to the guidelines above, needs to be clear, concise and delivered in language the player can understand. All that suggests a written message is the best method. And the timeliness of a written message is crucial. DRIVN’s chat allows coaches to deliver a message to an individual player, group of players or the entire team at the most opportune time, to a place where the athlete(s) will see it quickly.
Repetition is one of the ingredients in effective communication. By opening a channel of communication with a player through DRIVN, the coach will have a way to listen to and understand the player and his or her point of view.
Find out more about what DRIVN can do for you.
So, the next time you begin to get frustrated with your player’s perceived inability to communicate, consider that it might just be you haven’t kept up with the communication methods they prefer.
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