March arrives, the snow starts melting, and suddenly I am overloaded with small projects to prepare for the coming season. The changing weather has created a sense of urgency. At my manager’s meeting last Wednesday, my whole team had a look about them when my superintendent said we may open in two weeks. It’s not like we have been lazy or shirking our duties, but the reality that we may go from slow to busy overnight is shocking!
Balancing the workload this time of year is such a challenge. I don’t think members and customers realize what we face to prepare for a golf season. The moving parts are different for every PGA Professional, but we all wear many hats in our roles. Today, I need to order a new swing set for the pool that opens at the end of May. Yesterday, we filled our Barnett Memorial Championship in 10 minutes, but we prepared by working the details out months ago. We often work on today’s tasks but must pay attention to what is coming up months down the road, like the tee gifts for July’s Member Guest!
To manage all my departments and heavy workload, I use a task sheet that most would find ridiculous. It is four pages long and focuses on each department of my business, with the most urgent tasks sorted to the top weekly. I focus on high-impact tasks first that will help my team succeed and help me meet my goals. The task sheet includes my work departments, Section PGA Presidential tasks, and a section for myself, which is at the top right of the sheet. The second page focuses on all the committees of our club, lists the members, and the current projects they are working on. Page three has all the strategic goals of our annual business plan, sorted by committee, department, and importance. The last page lists all the big events for the year with task lists that must be done for a successful event. The benefit is these details free me from depending on my brain alone. My third-grade teacher taught me a sharp pencil is better than a long memory.
My biggest challenge is setting achievable targets. I often put too many goals out there for a day, especially at the rate we PGA Pros get interrupted. There is always that member who wants to visit longer than we have time for, but we will make time for them, regardless. Sometimes this leads to me starting at very early hours in order to stay on track with my goals. Sound familiar?
I think the best things we can do for ourselves are delegate, collaborate, strategize, and celebrate. Delegate what you can to reduce your workload. If we give someone responsibility, we are showing their value and allowing them to own something for success. Talking with team members, board members, and committees about tasks often reduces the workload and creates alignment. Strategizing will often unveil a better, simpler way to get tasks done. Also, many hands make light work, and teamwork makes the dream work!
Probably the thing I do least is celebrate success. I have one team member who always asks when the next celebration is going to happen. He is a senior member of my team and has been with MCC for 20 years. He looks forward to our holiday bowling night, spring bonfire, or a get-together outside of work at a local pub. I have a very cohesive team that works well and supports one another. This is part of the reason, I am sure.
We are gathering this week at Royal Oaks Country Club for the Special Awards Celebration on March 16 and Section Spring Meeting on March 17. I look forward to seeing all of you who will attend. We will work together to achieve the tasks of the Section, Chapters, and administration of our many areas of service to our members. Frank and his team do a superb job of everything I mentioned above. Our Section is in great hands with many tasks ongoing. We will conduct our business at this meeting, so things run smoothly as a section for the next six months before we meet in the fall. This week we will celebrate our newest members, our award winners, and goals achieved since the winter planning meeting.
Good luck in preparing and teeing off your season! Cheers.