Welcome in the diary section! Please enjoy reading my work experience and memories at Total Tennis.
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Student Name - Sorin Navrotchi
Beginning Date - 06/18/18
Organization - Total Tennis
Supervisor’s Name - Saif Syed
Supervisor E-Mail - [email protected]
Beginning Date - 06/18/18
Organization - Total Tennis
Supervisor’s Name - Saif Syed
Supervisor E-Mail - [email protected]
Daily Journal
Text and Pictures courtesy of Me
Last week: 08/27/18 -08/29/18
Final Post
I was truly excited to join Total Tennis during Summer 2018.
First, I had the opportunity to thrive in a dynamic environment where integration is encouraged, differences are respected, and diversity is a paramount importance. I appreciated the good atmosphere for the discussions and got to know the other participants and customers. By assisting the Tennis Operations Manager, I have been confronted daily with different problem-solving situations, learned to be proactive, and obliged to take initiative.
Then, I also liked my supervision role they assigned to me and the given responsibility to make things happen. Overall, rewarding to put into practice the management courses studied at Tiffin University!
Finally, every day, my confidence increased, and I enjoyed teaching effectively and creatively tennis to children, juniors and adults using my communication and tennis skills. Their compliments made me proud.
It was much more exciting to collaborate and to understand the customer's needs: growing a business is about fostering trust and relationship, not pushing products. The goal is to show the value of the product and build a relationship with the customer. The only thing that matters is the customer's success and satisfaction. And with modesty, I believe I contributed to it.
My deepest gratitude goes to the customers, men and women of large and small companies around the world who shared their experiences, thoughts and stories with us.
Surrounding myself with mentors like Said and Ed, who have their own rich experiences and give excellent advice: this was invaluable.
I would especially like to thank Said for his full support and availability, as well as for the time he has devoted to answering my questions and sharing his International experience. I have learned a lot from him and I hope that soon enough, I will be able to use all this accumulated knowledge.
I am particularly grateful to Ed Fondiller, the Director of Total Tennis, who welcomed me in this beautiful place. It was a pleasure working under the direction of a philanthropist and be a witness of his great environmental achievements at Total Tennis: the project "Total Green", which goal is to reduce waste and consume less and use solar panels to reduce carbon emissions. I also admired his involvement in providing fundraising for scholarship for over 400 students (children and youth) in Likoni, Kenya.
It was a real pleasure working with Ed, Said and my colleagues, and thank you once more for all your support over this great Summer job. I hope, our ways will cross again.
First, I had the opportunity to thrive in a dynamic environment where integration is encouraged, differences are respected, and diversity is a paramount importance. I appreciated the good atmosphere for the discussions and got to know the other participants and customers. By assisting the Tennis Operations Manager, I have been confronted daily with different problem-solving situations, learned to be proactive, and obliged to take initiative.
Then, I also liked my supervision role they assigned to me and the given responsibility to make things happen. Overall, rewarding to put into practice the management courses studied at Tiffin University!
Finally, every day, my confidence increased, and I enjoyed teaching effectively and creatively tennis to children, juniors and adults using my communication and tennis skills. Their compliments made me proud.
It was much more exciting to collaborate and to understand the customer's needs: growing a business is about fostering trust and relationship, not pushing products. The goal is to show the value of the product and build a relationship with the customer. The only thing that matters is the customer's success and satisfaction. And with modesty, I believe I contributed to it.
My deepest gratitude goes to the customers, men and women of large and small companies around the world who shared their experiences, thoughts and stories with us.
Surrounding myself with mentors like Said and Ed, who have their own rich experiences and give excellent advice: this was invaluable.
I would especially like to thank Said for his full support and availability, as well as for the time he has devoted to answering my questions and sharing his International experience. I have learned a lot from him and I hope that soon enough, I will be able to use all this accumulated knowledge.
I am particularly grateful to Ed Fondiller, the Director of Total Tennis, who welcomed me in this beautiful place. It was a pleasure working under the direction of a philanthropist and be a witness of his great environmental achievements at Total Tennis: the project "Total Green", which goal is to reduce waste and consume less and use solar panels to reduce carbon emissions. I also admired his involvement in providing fundraising for scholarship for over 400 students (children and youth) in Likoni, Kenya.
It was a real pleasure working with Ed, Said and my colleagues, and thank you once more for all your support over this great Summer job. I hope, our ways will cross again.
WEEK 10: 08/20/18 -08/22/18
Improve a situation or process at Total?
I would very modestly suggest the following improvements:
Encouraging more the use of Twitter at Total Tennis
The main advantages of Twitter are: having internal and even external quick and efficient communication, make the promotion of tennis programs with these customers and having a feedback on the tennis programs sold, allowing customers to express themselves on tennis packages offered by Total Tennis. For these reasons, I would encourage more use of Twitter.
Choose a shared calendar solution
The shared calendar allows all members of a company with online access to everyone's calendar. The shared agenda is updated in real time and everyone can organize their working time according to the schedule of their employees. A serious management tool that we must learn to use in order to achieve organizational efficiency. Indeed, this would result in saving time and productivity: no need to consult a third party or to send multiple emails to know the availability of each.
Management processes
A process is a sequence of activities intended to produce a result. The purpose of the process is the customers’ satisfaction or another actor in the organization.
It is possible to distinguish two types of processes: business processes and support processes.
Business processes (or operational processes) directly contribute to the achievement of the product or service. They are also referred as implementation processes. They include design centre, manufacturing, sales and services.
The support processes indirectly bring value to the business. They are necessary for the execution of the business processes, to which they carry the necessary resources.
ICTs are at the heart of this type of work organization. In my opinion, using ICTs more and more is beneficial to Total Tennis.
Creation of the reward program
The customer loyalty is a consumer behavior, which is to repeat a purchase from the same company or the same brand.
The company should try to retain customers to ensure minimum activity and spend less approach or conquering new customer by building a trustful relationship. For this, the Total Tennis company has various means: The Total Tennis tour (Play, Stay, Eat, Relax), a high-quality tennis program; the devoted and experienced tennis coaches’ team.
In addition, to ensure a loyal customer base, the company may set up a reward program, which will encourage customers to come back.
Indeed, "shopping" tennis programs will be rewarded by various means such as points, discounts, rewards or encouraging friends to come to Total Tennis.
Encouraging more the use of Twitter at Total Tennis
The main advantages of Twitter are: having internal and even external quick and efficient communication, make the promotion of tennis programs with these customers and having a feedback on the tennis programs sold, allowing customers to express themselves on tennis packages offered by Total Tennis. For these reasons, I would encourage more use of Twitter.
Choose a shared calendar solution
The shared calendar allows all members of a company with online access to everyone's calendar. The shared agenda is updated in real time and everyone can organize their working time according to the schedule of their employees. A serious management tool that we must learn to use in order to achieve organizational efficiency. Indeed, this would result in saving time and productivity: no need to consult a third party or to send multiple emails to know the availability of each.
Management processes
A process is a sequence of activities intended to produce a result. The purpose of the process is the customers’ satisfaction or another actor in the organization.
It is possible to distinguish two types of processes: business processes and support processes.
Business processes (or operational processes) directly contribute to the achievement of the product or service. They are also referred as implementation processes. They include design centre, manufacturing, sales and services.
The support processes indirectly bring value to the business. They are necessary for the execution of the business processes, to which they carry the necessary resources.
ICTs are at the heart of this type of work organization. In my opinion, using ICTs more and more is beneficial to Total Tennis.
Creation of the reward program
The customer loyalty is a consumer behavior, which is to repeat a purchase from the same company or the same brand.
The company should try to retain customers to ensure minimum activity and spend less approach or conquering new customer by building a trustful relationship. For this, the Total Tennis company has various means: The Total Tennis tour (Play, Stay, Eat, Relax), a high-quality tennis program; the devoted and experienced tennis coaches’ team.
In addition, to ensure a loyal customer base, the company may set up a reward program, which will encourage customers to come back.
Indeed, "shopping" tennis programs will be rewarded by various means such as points, discounts, rewards or encouraging friends to come to Total Tennis.
My communication with my Supervisor
My supervisor, Saif, is a great communicator as he has the skills to listen kindly and send convincing messages.
It is known that when you speak freely to people, you release the best of their potential, their energy, their creativity.
I believe he has an emotional know-how that he has cultivated and improved during his years of international experience. He is not very talkative, but he captures the emotional signals and I noticed that he adapts his message to the person in front of him.
Saif solves difficult problems frankly and simply. He kept me updated on things that were important to me. He gave me as much freedom as I could handle it. He made me feel important and he convinced me that our work is important. My manager stimulated me to be innovative by giving me the willingness to contribute to daily operations performance.
He is often open to the exchange of information.
One of the most important things I could learn from him is its ability to read body language. Indeed, on and off court, I was impressed about how my supervisor was able to develop a deeper understanding of the situation by analyzing how people where moving, talking, or by examining their posture. Off-court, for example, Saif is able to be an efficient communicator with the other team members by transmitting information effectively and demonstrating empathy. On-court, he can tell when a player struggles with issues in his personal life by his attitude or the expression of his body.
Tennis is a though game because if you are having a bad day or if you have some personal problems, you can not be substituted like in soccer or basketball. It is more similar to boxing or running, where first of all you must fight and win against yourself before defeating the opponent in front of you. Saif knows about the challenges and struggles that tennis involves, therefore, he is able to use communication, empathy, body-language analysis to make a real difference in the athlete's improvement and performance.
Saif has the skill to develop human relationships, to express clearly when working in a team and delegating tasks. I am glad I could learn a lot from his communication skills and E.Q. at Total Tennis.
It is known that when you speak freely to people, you release the best of their potential, their energy, their creativity.
I believe he has an emotional know-how that he has cultivated and improved during his years of international experience. He is not very talkative, but he captures the emotional signals and I noticed that he adapts his message to the person in front of him.
Saif solves difficult problems frankly and simply. He kept me updated on things that were important to me. He gave me as much freedom as I could handle it. He made me feel important and he convinced me that our work is important. My manager stimulated me to be innovative by giving me the willingness to contribute to daily operations performance.
He is often open to the exchange of information.
One of the most important things I could learn from him is its ability to read body language. Indeed, on and off court, I was impressed about how my supervisor was able to develop a deeper understanding of the situation by analyzing how people where moving, talking, or by examining their posture. Off-court, for example, Saif is able to be an efficient communicator with the other team members by transmitting information effectively and demonstrating empathy. On-court, he can tell when a player struggles with issues in his personal life by his attitude or the expression of his body.
Tennis is a though game because if you are having a bad day or if you have some personal problems, you can not be substituted like in soccer or basketball. It is more similar to boxing or running, where first of all you must fight and win against yourself before defeating the opponent in front of you. Saif knows about the challenges and struggles that tennis involves, therefore, he is able to use communication, empathy, body-language analysis to make a real difference in the athlete's improvement and performance.
Saif has the skill to develop human relationships, to express clearly when working in a team and delegating tasks. I am glad I could learn a lot from his communication skills and E.Q. at Total Tennis.
WEEK 9: 08/13/18 - 08/15/18
The emergence of a collective intelligence at Total Tennis
As I have already underlined communicating is a social act that forms, maintains and transforms a relationship within an organization. The new communication tools, ICTs, Information and Communication Technologies, offer new forms of collaboration and cooperation within an organization. ICTs promote the development of collective intelligence through the creation, flow and especially the sharing of information between the members of the organization.
Electronic communication (e-communication) and its tools contribute to share effectively information within an organization. The e-communication represents the exchange of information using a computer network as support. It allows direct and interactive communication. The communication can be internal, if it is addressed to the employees of the organization or external, if it targets customers, other partners, sponsors, etc. The e-communication offers new uses in terms of information sharing and collaboration via e-communication tools. These tools make it possible to improve this group work by creating an internal and external communication adapted to the needs of the organization.
Among these many e-tools, I chose to present:
- social media sites
- the Web
- shared applications online
- email
- shared agenda, collaboration tool.
A social network is a community of individuals connected to each other by interests, needs, which exchange information in a virtual place. Total Tennis organization uses the following social media sites: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Reservations for a tennis court are via an online shared application.
For internal and external communication, email is often used: Outlook. Example: [email protected]
A website is a shop window for an organization and a source of information available at any time. The Total Tennis website provides external communication with the public to disseminate information, strengthen customer relationships, attract new customers and provide a more modern image.
In this concern for excellence, Total Tennis has successfully redone its website in 2018 giving an outstanding image. (www.totaltennis.com)
ICTs also facilitate the collection and sharing of information in real-time and remote access. For example, the shared calendar allows the programming of actions (meetings, appointment notifications, tasks to be performed).
As said Nick Bollettieri, a famous tennis coach:
“As we all know, today social media platforms give instant access to celebrities and “experts”, while also giving us all a voice to speak to the world. This instant ability to work with any of these platforms, similarly gives us the opportunity to work together no matter where we are in the world.”
(Florida Tennis Magazine – January 2018, article “WhatsApp, Skype, FaceTime, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram for tennis?” by Nick Bollettieri, IMG Tennis Academy)
Electronic communication (e-communication) and its tools contribute to share effectively information within an organization. The e-communication represents the exchange of information using a computer network as support. It allows direct and interactive communication. The communication can be internal, if it is addressed to the employees of the organization or external, if it targets customers, other partners, sponsors, etc. The e-communication offers new uses in terms of information sharing and collaboration via e-communication tools. These tools make it possible to improve this group work by creating an internal and external communication adapted to the needs of the organization.
Among these many e-tools, I chose to present:
- social media sites
- the Web
- shared applications online
- shared agenda, collaboration tool.
A social network is a community of individuals connected to each other by interests, needs, which exchange information in a virtual place. Total Tennis organization uses the following social media sites: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Reservations for a tennis court are via an online shared application.
For internal and external communication, email is often used: Outlook. Example: [email protected]
A website is a shop window for an organization and a source of information available at any time. The Total Tennis website provides external communication with the public to disseminate information, strengthen customer relationships, attract new customers and provide a more modern image.
In this concern for excellence, Total Tennis has successfully redone its website in 2018 giving an outstanding image. (www.totaltennis.com)
ICTs also facilitate the collection and sharing of information in real-time and remote access. For example, the shared calendar allows the programming of actions (meetings, appointment notifications, tasks to be performed).
As said Nick Bollettieri, a famous tennis coach:
“As we all know, today social media platforms give instant access to celebrities and “experts”, while also giving us all a voice to speak to the world. This instant ability to work with any of these platforms, similarly gives us the opportunity to work together no matter where we are in the world.”
(Florida Tennis Magazine – January 2018, article “WhatsApp, Skype, FaceTime, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram for tennis?” by Nick Bollettieri, IMG Tennis Academy)
Why to share information within an organization?
The challenge of communication is to create trustful links between employees and customers. The role of social media in sports organizations is to improve the internal and external communication, increase the visibility of the company, promote events and attract new customers. So, the role of business communication is to sell its products / services. The sharing of information has become a vector for the development of the company. ICTs foster collective intelligence, a set of cognitive abilities of an individual community, which shares information. The collective intelligence involves individual abilities, an exchange process, a state of mind (motivation), a digital environment (ICTs) and information to share.
One day while talking with my supervisor, Said, he said:
"Here at Total Tennis, we can rely on an excellent team of coaches who have different and complementary profiles. More and more, tennis coaches will be empowered to take charge of the aspect and the area that best suits them, whereas in the past everyone had to do a little bit of everything."
Tennis coaches use social media to share information with players and customers (WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). We have created a group on WhatsApp to manage reservations and training. The use of a shared agenda between the tennis coaches and myself makes it possible to schedule meetings, trips to tennis tournaments or conferences.
Social medias and e-tools contribute to the emergence of the collective intelligence of Total Tennis.
The challenge of communication is to create trustful links between employees and customers. The role of social media in sports organizations is to improve the internal and external communication, increase the visibility of the company, promote events and attract new customers. So, the role of business communication is to sell its products / services. The sharing of information has become a vector for the development of the company. ICTs foster collective intelligence, a set of cognitive abilities of an individual community, which shares information. The collective intelligence involves individual abilities, an exchange process, a state of mind (motivation), a digital environment (ICTs) and information to share.
One day while talking with my supervisor, Said, he said:
"Here at Total Tennis, we can rely on an excellent team of coaches who have different and complementary profiles. More and more, tennis coaches will be empowered to take charge of the aspect and the area that best suits them, whereas in the past everyone had to do a little bit of everything."
Tennis coaches use social media to share information with players and customers (WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). We have created a group on WhatsApp to manage reservations and training. The use of a shared agenda between the tennis coaches and myself makes it possible to schedule meetings, trips to tennis tournaments or conferences.
Social medias and e-tools contribute to the emergence of the collective intelligence of Total Tennis.
08/06/18: The organization's culture
The organizational culture is a set of beliefs, values and standards of behavior shared by all members of the same company and facilitates the operation of its business. Values are ideals, to which the same members of an organization adhere; for example: equality between men and women. They guide the behavior of individuals belonging to this group. The individual becomes a player within the organization. It integrates its culture which conveys values specific to each organization.
In professional relationships, this is reflected in standards and codes adapted by the individual in addition to values. At Total Tennis, the culture of the organization embodies certain values:
- in the social norms, which are the rules of conduct to which the individual complies. They define what is prohibited or allowed. For example: the rules of a company.
- in the codes, that are visible representations of the organization's values. For example: the dress code.
For reasons of image, activity and constraints related to the activity, there are dress codes to respect to work in an organization. For instance: at Total Tennis, we wear a TT T-shirt and cap. On their bright new designed website is mentioned under FAQs the following dress code:
"Casual and athletic attire is acceptable throughout the day.
Shirts and shoes are required at all times."
Furthermore, an individual's behavior is influenced by a combination of factors: individual psychological factors and environmental factors that constitute the structure of socialization. Individuals influence groups. Everyone in a group influences this group. Because everyone brings his ideas, his opinion on the goals and operating rules of the group according to individual variables of behavior: such as the personality, the self-image, the attitude. It's by combining everybody's perspective, that I manage to perform effective leadership: I always ask the other workers for advice, when I constitute the groups or assign the drills.
Individuals are also influenced by sociological environmental variables that originate in the relationships between the individual and the group (family, culture, reference groups). I also noticed at Total Tennis, that a business social network allows employees to communicate. This reinforces the sense of belonging to the group, while allowing to share the knowledge and work habits; thus, overall, in my opinion, it strengthens the corporate culture.
In professional relationships, this is reflected in standards and codes adapted by the individual in addition to values. At Total Tennis, the culture of the organization embodies certain values:
- in the social norms, which are the rules of conduct to which the individual complies. They define what is prohibited or allowed. For example: the rules of a company.
- in the codes, that are visible representations of the organization's values. For example: the dress code.
For reasons of image, activity and constraints related to the activity, there are dress codes to respect to work in an organization. For instance: at Total Tennis, we wear a TT T-shirt and cap. On their bright new designed website is mentioned under FAQs the following dress code:
"Casual and athletic attire is acceptable throughout the day.
Shirts and shoes are required at all times."
Furthermore, an individual's behavior is influenced by a combination of factors: individual psychological factors and environmental factors that constitute the structure of socialization. Individuals influence groups. Everyone in a group influences this group. Because everyone brings his ideas, his opinion on the goals and operating rules of the group according to individual variables of behavior: such as the personality, the self-image, the attitude. It's by combining everybody's perspective, that I manage to perform effective leadership: I always ask the other workers for advice, when I constitute the groups or assign the drills.
Individuals are also influenced by sociological environmental variables that originate in the relationships between the individual and the group (family, culture, reference groups). I also noticed at Total Tennis, that a business social network allows employees to communicate. This reinforces the sense of belonging to the group, while allowing to share the knowledge and work habits; thus, overall, in my opinion, it strengthens the corporate culture.
WEEK 8: 08/06/18 - 08/08/18
07/31/18 - 08/01/18: How would I improve a problem or a process?
Leading an organization enforces four major functions of leaders:
- finalizing the activity: defining the means to achieve the objectives according to the resources of the organization and the constraints of the environment
- the control: check the results versus the resources used to get
- staff motivation: determining their activity to achieve the objectives, while coordinating their individual actions
- the representation of the organization, with customers, suppliers and shareholders to enhance the overall image of the organization.
At this stage of my internship, my scope is not to improve a problem or a process, but I would like to draw attention about contingency factors (elements of instability in the organization's environment), threats that can influence managerial decisions.
- finalizing the activity: defining the means to achieve the objectives according to the resources of the organization and the constraints of the environment
- the control: check the results versus the resources used to get
- staff motivation: determining their activity to achieve the objectives, while coordinating their individual actions
- the representation of the organization, with customers, suppliers and shareholders to enhance the overall image of the organization.
At this stage of my internship, my scope is not to improve a problem or a process, but I would like to draw attention about contingency factors (elements of instability in the organization's environment), threats that can influence managerial decisions.
An organization evolves in an environment with external factors, that can directly or indirectly influence the organization. Therefore, the environment represents certain contingency factors, constraints for the organization. Properly analyzing the direct or indirect environment allows the organization to determine the optimal strategy based on the threats and opportunities of its environment.The direct environment is the micro environment of the organization. These are factors on which the success of the organization depends: suppliers, customers and competitors.
The indirect environment is represented by the organization's macro environment. There are six factors: political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, ecological and legal, which can affect the results and performance of the organization.
The environment of the organizations is, today, even more complex and random for multiple reasons: economic situation, evolution of technologies, regulation, competition, lifestyles. The organization must therefore make the right choices to meet them, but also to anticipate these changes in the environment. (example: Ed invested in solar panels at Total Tennis as explained in another article).
The internal constraints of the organization reside in its ability to evolve, given the changes in the environment, and at the least cost.
The three major types of internal constraints of an organization are:
- the constraints of interest: the actors of the organization can have differences of opinion and interest, which can generate conflicts. Then, coordination problems appear: how to make people of sensitivity, training, different values work together? How to harmonize methods, culture, standards? The interesting thing about tennis coaching is, that every single staff member at Total Tennis learned tennis from a different coach, with different methods, techniques and beliefs. The challenge is to harmonize those different knowledge.
- the constraints of resources: material, human and financial, necessary to the pursuit of its objective. Issues related to information, the decision making may also occur.
- the constraints of results: to ensure its sustainability a company must make a profit, otherwise it dies and disappears.
The indirect environment is represented by the organization's macro environment. There are six factors: political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, ecological and legal, which can affect the results and performance of the organization.
The environment of the organizations is, today, even more complex and random for multiple reasons: economic situation, evolution of technologies, regulation, competition, lifestyles. The organization must therefore make the right choices to meet them, but also to anticipate these changes in the environment. (example: Ed invested in solar panels at Total Tennis as explained in another article).
The internal constraints of the organization reside in its ability to evolve, given the changes in the environment, and at the least cost.
The three major types of internal constraints of an organization are:
- the constraints of interest: the actors of the organization can have differences of opinion and interest, which can generate conflicts. Then, coordination problems appear: how to make people of sensitivity, training, different values work together? How to harmonize methods, culture, standards? The interesting thing about tennis coaching is, that every single staff member at Total Tennis learned tennis from a different coach, with different methods, techniques and beliefs. The challenge is to harmonize those different knowledge.
- the constraints of resources: material, human and financial, necessary to the pursuit of its objective. Issues related to information, the decision making may also occur.
- the constraints of results: to ensure its sustainability a company must make a profit, otherwise it dies and disappears.
07/30/18: Internship & Personal development
I strongly believe that the internship experience at Total Tennis added two key assets to my personal development: an improved communication with the customers and achieving effective leadership through influence on my team.
Communicating is a social act that forms, maintains and transforms a relationship.
Communication is the act of building relationships with someone. The communication can be internal or external. Due to the variety of customers at Total Tennis, I could further develop the external communication and believe in my talents and skills to achieve the mission and vision of the organisation. I became more confident and assertive in dealing with kids, teen-agers or adults.
Furthermore, I really appreciate it performing in a positive and trusting working environment, where I learned listening to diverse opinions and facilitate my team toward open discussions and solutions.
I felt more respected and appreciated in my leadership role through listening to my team suggestions, taking time to respect and acknowledge their opinions, letting them know that I value them. Then, focusing on my actions and incorporating also their ideas into our work environment, conducted at a mutual respectful teamwork. Influence is a great powerful asset in the professional world, that I intend to use it first in my next tennis team captain role assigned by coach Phil at Tiffin University, then later in my professional career.
Communicating is a social act that forms, maintains and transforms a relationship.
Communication is the act of building relationships with someone. The communication can be internal or external. Due to the variety of customers at Total Tennis, I could further develop the external communication and believe in my talents and skills to achieve the mission and vision of the organisation. I became more confident and assertive in dealing with kids, teen-agers or adults.
Furthermore, I really appreciate it performing in a positive and trusting working environment, where I learned listening to diverse opinions and facilitate my team toward open discussions and solutions.
I felt more respected and appreciated in my leadership role through listening to my team suggestions, taking time to respect and acknowledge their opinions, letting them know that I value them. Then, focusing on my actions and incorporating also their ideas into our work environment, conducted at a mutual respectful teamwork. Influence is a great powerful asset in the professional world, that I intend to use it first in my next tennis team captain role assigned by coach Phil at Tiffin University, then later in my professional career.
WEEK 7: 07/30/18 - 08/01/18
07/23/18 - 07/25/18: My role and duties at Total Tennis
This week's post will be an general overview of all the duties and responsibilities that come from the role of assistant manager of tennis operations.
First, the experience shows how important it is to be aware of the resources of the company. An organization needs to live and grow, and to have a certain number of those resources:
- human resources, which are composed of all the people, who are part of the organization and carry out a clean and regular activity as employees, or those who participate in the organization indirectly, but no less important as associates and shareholders (Total Tennis staff)
- the financial resources are the equity of the organization (for example: capital and reserves, grants ...) and net debt
- material resources, which are represented by the material goods, that the organization needs to carry out its activities. For example: buildings, tennis courts, machinery, supplies and stocks of goods and raw materials.
- immaterial resources: include all non-monetary items, that the company owns. But, immaterial assets are not always accounted, because they are difficult to identify. For example: the information and knowledge held by an organization and that is useful to it, constitute the capital of knowledge peculiar to this enterprise; or the software and patents, that the organization purchases, or creates and deposits, constitute the intangible capital of the organization.
First, the experience shows how important it is to be aware of the resources of the company. An organization needs to live and grow, and to have a certain number of those resources:
- human resources, which are composed of all the people, who are part of the organization and carry out a clean and regular activity as employees, or those who participate in the organization indirectly, but no less important as associates and shareholders (Total Tennis staff)
- the financial resources are the equity of the organization (for example: capital and reserves, grants ...) and net debt
- material resources, which are represented by the material goods, that the organization needs to carry out its activities. For example: buildings, tennis courts, machinery, supplies and stocks of goods and raw materials.
- immaterial resources: include all non-monetary items, that the company owns. But, immaterial assets are not always accounted, because they are difficult to identify. For example: the information and knowledge held by an organization and that is useful to it, constitute the capital of knowledge peculiar to this enterprise; or the software and patents, that the organization purchases, or creates and deposits, constitute the intangible capital of the organization.
As a human resource of Total Tennis, I have been appointed as assistant manager of tennis operations. Operational management is the domain of functional and therefore, the short term. Managing and organizing the resources of an organization daily, is in the field of operations, contrary to the definition of future activities of the organization, that falls within the field of strategic management. Thus, every little decision made on the financial, economic, commercial, staffing, customer is under operational management.
No two days will be the same, and I have experienced a variety of slightly different challenges each day in high-energy environment. My positive attitude and my ability to adapt quickly helped me in my role. Among my daily duties, I would stress:
- develop and implement the daily / weekly tennis activities plan for kids of different levels: beginners, intermediate and advanced
- teach creatively the campers: kids, juniors and adults
- assist my manager in daily operations tasks
- work alongside staff to complete tasks thru leading by example to improve participants’ experience
- connect with all participants to ensure that they are enjoying their experience
- proactively interact with customers to gather feedback
- assist with responding to participant feedback with urgency and provide follow up communication with solutions
Sales & Promotion:
- Promote Total Tennis programs and services
Managerial & Supervisory
- create and coordinate Operations staff schedule
- assist in overseeing tennis services operations
- assist in training team members through standard operating procedures, role playing, shadowing and providing feedback
- ensure policies and regulations follow Total Tennis defined ones
- assist with coaching and counselling team members
- attend weekly department head, Operations department meetings
No two days will be the same, and I have experienced a variety of slightly different challenges each day in high-energy environment. My positive attitude and my ability to adapt quickly helped me in my role. Among my daily duties, I would stress:
- develop and implement the daily / weekly tennis activities plan for kids of different levels: beginners, intermediate and advanced
- teach creatively the campers: kids, juniors and adults
- assist my manager in daily operations tasks
- work alongside staff to complete tasks thru leading by example to improve participants’ experience
- connect with all participants to ensure that they are enjoying their experience
- proactively interact with customers to gather feedback
- assist with responding to participant feedback with urgency and provide follow up communication with solutions
Sales & Promotion:
- Promote Total Tennis programs and services
Managerial & Supervisory
- create and coordinate Operations staff schedule
- assist in overseeing tennis services operations
- assist in training team members through standard operating procedures, role playing, shadowing and providing feedback
- ensure policies and regulations follow Total Tennis defined ones
- assist with coaching and counselling team members
- attend weekly department head, Operations department meetings
WEEK 6: 07/23/18 - 07/25/18
07/18/18: Food&People
One of my favorite part about the internship experience is the great and healthy food Total Tennis provides for its staff and customers! Most of the guests will tell you they come back for the food. Chef Dan prepares almost every day an all-you-can-eat served buffet.
"Just after waking, choose from eggs, bacon, home fries, pancakes oatmeal, assorted cereals, yogurt and granola for breakfast.
After several hours on the courts return to the buffet for a lunch of anything ranging from open-faced pastrami sandwiches and steamed bok-choy to curried tofu and wild rice. Hot homemade soup and make-your-own sandwich bar are daily staples as well as the salad bar, chock full of fresh cut vegetables and fresh fruit.
Once you've enjoyed a dip in the hot tub and a relaxing massage join us for the grand final: dinner. Each night our Chef Dan prepares several choices to satisfy all types of eaters, from grilled salmon with mango salsa and steamed green beans to roasted free-range chicken and spaghetti with homemade vodka sauce. Help yourself to the extensive salad bar and save room for homemade cheesecake or make-your-own sundae."
Retrived from Total Dining: https://www.totaltennis.com/Eat-Stay/Total-Dining
Another aspect I love about this experience is the new people I get to meet everyday. Total Tennis welcome new customers weekly: around 100 adults and 40 children per week. It is a beautiful opportunity to have discussions with people, who come from the United States, but also around the world. It is interesting and also very enriching to see how people such as lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, artists, lose their "social" clothes and come here dressed as tennis players. They forget about their active life in New Jersey, Brooklyn or Philadelphia and they arrive at Total Tennis with the desire to learn and practice their favorite sport. Everyday, I get to meet and discuss with people from different cultures, different social backgrounds, different life stories but the same passion. With the food, that's what I love about TT!
"Just after waking, choose from eggs, bacon, home fries, pancakes oatmeal, assorted cereals, yogurt and granola for breakfast.
After several hours on the courts return to the buffet for a lunch of anything ranging from open-faced pastrami sandwiches and steamed bok-choy to curried tofu and wild rice. Hot homemade soup and make-your-own sandwich bar are daily staples as well as the salad bar, chock full of fresh cut vegetables and fresh fruit.
Once you've enjoyed a dip in the hot tub and a relaxing massage join us for the grand final: dinner. Each night our Chef Dan prepares several choices to satisfy all types of eaters, from grilled salmon with mango salsa and steamed green beans to roasted free-range chicken and spaghetti with homemade vodka sauce. Help yourself to the extensive salad bar and save room for homemade cheesecake or make-your-own sundae."
Retrived from Total Dining: https://www.totaltennis.com/Eat-Stay/Total-Dining
Another aspect I love about this experience is the new people I get to meet everyday. Total Tennis welcome new customers weekly: around 100 adults and 40 children per week. It is a beautiful opportunity to have discussions with people, who come from the United States, but also around the world. It is interesting and also very enriching to see how people such as lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, artists, lose their "social" clothes and come here dressed as tennis players. They forget about their active life in New Jersey, Brooklyn or Philadelphia and they arrive at Total Tennis with the desire to learn and practice their favorite sport. Everyday, I get to meet and discuss with people from different cultures, different social backgrounds, different life stories but the same passion. With the food, that's what I love about TT!
07/17/18: EQ - A useful skill at Total tennis
Another topic studied during my Summer classes, that relates with my work experience, is Emotional Intelligence or E.Q. It is defined as "the ability to perceive and express emotions, to understand and use them, and to manage emotions in oneself and other people." Griffin, Phillips & Gully (2017)
There are different dimensions of E.Q. including self-awareness, self-motivation, self-management, empathy and social skills. Basically, those dimensions explain your ability to react to the exterior phenomenon: how you react to your own emotions and feelings and how much you understand and react the others' feelings and emotions.
At Total Tennis it is crucial to prove empathy in every interaction with the customers. Sometimes, it can be stressful, because basically the job is to interact with human beings, and it is impossible to predict, if the person, you are working with, is going to be nice or the total opposite. It is very important to make abstraction of emotions and any other feelings, that could compromise the service provided. The four dimensions of the E.Q. are involved in my work experience here.
Goleman, a famous psychologist, has a very relevant theory and perspective on this topic. For him, E.Q. means being skillful in the emotional and science realm, and emotions are contagious. He believes, that professional success depends more on E.Q. than I.Q. or certifications.
In my opinion, he is right, because in this globalized world that experiences tremendous progress in technology and communication, the human capital becomes more and more crucial. Indeed, when the technology is accessible to all and is more and more reliable, when the information is shared almost instantaneously on the whole planet, the issues of differentiation refocus more on the human beings, on the success of women and men, their creativity, their development, their commitment, and, above all, their motivation to succeed in their business.
To support this motivation and move forward and faster than your competitors, as much at the level of ideas (innovation) as of service (operational excellence), it is necessary to display emotional intelligence.
There are different dimensions of E.Q. including self-awareness, self-motivation, self-management, empathy and social skills. Basically, those dimensions explain your ability to react to the exterior phenomenon: how you react to your own emotions and feelings and how much you understand and react the others' feelings and emotions.
At Total Tennis it is crucial to prove empathy in every interaction with the customers. Sometimes, it can be stressful, because basically the job is to interact with human beings, and it is impossible to predict, if the person, you are working with, is going to be nice or the total opposite. It is very important to make abstraction of emotions and any other feelings, that could compromise the service provided. The four dimensions of the E.Q. are involved in my work experience here.
Goleman, a famous psychologist, has a very relevant theory and perspective on this topic. For him, E.Q. means being skillful in the emotional and science realm, and emotions are contagious. He believes, that professional success depends more on E.Q. than I.Q. or certifications.
In my opinion, he is right, because in this globalized world that experiences tremendous progress in technology and communication, the human capital becomes more and more crucial. Indeed, when the technology is accessible to all and is more and more reliable, when the information is shared almost instantaneously on the whole planet, the issues of differentiation refocus more on the human beings, on the success of women and men, their creativity, their development, their commitment, and, above all, their motivation to succeed in their business.
To support this motivation and move forward and faster than your competitors, as much at the level of ideas (innovation) as of service (operational excellence), it is necessary to display emotional intelligence.
07/16/18: Importance of diversity at the workplace
This Summer, my internship experience is also very rich, because I am taking a few online Summer classes while I am working. The most interesting part about it is, that some topics relate incredibly well with my work experience at Total Tennis. One of those topics is diversity.
Diversity is defined as "–The variety of observable and unobservable similarities and differences among people" Griffin, Phillips & Gully (2017)
There are different types of diversity: surface-level, deep-level, separation, variety and disparity. They differentiate each other in terms of race, gender, goals, skills, knowledge and status.
At Total Tennis, I realize how much diversity in a team is an essential asset for the organization. For example, the opportunity of having women coaches among us helps a lot: their empathy and maternal skills make it easier, when we must work with very young players. Furthermore, one day I had clients, who were speaking German or Italian and I could help them for the drills and exercises thanks to my linguistic skills. Other coaches also provide better customer service through the many countries and languages represented among the staff team. Finally, another factor, that improves our service, is the different ages of the members in the company. The "young" employees as myself benefit from the experience and advice from people, who where teaching and managing tennis before I was born. The youth brings creativity and vitality to the company; so, a mutual beneficial exchange.
Since the 1990's, the improvement of technologies and the different brain drains from one country to another have proved an intensified globalization. If we cannot talk about a "world state" yet, borders are gradually fading between different societies. It results in a certain cultural mix in everyday life and in every company. However, many stereotypes subsist, even if a rich diversity of employees within companies is a key factor for success. There are still many prejudices about people with a migrant background, women or people with disabilities. It is to fight against these stereotypes, that many companies raise awareness among their employees.
References
Griffin, R., Phillips, J., Gully, S. (2017). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. (12th ed.). Cengage Learning.
https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/featurephilia/story/workplace-diversity-and-challenges-in-india-342395-2016-09-21
Diversity is defined as "–The variety of observable and unobservable similarities and differences among people" Griffin, Phillips & Gully (2017)
There are different types of diversity: surface-level, deep-level, separation, variety and disparity. They differentiate each other in terms of race, gender, goals, skills, knowledge and status.
At Total Tennis, I realize how much diversity in a team is an essential asset for the organization. For example, the opportunity of having women coaches among us helps a lot: their empathy and maternal skills make it easier, when we must work with very young players. Furthermore, one day I had clients, who were speaking German or Italian and I could help them for the drills and exercises thanks to my linguistic skills. Other coaches also provide better customer service through the many countries and languages represented among the staff team. Finally, another factor, that improves our service, is the different ages of the members in the company. The "young" employees as myself benefit from the experience and advice from people, who where teaching and managing tennis before I was born. The youth brings creativity and vitality to the company; so, a mutual beneficial exchange.
Since the 1990's, the improvement of technologies and the different brain drains from one country to another have proved an intensified globalization. If we cannot talk about a "world state" yet, borders are gradually fading between different societies. It results in a certain cultural mix in everyday life and in every company. However, many stereotypes subsist, even if a rich diversity of employees within companies is a key factor for success. There are still many prejudices about people with a migrant background, women or people with disabilities. It is to fight against these stereotypes, that many companies raise awareness among their employees.
References
Griffin, R., Phillips, J., Gully, S. (2017). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. (12th ed.). Cengage Learning.
https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/featurephilia/story/workplace-diversity-and-challenges-in-india-342395-2016-09-21
WEEK 5: 07/16/18 - 07/18/18
07/11/18: 50% Kids / 50% Adults
Today, as there was not a lot of kids, Ed asked me to organize the round-robin in the afternoon for the adults. So, in the morning, together with my team, we wanted to keep the experience with the knock out tournament. The games were great and the kids played well, however, we noticed that this type of tournament would make feel unbelievably confident those who win, while those who lost in the first round, would play the rest of the games with some disappointment. Therefore, we concluded that the round-robin would be a better type of competition to have them evolve in, because we do not want to discourage the kids in playing the sport they love. I know the reality in real competition is harsh, as there can be only one winner and one loser, but we want to keep their enthusiasm up, at least while they are playing at Total Tennis. However, the round-robin might be difficult to organize in a day where they are more than 30 players. We will see how to handle the situation depending on the conditions.
However, we were happy of the results from our tests and we are looking forward to introducing competition to kids every end of the week.
Afterwards, I went to organize a round-robin tournament for the adults in the afternoon. I must say, that after working two days with the kids on competition, it was much easier to organize something similar for the adults. And, so it was!
I could say, that after all the competitions from this week, I was really tired!
However, we were happy of the results from our tests and we are looking forward to introducing competition to kids every end of the week.
Afterwards, I went to organize a round-robin tournament for the adults in the afternoon. I must say, that after working two days with the kids on competition, it was much easier to organize something similar for the adults. And, so it was!
I could say, that after all the competitions from this week, I was really tired!
07/10/18 Tournament Project
This week, my team and I are gonna take the opportunity of not having a lot of kids to elaborate a project for the Kids camp: select one day during the week session, that will be dedicated to real game experience and competitive situations.
Indeed, it is amazing how the level is different between each kid: we have players, who go from beginner to competition level. Therefore, our goal is to initiate those that have no tournament experience to competition. Plus, for those who have already a great tennis background, we have to come up with some creative ideas in order to prepare them for there season.
So, for the rest of the week we will experience which type of tournament (round-robin, knock-out…) will adequately suit to the schedule and facilities available.
Today we will try to test how the round-robin will work. So, we have 12 players today, therefore we split them in groups of 3 and while 2 would play, one would be referee. Thus, even the player, who is waiting, gets initiated to the rules and the scoring in a real match situation. This worked pretty well, because the round-robin has the advantage to give another chance to the player, who lost his first match. Let’s see how the knock-out tournament will look tomorrow!
Indeed, it is amazing how the level is different between each kid: we have players, who go from beginner to competition level. Therefore, our goal is to initiate those that have no tournament experience to competition. Plus, for those who have already a great tennis background, we have to come up with some creative ideas in order to prepare them for there season.
So, for the rest of the week we will experience which type of tournament (round-robin, knock-out…) will adequately suit to the schedule and facilities available.
Today we will try to test how the round-robin will work. So, we have 12 players today, therefore we split them in groups of 3 and while 2 would play, one would be referee. Thus, even the player, who is waiting, gets initiated to the rules and the scoring in a real match situation. This worked pretty well, because the round-robin has the advantage to give another chance to the player, who lost his first match. Let’s see how the knock-out tournament will look tomorrow!
07/09/18 Group Development
This week, I will start with a team management study post. In other words, I will analyze how my experience at Total Tennis relates with the
the stages of group development (acceptance, communication,decision making, motivation, control and organization) studied by Griffin, Phillips, and Gully (2017) in Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations.
First, the authors talk about the group formation and the mutual acceptance. This reminds me of the meeting organized by my supervisor to introduce me to the other workers I will coordinate during the camp and to explain us the main lines and processes we would have to respect. This first meeting and the first day of work were the moments, when I experienced the first stage of group development, because I had to open myself to other team mates so they could open themselves towards me and create a climate of confidence. Like literally: I make a step to them, so, they can make a step to me.
Thus, step after step, our team started to experience the second stage: communication and decision making. During the camp for example, the goal is to work together in order to determine the different groups of levels of the customers, so, we can divide them, assign them a pro and define activities and task for them. All this process requires communication skills between the other workers, because we need to exchange the information and take decisions to provide a better service.
Afterwards, I can say I am very lucky to experience the third step in a very positive way. I have the chance to work with tennis “pros” that have a serious background in this field. They all worked, as I did, with high performance trainers and some of them still play at a high level. Therefore, our cooperation is very successful and we always use our creativity at work, when we have to come up with new drills and provide optimal customer satisfaction.
Finally, through all the precedent stages our team achieves to control and organize efficiently the different tasks and duties to realize the organization’s goal. All the steps mentioned before allow to synthesize all the team’s effort and provide advantages such as: interdependent work, specific division of the work based on ability and skills, and flexibility.
To finish this post, I will end up on this meaningful metaphor created by Tobi Lutke: the trust battery.
“Every time you work with someone at the company, the trust battery between the two of you is either charged or discharged, based on things like whether you deliver on what you promise,” he explained. “Humans already work like this. It’s just that we decided to create a metaphor so that we can talk about this in performance reviews without people feeling like the criticisms are personal.” (Lutke, 2018)
References
How to Build a Successful Team. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/guides/business/manage-a-successful-team
Griffin, R., Phillips, J., Gully, S. (2017). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. (12th ed.). Cengage Learning.
the stages of group development (acceptance, communication,decision making, motivation, control and organization) studied by Griffin, Phillips, and Gully (2017) in Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations.
First, the authors talk about the group formation and the mutual acceptance. This reminds me of the meeting organized by my supervisor to introduce me to the other workers I will coordinate during the camp and to explain us the main lines and processes we would have to respect. This first meeting and the first day of work were the moments, when I experienced the first stage of group development, because I had to open myself to other team mates so they could open themselves towards me and create a climate of confidence. Like literally: I make a step to them, so, they can make a step to me.
Thus, step after step, our team started to experience the second stage: communication and decision making. During the camp for example, the goal is to work together in order to determine the different groups of levels of the customers, so, we can divide them, assign them a pro and define activities and task for them. All this process requires communication skills between the other workers, because we need to exchange the information and take decisions to provide a better service.
Afterwards, I can say I am very lucky to experience the third step in a very positive way. I have the chance to work with tennis “pros” that have a serious background in this field. They all worked, as I did, with high performance trainers and some of them still play at a high level. Therefore, our cooperation is very successful and we always use our creativity at work, when we have to come up with new drills and provide optimal customer satisfaction.
Finally, through all the precedent stages our team achieves to control and organize efficiently the different tasks and duties to realize the organization’s goal. All the steps mentioned before allow to synthesize all the team’s effort and provide advantages such as: interdependent work, specific division of the work based on ability and skills, and flexibility.
To finish this post, I will end up on this meaningful metaphor created by Tobi Lutke: the trust battery.
“Every time you work with someone at the company, the trust battery between the two of you is either charged or discharged, based on things like whether you deliver on what you promise,” he explained. “Humans already work like this. It’s just that we decided to create a metaphor so that we can talk about this in performance reviews without people feeling like the criticisms are personal.” (Lutke, 2018)
References
How to Build a Successful Team. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/guides/business/manage-a-successful-team
Griffin, R., Phillips, J., Gully, S. (2017). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. (12th ed.). Cengage Learning.
WEEK 4: 07/09/18 - 07/11/18
Wednesday The 4th of July 2018
07/03/18 The Round-Robin
So, for this second day with the adults, I was really excited to join my group in the morning since the day before was an excellent experience. I must admit, that this job is a great training for having direct contact with the customers and developing empathy and human skills. The second session has been a success as well: the drills were fun, the people I was teaching had a lot of positive vibes and they would listen with a lot of attention to the instructions I would give them. In the afternoon, I let them play free points under my instructions and they were all delighted to put in practice what we learned the past days. The afternoon session ended up with warm goodbyes, exchange of LinkedIn profiles and we were looking forward to having tennis lessons in the future again. Afterwards, I had a 15 minutes break and I had to go on with the Round Robin... Basically, Ed assigned me to organize an "intramural" tournament between the campers in the afternoon, where they would have to play games and rotate every 20 minutes to have a different partner. So, this part of the job consisted, first of all, in a lot of talking and explanation of the process to the campers, who registered for the round-robin. Secondly, it was about dividing the players in groups of level and create "squads" of 4, so, they could play a double match. This Tuesday, they were 16, so, it was excellent, I made 8 teams of 2 and I had them start on 4 different courts. Finally, the rest of the work was to supervise them and help them whenever they had a question or a request. This Round-Robin Tournament took one hour and it was not a bad experience at all, because I organized the whole thing effectively in my opinion: rotations were performed accurately and everybody got a good hour of sweat and fun. It was a funny day and a special week! Now, I will get ready to celebrate the 4th of July! |
07/02/18: First Time with the adults!
So, for this week, two particular things: first, I will work only on Monday and Tuesday, because on Wednesday it's 4th of July. It's the first time I will spend the American National Day in the USA, thus I am really looking forward into it!
Secondly, the "Big Boss", Ed, came to have a talk with me, explaining me how it would be beneficial for my future career to learn how to manage my own group of adults during the tennis camp. Therefore, for this week, because my supervisor forecast that there would not be a big amount of children at the Kids Camp, Ed assigned me to a group of 4 adults for the next two days! In addition, I had to delegate the management tasks for the Kids Camp to another worker, so, I could jump in for the adult sessions.
At the beginning, I was a little nervous to teach them, because I have never had 4 adults at the same time; sometimes in Luxembourg, I would coach privately, but never a group lesson. However, after welcoming warmly the 4 "campers", I engaged a couple discussions with them in order to know where they are coming from, what they do in life or what they like about tennis and step by step, a warm atmosphere has been established for the start of the lesson. Funny fact, one of the campers came with her family and they were all originally from Germany. Thus, I could utilize my linguistic skills and give them a piece of advice in their language to make it more comfortable.
I must say, that for my first day with the adults, it was a total success: a sweet atmosphere has been created into the group, they loved my drills and after the afternoon session, they were all excited to come back on the court next day!
Secondly, the "Big Boss", Ed, came to have a talk with me, explaining me how it would be beneficial for my future career to learn how to manage my own group of adults during the tennis camp. Therefore, for this week, because my supervisor forecast that there would not be a big amount of children at the Kids Camp, Ed assigned me to a group of 4 adults for the next two days! In addition, I had to delegate the management tasks for the Kids Camp to another worker, so, I could jump in for the adult sessions.
At the beginning, I was a little nervous to teach them, because I have never had 4 adults at the same time; sometimes in Luxembourg, I would coach privately, but never a group lesson. However, after welcoming warmly the 4 "campers", I engaged a couple discussions with them in order to know where they are coming from, what they do in life or what they like about tennis and step by step, a warm atmosphere has been established for the start of the lesson. Funny fact, one of the campers came with her family and they were all originally from Germany. Thus, I could utilize my linguistic skills and give them a piece of advice in their language to make it more comfortable.
I must say, that for my first day with the adults, it was a total success: a sweet atmosphere has been created into the group, they loved my drills and after the afternoon session, they were all excited to come back on the court next day!
WEEK 3: 07/02/18-07/04/18
06/26/18: The atmosphere
Wednesday’s post will talk about the atmosphere at Total Tennis. There is a lot of things to say about the atmosphere. First, Saugerties is very green and peaceful, there are a lot of trees and animals, I will talk about it later. Then, about my job, I must say that it is a pleasure to manage a team that works and performs to help children: they are so colorful and they have so many things to say. In addition, the customers and members that come and play at Total Tennis are very interesting people to meet. Some of them are very successful people from New York city or Boston and they come to TT, put their tennis clothes and the business man or woman disappears to let the balls, raquets and sweat talk. However, it is part of my job to be very open and polite to every customer in and outside off the court, so sometimes I get to discuss with them and it is awesome because they would sometimes give me an advice or tell an anecdote from which I can learn so much.
Plus, all the other coaches are or have been excellent players tennistically wise and sometimes I get to hit some balls with them. I see it as a very positive thing, because it was my goal, when I came in the USA to maintain my tennis level at its highest.
Finally, I will conclude by saying that all the things I mentioned here are elements that compose this particular atmosphere at Total Tennis and I would like to end this post and this week by sharing with you a few captions of my last weekend around this place.
Plus, all the other coaches are or have been excellent players tennistically wise and sometimes I get to hit some balls with them. I see it as a very positive thing, because it was my goal, when I came in the USA to maintain my tennis level at its highest.
Finally, I will conclude by saying that all the things I mentioned here are elements that compose this particular atmosphere at Total Tennis and I would like to end this post and this week by sharing with you a few captions of my last weekend around this place.
06/27/18: Heat Issues
Tuesday... Today I experienced a special situation. My supervisor, Saif, told me previously, that only a small amount of people was expected today (not more than 20). B, one of coaches in my crew, asked me before during the week, if she could take her day off. As there was a small amount of kids expected, I estimated that 4 pros were enough.
The morning session took place without any trouble, however, during the afternoon, the atmosphere outside became incredibly peasant, due to the temperature, that was reaching 100F.
At one moment, during the tennis session, one of the coaches fainted a couple of minutes, because of dehydration and a sun stroke. After calling my supervisor, I sent another pro with the one, who fainted to the nursery and with a team composed of myself and M, we had to finish the afternoon tennis session with 20 kids "against" two pros. Afterwards, the multi-activity session went great, but still: what an end to this day!
The morning session took place without any trouble, however, during the afternoon, the atmosphere outside became incredibly peasant, due to the temperature, that was reaching 100F.
At one moment, during the tennis session, one of the coaches fainted a couple of minutes, because of dehydration and a sun stroke. After calling my supervisor, I sent another pro with the one, who fainted to the nursery and with a team composed of myself and M, we had to finish the afternoon tennis session with 20 kids "against" two pros. Afterwards, the multi-activity session went great, but still: what an end to this day!
06/25/18: New week, new day, new kids
New week, new day, new kids! 35 to be precise. Because of this big amount I had to request 2 more pros to my supervisor, Saif. So, with a team of 41 people, the first practice in the morning began with everybody on the same court for a general warm-up lead by the staff. After, we divided them by age, they got sent to a court with a coach and I had to navigate between the different groups to do adjustments for levels. So, during 15 minutes, I had to analyze the different players, consult each coach for their thoughts and move the players from one court to another. This process allowed me to equalize the level and the amount of people in each group and guarantee a better experience for the players and the staff.
Once the groups are done, I assign one court to each pro with a group of kids, who will more or less stay the same until the end of the week.
For myself, I taught a group of advanced kids, so, I could divide their practice in two parts. On one hand, I would work specifically on each player technical or tactical adjustments during sessions, where I would feed them drills and tell them what to do. On the other hand, they would play the second part of the practice in autonomy by performing rallies or game situation points. This allows me to keep navigating between the groups and other coaches in order to see, if everything goes well or if if anyone has any trouble. This internship can be stressful, when there is a lot of people, but I really enjoy the active part of it!
Once the groups are done, I assign one court to each pro with a group of kids, who will more or less stay the same until the end of the week.
For myself, I taught a group of advanced kids, so, I could divide their practice in two parts. On one hand, I would work specifically on each player technical or tactical adjustments during sessions, where I would feed them drills and tell them what to do. On the other hand, they would play the second part of the practice in autonomy by performing rallies or game situation points. This allows me to keep navigating between the groups and other coaches in order to see, if everything goes well or if if anyone has any trouble. This internship can be stressful, when there is a lot of people, but I really enjoy the active part of it!
WEEK 2: 06/25/18 - 06/27/18
06/20/2018
On Wednesday, we were only 10 people in total including the pros and the two sessions of the day were executed with calm and easiness. Today, I am going to explain and describe the different services the staff provides during the camp. The morning from 8:30 to 11 a.m. we must organize a professional tennis session including warm-up, technical training and practical performance. From 11:15 to 12:15 there is the lunch break, where the staff must direct the children in the dining room and make them respect the rules of the house (sanitary and security procedure).
Afterwards, the afternoon session is divided between a two hour tennis session and one hour and half multi-activity part, where Total Tennis provides services such as swimming, pool, table tennis and others.
Besides of that, there was a strange atmosphere at the camp in the staff team today: one of the pros, who was teaching the past 15 years at Total Tennis passed away and at the end of the afternoon, there was its funerals. Sadly, I did not have the pleasure to met him, as he got sick a few days before my arrival, but I heard only great stuff from him from the other coaches.
The end of today’s post will be dedicated to Oreo’s memory.
Afterwards, the afternoon session is divided between a two hour tennis session and one hour and half multi-activity part, where Total Tennis provides services such as swimming, pool, table tennis and others.
Besides of that, there was a strange atmosphere at the camp in the staff team today: one of the pros, who was teaching the past 15 years at Total Tennis passed away and at the end of the afternoon, there was its funerals. Sadly, I did not have the pleasure to met him, as he got sick a few days before my arrival, but I heard only great stuff from him from the other coaches.
The end of today’s post will be dedicated to Oreo’s memory.
06/19/18 - 8:30 a.m. Day 2: The full experience begins
On this second day of work, 5 more children were expected at the camp. Today is my first actual experience as Kids Camp manager since I am not shadowing the previous one as yesterday.
So, the day starts with a warm welcome for the parents and their children followed by a little introduction of the newcomers of the day. Next stop, the tennis courts.
My team of workers is composed of Mike, Nat and Bhuv, three very professional tennis coaches, whom I will mention as M, N and B.
So, for the morning warm-up, I assigned M to the dynamic activities and N and B to the stretching part. Then, after everybody got efficiently warmed-up the next part consisted in dividing the groups based on each kid’s level and assigning them to each instructor.
I decided to put the girls, N and B, (which have less tennis knowledge, but more emphatic skills) with the beginners, because they will focus more on making the children have a fun time.
Afterwards, I assigned M to the intermediate and advanced group, because he is very experienced in the field of tennis and he has some serious coaching skills.
My part of the job in this first morning of practice was to navigate between the different groups and focus on the advanced kids, to make them do drills, that will make them reach a higher level.
As you can see, in addition to the tennis I must teach ,the rest of the job can be seen from a HR perspective, because I must handle and manage the human capital essentially.
So, the day starts with a warm welcome for the parents and their children followed by a little introduction of the newcomers of the day. Next stop, the tennis courts.
My team of workers is composed of Mike, Nat and Bhuv, three very professional tennis coaches, whom I will mention as M, N and B.
So, for the morning warm-up, I assigned M to the dynamic activities and N and B to the stretching part. Then, after everybody got efficiently warmed-up the next part consisted in dividing the groups based on each kid’s level and assigning them to each instructor.
I decided to put the girls, N and B, (which have less tennis knowledge, but more emphatic skills) with the beginners, because they will focus more on making the children have a fun time.
Afterwards, I assigned M to the intermediate and advanced group, because he is very experienced in the field of tennis and he has some serious coaching skills.
My part of the job in this first morning of practice was to navigate between the different groups and focus on the advanced kids, to make them do drills, that will make them reach a higher level.
As you can see, in addition to the tennis I must teach ,the rest of the job can be seen from a HR perspective, because I must handle and manage the human capital essentially.
06/18/18 - 8:30 a.m. First Day: Shadowing
So, this is it, my first official day of work at Total Tennis! I was very excited to start, but I must admit, that I was a little bit nervous this morning before the clients arrived.
My first day consisted in shadowing Elio Lezama, the previous camp manager, in order to understand the different activities, challenges and issues that will occur during the kid’s camp.
The instructions were very clear from the camp director, Saif: “Be very courteous and polite to the parents and I want you to remember every single one of the child’s name.”
Because we, the pros (the tennis instructors), are working with children of every age, the mission is more emphasized one the human factor: it’s difficult to properly teach tennis in a camp where up to 40-50 kids can show up. Therefore, the goal is to offer them a premium service from a human perspective to make them desire the athletic part of the experience.
When I say “human”, I think about everything related to the empathy, kindness and politeness, that a worker must show in front of a client.
So, around 9 a.m., after all the children got gathered, the goal was to organize groups of different levels and assign a worker and activities to each group in function of each level.
During this Summer camp, I will lead a group of 4 tennis coaches including myself and each coach will handle different tasks and responsibilities. This job is divided between the group activities and the more specific/technical activities. During the group phase, I must assign a worker, who will execute exercises or activities for all children. For the more technical part, I must divide the children between groups of same level and chose the appropriate coach for each group. As the week will go on, several examples will be posted demonstrating the different duties.
In this first morning of work, Elio told me, that at the beginning of this Summer camp, less clients are expected. So, with an amount of 10 people in total, I can say that this first day was a success: lessons were nicely organized, children left to see their parents with a smile on their face and all instructions have been respected.
My first day consisted in shadowing Elio Lezama, the previous camp manager, in order to understand the different activities, challenges and issues that will occur during the kid’s camp.
The instructions were very clear from the camp director, Saif: “Be very courteous and polite to the parents and I want you to remember every single one of the child’s name.”
Because we, the pros (the tennis instructors), are working with children of every age, the mission is more emphasized one the human factor: it’s difficult to properly teach tennis in a camp where up to 40-50 kids can show up. Therefore, the goal is to offer them a premium service from a human perspective to make them desire the athletic part of the experience.
When I say “human”, I think about everything related to the empathy, kindness and politeness, that a worker must show in front of a client.
So, around 9 a.m., after all the children got gathered, the goal was to organize groups of different levels and assign a worker and activities to each group in function of each level.
During this Summer camp, I will lead a group of 4 tennis coaches including myself and each coach will handle different tasks and responsibilities. This job is divided between the group activities and the more specific/technical activities. During the group phase, I must assign a worker, who will execute exercises or activities for all children. For the more technical part, I must divide the children between groups of same level and chose the appropriate coach for each group. As the week will go on, several examples will be posted demonstrating the different duties.
In this first morning of work, Elio told me, that at the beginning of this Summer camp, less clients are expected. So, with an amount of 10 people in total, I can say that this first day was a success: lessons were nicely organized, children left to see their parents with a smile on their face and all instructions have been respected.