Communication or lack there of....

[mumoftwogymnasts]

I know that coaches are busy, I know that they have a life outside of gymnastics ... but if you repeatedly tell parents that emailing is the preferred method of communicating any questions or concerns... well then for goodness sake respond to the email

What do other parents think is an acceptable time frame to expect an answer? Coaches feel free to offer an opinion as well....

 

[mayestra12]

I'm a teacher and I answer all parents same day if I can but certainly within 24 hours. I would say no more than 2 days. I've never had a problem with dd's coaches answering right away.

 

[htimcj]

Not a coach but a school teacher and it is highly recommended to answer any email or phone call with 24 hours.

 

[SkiBumGymMom]

Jumping on the "teacher not a coach" bandwagon (side note: we should start a group) but generally I try 24 hours as well. I work with at-risk/special need kids solely so I do more phone calls than e-mails, but those are also on a day note. Some of my colleagues are more 48-72 hour people max. But we live in a ski town and time is usually a non issue around here, so that's saying something. But there's a lot more bureaucracy pushing at us. Also another issue

 

[monkeysmom]

Communication standards

In corporate America (in many companies) we are held to the standard of responding to voice or email questions or concerns within 24 hours. You don't always have an answer that fast, but you need to respond with a timeframe etc. It's a formalized expectation/policy where I work, and applied to employees at all levels of the organization. It applies to both internal (other employees) and external customers.

It's hard to transition from that expectation of what is "rude" or "bad service" to different settings that don't have the same customer services standards, but it's just reality. It's similar to the shock at all the flying paper I experienced when my daughter went to kindergarten. I couldn't believe how far behind some teachers or programs are in how they communicate. It was difficult to get used to the fact that they don't use more email, websites, and online tools for communication with parents. They (schools) seem to be getting a little better (and greener) all the time, though.

Back to the delay in response time, I think it goes back to good old human nature. People pretty much will do what they think they have to/what is expected of them/what they can get away with or are used to.

Most top 3 list of most frustrating to communicate with (or perhaps I should call it "culture differences"):

1. Attorneys (they are the slowest, and ironically the most expensive).

2. Public/govt employees. For example, in our state there is a new system where your name and birthdate are run against some national database of people who have had their licenses revoked in other states. They don't use social security numbers, so if you're "close" (e.g., close in birth date, name) your license goes into a hold status when the renewal is processed by the state. It's not when you go in to the service center, it's after the service center sends paperwork to the state. So many renewals kick back that they don't have time to get to them, so you don't receive a letter or any communication at all. You just realize (like I did) some number of months later, huh, the state never mailed me my license. When you call they verify your identity, take off the hold, and send your license in about ten days. We would NEVER get away with that lack of service at work. The customers would leave, disgusted.

3. Sports coaches/dance instructors. I apologize to the coaches on the board and my intention is not to offend, because they are also some of my (and my daughter's) favorite people. The example I have is timing of tryouts, scheduling of summer class or practices. For both dance and gymnastics I didn't find out for my daughter until late spring where she was placed for times and days of practice/class. I work and have to schedule and commit to childcare arrangements way before that. I went together on a nanny with another mom this summer, thinking activities would be during the day. Found out in late May they were after 4:00, and I could have kept her in the summer program through the schools. I had already forfeited my deposit with the school (their deadline was in February) and committed to a nanny. Too late to change anything again. It all turned out fantastic in the long run. But still, the timing would be much better for parents to know earlier in the spring so they can arrange for summer child care. As a single mom, I find that there is an assumption that there is a stay-at-home parent in every family, which is really the exception not the norm now, regardless of the financial demographic you are targeting.

Whew off my soapbox now.

 

[Coach.Simon]

I check my e-mail a lot. (At least 10 times a day) If not I run the risk of missing something from my employer/manager/team parent, judging director/assigner.... the list goes on. Oh, and every time I check it, I have a new e-mail - so it's not an unfounded paranoia (it's not always "important" though) haha.

I don't like being caught off guard if I can help it.

 

[clrmom]

As another "teacher, not coach," I always respond within 24 hours. Every once in awhile I may not have an answer within 24 hours, but then I at least respond letting the parent know that I received the emailed question and that I am working on getting the answer. There have been times on weekends where I haven't seen the email until Monday, so in this case the return time is a little longer.

 

[mumoftwogymnasts]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I guess I just get so frustrated because there is never any acknowledgement that emails have been received. Sometimes I am left feeling like my message has just disappeared into a black hole in cyberspace

I've accepted that in the gymnastics world we will always get training schedules, comp times etc at the last minute and I can live with that. But if I am emailing with a simple question about a concern my child has or to notify of an absence due to illness/injury or a school commitment, surely just a few words of acknowledgement is not too much to ask?

 

[jcs]

The owner of DD's gym always answers emails/calls promptly. He prefers emails as well and I usually have an answer with in a few hours. Seems like the communications issues continue at your DD's gym...

 

[cher062]

former teacher not coqach band wagon. I would make sure to get back to questions with answers in 1 - 3 business days. So If someone e-mailed me on Friday at night I probablyl wouldn't see it until Monday at the earliest. But I always checked the e-mail before classes, after classes and before I went to bed. I did have my e-mail set up so it would send a response e-mail automaticly when I had that as an option. (It was similar to the way an Out of office message worked)

In general however I find that gyms in genearal need alot of work on their communication skills with parents. I wish they would have private meetings with parents around this time of year just to review where they think their child is at and what the plan will be for my child in the upcoming year. If they can't do a one on one I wouldn't mind a parents meeting that would be a general meeting that would give each level an overview of what they plan for the upcoming year.

I also wouldn't mind having the tentitive comp schedule alot earlier. sometimes we get a notice of the competion 2 - 3 week prior just not enough time to make other plans.

 

[Pickle's Mom]

Pickle’s L4 coach was like that. She would also often say “oh I sent that schedule update to you in an email…â€￾ when she never did or “I never got that email from youâ€￾ time after time. It got so bad that I started not trusting anything (not just about email, but about gymnastics in general) she said and we were considering switching gyms. Then, very suddenly, she moved to the gym that we were considering switching to, and Pickle’s subsequent coach was very responsive and I trust her completely.

I never actually went to complain to the owner about that coach, because I didn’t know the owner very well at that point and I was deathly afraid of being labeled one of “those parents.â€￾ When I look back, I wonder if I should have handled it differently. I know the owner better now, and I like her quite a bit, but I actually think it would have turned into finger pointing and she would have defended her employee.