In the last few years, we have been through so many changes in our personal, sporting and professional lives whilst we dealt with the pandemic. Many of us would be rightly looking forward to getting back to normal and with Spring arriving, it beings a sense of optimism. However, things won’t be back to normal in the sense that it was before the pandemic because we have all gone through a change, for some a period of reflection and an opportunity to reprioritise their time, for others a change of employment, location or the loss of loved ones. All of this means no one is the same and we cannot just expect things to go back to the same as before COVID.
Change is difficult for many, but we shouldn’t hide from it. During the pandemic, change was enforced on Sports Clubs across the country and the way they reacted will have seen some reap the rewards of more loyal followers and a growth in membership while others may
be struggled to react and as such may be suffering with apathy and frustration from members. Whatever your situation it’s still important to continuously review your practices, listen to your member's needs and look to improve your offer by making changes. As Winston Churchill once said, “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”
As you go through a change process there will always be some resistance, those who prefer the way it is and cannot see the benefits of change. If these people are a minority, you mustn’t let them disrupt the process and try to engage them by highlighting the benefits and the reasons for change. There will also be some chaos through the process as things will not always go exactly as planned, but you must continue to progress and give any change time to be integrated fully. Lastly and perhaps most fundamental is that once the change has been integrated, you need to review it again to ensure the change is achieving what you hoped it would and then continue to review ready to make the next change.
The subject for this blog is timely because very soon I will be announcing some changes to my business so keep an eye out for my next newsletter and always remember when faced with change that famous quote from Albert Einstein “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change”.
Caroline x
Comments