Streamline!

Which is more precious, your money or your time? Many of us put a high value on free time each week for our other endeavors such as time with family and friends, the arts and sports. If you have been part of the management team for your local association for a while you know the depth of the time commitment that is required. Your tasks within the group inevitably lead you back to your computer - it is simply a better way to get things done.

For some of you that will mean time working on spreadsheets, figuring out game schedules. I know different venues have different rules; teams have to travel and work around the exam schedules of participants and holidays... the list is endless.

For others in your association computer time might be communicating with coaches and referees or perhaps your general public. I know many of you reading this would need to communicate with parents and the wider group you want to come out and see your game. Its more fun for the watchers and the players if you bring in a big crowd. A well-maintained outbound email campaign and good links to other websites that attract a sport-minded crowd can do wonders for your crowd numbers.

Fund-raising committees are another group that can reap massive benefits from good computer communications and project management. Our provincial snowboard association recently made good use of this type of solution - read about it in my next post.

As your computer-based management of your sports association grows you should share your ideas regularly within your group. If your group is fairly small you may want to make use of Quicktopic. This site leads you through setting up a discussion forum on any topic you choose. Keep an eye on this blog for a full report on Quicktopic.