Introducing the "Sports Talk" Series!

Hello everyone! Introducing you to the "SPORTS TALK" series.

With effective management serves as a cornerstone for success, this series is designed to provide a compelling way to comprehend essential management lessons, which are crucial for both seasoned leaders and emerging professionals, by drawing parallels between on-field play and its learning in the field of sports management.

Commencing today with one of the essential management learnings - PLANNING:

Planning is the first function of management, not just in organizations but also in sports.

For all the stakeholders involved, be the players, coaches, broadcasters, or sports managers, it's an essential part of their play as it increases the efficiency of all the actions that have to be carried out to achieve the goal and aids in preventing unwanted surprises.

As a sports manager, crafting a plan with detailed analysis improves the understanding of the surroundings, regulatory compliance, risk involvement, financial projections, media coverage, and fan engagement.

Much like analysis carried out by coaches and players to form an extensive strategy against an opponent or a player, for instance, Ashwin made Steve Smith his obsession, studying his videos for 6 months before the series against Australia 2020-21, understanding Smith's wrist pattern, trigger moment, shot selection, and crafting a plan accordingly.

With the internal and external environment constantly evolving, organizing a sports event requires the manager to think of the stage of planning as a continuous or ongoing process, as plans need revision.

Just like team India or any other team often involved in before, after, and during the game planning, having a continuous process makes it easier to adapt to the changing environment, allows optimum utilization of the resources, and enhances performance.

Along with continuity, flexibility also comes into play, which enables sports managers to adjust strategies or switch to alternate plans when needed.

Alike teams on-field coming up with strategies according to the ongoing situation, different opponents or players, for instance, in 2014, Dhoni’s decision to employ short-ball tactics with @Ishant Sharma on the final day of the 2nd test when nothing was happening from the traditional length resulted in a famous win at Lord's for India after a gap of 28 years.

The purpose of all planning is to achieve a goal, be it increasing fan engagement, player or team development, marketing and financial goals, or successfully carrying out an event.

It provides the framework or guidelines for decision-making and ensures that all actions lead to the desired results.

Having a well-managed strategy minimizes the chances of any mistakes, creates good coordination between the team members, and eases the pressure of uncertainty during crisis situations.

When all the members keep the plan on top of their priority list and adhere to a thorough plan, it aids in organizing activities to achieve a common goal.

For instance, when Australia played a three-day practice match against Mumbai in 1998, everyone followed the plan of attacking play against Warne and achieved success.

With more such illustrations from the on-field play, let's understand coordination between the team members, the team environment, and their mindset in achieving a common goal in the upcoming session.

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