When trying to save your bowling club, it is easy to be put off or put down by people or comments from within the club.
The trouble is that you will never please everybody.
If you’ve read my Manifesto for a Successful Bowling Club you will know about the importance of making a club policy that locks in the direction you are going in at least until the consensus of opinion is changed.
If you’ve read my Bowling Club Survival and Turnaround eBook you will know about the 80/20 rule or Pareto Principle. This is a rule that turns out true for so many different areas of business and life in general that it’s hard to ignore it; simply put this principle says that 80% of the effect will be gained from 20% of the effort. It is also true that 80% of the work will be done by 20% of the people and of course that 80% of the moans, groans and negativity will come from 20% of your members.
If you set out to try to please everybody, your project will stall early.
Make sure you communicate your intentions well, and that the ideas you want to progress with are group decisions; then get them locked in to policy early on.
Communicate regularly and consistently on how progress is being made.
Expect that only 20% of the members will actively take part in the process.
Don’t be put off by the negative comments from the 20% that don’t agree with anything.
Just do your work, communicate it well and make sure to report on measurable changes frequently to show the progress you are making.
Don’t allow a clique to form, keep trying to get fresh input regardless of how hard it seems to do.
Above all keep going, it will all be worth it.
Myself and my Club Kearsney Bowling Club have a lot of faith in John Quinn and are building our green improvement scheme around his book ‘Performance Bowling Greens a Practical Guide’ which was purchased by the club for our grren keeper and playing member Graham Perrinn. Bowling Club Survival and Tournaround eBook is just the guide for clubs to get a grip of and encouraging new members to come to the club. It will also once, the project is up and running, show to club members, in laymans language, how the club is running, what we can do to improve our image and how and where the money is distributed to make it a Club others will want to join. Thank you John for all the information you distribute amongst us willing Club Officers and Green keepers to make the game of Bowls continue into the future.
Regards Colin Thompson, Treasurer of Kearsney Bowling Club