Six Ways to Make Time for Recruiting
I'm starting a stretch of hosting SFC On-Campus Workshops at several schools around the country. Without exception, one of the biggest hurdles that coaches seem to be facing as I prepare to work with them is finding enough time to do everything they need to do when it comes to recruiting.
"I'm up against it for time, Dan", said one assistant coach I met with during a break in the workshop. "I'm here until 9 o'clock most weekday evenings, and I still can't seem to get everything done!" His comments seemed to be shared by his fellow coaches, both at his school and other schools that I just finished visiting.
A couple of weeks ago, after finishing the first day of a workshop, I used an empty athletic department office to check my e-mail and return a few phone calls. What I observed over the next hour or so was amazing.
Two coaches spent about twenty minutes talking about their upcoming vacations in a little lounge area. I overheard another coach on the phone talking to an old friend she used to coach with. Later on that afternoon, after I had met with their athletic director for an early dinner, I noticed three coaches casually talking in an office.
Now I know that there are lots of necessary conversations that take place in a normal work day. But I also know - from my own experience as a workplace time-waster - that a lot of valuable time gets eaten away by trivial, unimportant interruptions and distractions. So it stands to reason that if you are able to do away with a few bad habits, you'd probably be able to have more time to get the important job of recruiting done (with time to spare!).
Here are six ways you can make more time for recruiting, without adding more hours to your already hectic workday:
- Make a list the night before. Start your recruiting day the night before by making a list of the top five or ten things you plan to accomplish in your recruiting duties for the upcoming day. Writing down the things you know you need to do will let you sleep more soundly, and give you a clear direction the next morning when your day starts. Try it. I think this is one of the simple foundations for being much more productive during your day.
- Do as much of your recruiting tasks first thing in the morning. Whether its e-mails to send, letters to write, or making arrangements for an upcoming prospect campus visit, get it done right when you walk into the office. Plenty of fires flare-up as the day progresses, and it seems like the first thing to get shoved aside is recruiting. Get your recruiting tasks done first thing in the morning, working from the list you made the night before.
- Manage your e-mail. Check it first thing in the morning, once in the afternoon, and then again at the end of the day. Leaving your e-mail open and on your computer screen throughout the day is one of the biggest time wasters known to coaches. You think you're being productive snapping quick replies back to your senders, but in reality you are distracting yourself from a multitude of other important recruiting tasks (and other coaching responsibilities) that are much more important. Another recommendation I can make is to use a recruiting management tool like the excellent one Front Rush offers college coaches. I use Front Rush, and know first-hand how much it can do for a coach who is strapped for time and looking for better ways to organize their recruiting.
- Make recruiting "measureable". Set small daily goals for yourself when it comes to recruiting, and then check to see if you met those goals. Maybe you set the goal of calling at least one new high school coach to expand your network of eyes and ears out looking for talent for your program. Or, maybe its to hand write five prospects by the end of the day. Whatever it is, set your goals and then post them in front of you so that you make sure you accomplish them. Measure your success in recruiting effectiveness in the same way you would analyze your team's statistics as a way of measuring their performance.
- Schedule the rest of your day in 15-minute intervals. The only way to use the time you're saving from the first four steps is to stick to a schedule the rest of the day. Measure out your day in blocks of time, and schedule yourself for whatever it is you need to do down to the quarter hour. Almost NO coaches do this on a regular basis when I first meet them, but those that do learn these methods are much more happy and a lot more productive when it comes to their jobs as college coaches.
- Establish it as a top priority. One big reason you don't seem to have enough time for recruiting is that you still haven't embraced it as one of the most important parts of your career as a college coach. In fact, when you're not in-season, I think I could argue that it is THE most important part of your coaching career. Most coaches haven't established recruiting, and all the little details that are a part of it, as a top priority in their day. They let interruptions, distractions, unimportant conversations and unwanted visitors eat up their time. Don't let that happen to you. These bad habits have killed lots of up-and-coming business careers, and they can kill your promising coaching career as well.
Easy to do? Surprisingly, no. Most coaches will look at the list and kind of roll their eyes because its all just common sense, much of which they've heard before. And yet, those same coaches will let their valuable work day slip away because they haven't made it a priority to keep focused on what it is that they need to do to be successful recruiters.
Are you struggling to find time to get your recruiting done in a more efficient manner? Does the thought of not stressing-out to sign more quality recruits sound appealing? Want more time away from the coaching office to spend with your spouse and kids? It's all there waiting for you, coach. But first, you need to get serious about using the time you already have to do your recruiting.