SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/484138
www.stma.org April 2015 | SportsTurf 31 CommuniCation important, as usual Great communication is a common theme throughout all of the four stages of managing a project. Anyone who has managed projects will almost always say that effective communication is the biggest factor in keeping projects within scope, on budget, and on time. Effective communication could be the topic of another article but here are some quick guidelines that turfgrass managers should use when managing projects: First, communication is of the utmost importance but too much communica- tion can negatively impact your message. Updates should be often enough that no stakeholder ever wonders about the proj- ect's status. On the contrary too many emails/newsletters/calls/meetings will be cause for your words to be ignored. Second, it is acceptable to have different communications for different groups of people provided they all have the same general message. For example, the project sponsor (typically an executive/ owner/committee chair) may require less communication than stakeholders. Your project team will require the most intense level of communication. A third tip is to not shy away from communicat- ing issues. Problems and issues will arise during any project. It is how you deal with them that will define the impact the issue has on the outcome of your project. Communicating issues clearly and responsibly is the first step in tack- ling them. Some tips include not placing blame, learning from the mistake, and looking for solutions. phase 1: Definition of the problem Identify the problem and fix it. Simple enough, right? Almost. This is a step that turf managers do daily. Most always have their eye on all aspects of their operation and know the next big improvement that will take their facility to the next level. What is rarely done, however, is putting those ideas on paper and mov- ing forward. A project statement is an all-encompassing document that will define multiple aspects of the project including the goals, scope, stakehold- ers, team members, potential budget, risk-mitigation, etc. Some statements are more robust while others provide less information. Either way the point is to get a "game plan" on paper. The docu- ment should take your idea and turn it into a potential project. One of the important tasks of the definition stage is to properly specify the scope of the project. This serves two purposes. First, the exact goals are estab- lished. The last thing you want at the end of a project is to have a stakeholder upset because they had different expectations. The second, and arguably more impor- tant, is that a proper scope keeps the project within those bounds. Too often projects are derailed because a stake- holder will say, "While you are doing that how about doing this too?" A proper scope defines what is included and what is not included. Both are essential. Another crucial step in the defini- tion stage is team selection. Oftentimes turf managers think their team is their crew. That could not be more wrong. A successful project, whether it is an equipment acquisition or a field reno- vation, should involve a robust team. Sub-contractors, salesmen, consultants, and in-house staff should all be consid- ered for the project team. Having outside minds involved on your project greatly reduces groupthink and the associated difficulties. If a person's skills are only needed at limited phases of the project it is better to include them in the team and excuse them when not needed. You want to avoid approaching people after a project has started and begging for their input. Team members, in general, should have a positive outlook on the project and your core team should include 5-10 solid members. phase 2: planning the project The project planning phase is one that, traditionally, most have done in their