Have you ever heard the famous quote by author George Bernard Shaw, that: “The greatest problem in communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished”?

Technology has created a tsunami of words that bombard us daily, but how much information gets through the ‘white noise’ to get a response?

It is the sort of question that’s important to any organisation with a big list of audiences, especially across a wide range of ages. We need to be sure children, parents and community partners are all getting the right messages, at the right time.

Of course, one of the main reasons The Little Foxes Club takes good communications seriously, is that keeping everyone well informed is vital to the successful running of our community-based sports activities!

When we say ‘everyone’ we mean everyone. Good communications are not a two-way process. They should in fact go four ways; up, down, across and outwards.

Up and down communications

Our structured and sustained communications systems keep players and their parents and carers up to date with what’s going on and are part of our accountability. You have to be 100% confident your sons and daughters are in the best possible hands.

However, our systems to keep in touch with players and parents are also designed to constantly gather crucial feedback. The ideas, reactions and opinions we receive all get fed back into our process of continuous improvement.

Our coaches and other staff are also skilled in active listening. That’s not just about using our ears but also using our common sense to get even MORE helpful insights.

For example, we stay alert to nonverbal communication (like body language and tone of voice) when working with our children. This means if a player shows signs of being challenged by a situation, we can step in to help without them asking for assistance.

We also know what questions to ask, to get robust feedback and the sort of insights that keep individual players on track and also ensure our programmes develop in the right direction.

Sideways communication

“Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.” Steve Jobs.

The substantial success we have enjoyed to date is because we have an incredible team of people working in every part of The Little Foxes Club. This extends from ex-pro football coaches of the highest calibre to customer service professionals who are utterly dedicated.

So, to keep this wonderful team cohesive and motivated, of course, we communicate across our organisation daily.

Outwards communication

This aspect of our four-way communication policy covers a wide range of activities to promote the work of the Little Foxes Club to the wider community.

Firstly this helps us to attract new players, and recruit even more coaching professionals. It also enables us to liaise with new venues, such as securing the exciting new agreement to base the Chiswick Academy at the superb Quinton Hogg Memorial Ground all-weather River Pitches.

Our outward communication also involves attracting new franchise partners and discussing new joint ventures with schools and other like-minded organisations.

What have you got to say?

Good communications are vital to our success, and delivering safe, inclusive and highly successful programmes that bring the best out of every participant, and every staff member.

You can help with all this.

Please keep us informed of your views and ideas; we love to hear from you. Also, please help us to spread the word about the activities of The Little Foxes Club. If you ‘sing our praises’ we can grow, and continue to show that what we do is far more effective than words can even describe!