Cultivating the social environment

Introduction

How well do you maintain your «garden»? Which key players and organisations do you come into contact with within your leadership role? This learning module encourages you to further engage with your social environment. From understanding expectations, to receiving helpful tips and reflecting on how you handle things within your own social environment – that’s what this module is all about!

Basics

The «Cultivating the social environment» action domain is part of the Y+S training approach (in German) and is divided into two action areas, each including two concrete recommendations for action. Click on the different boxes to find out more about the respective topics.

In the following sections, you will become more familiar with the «Involving key players and organisations» action area. You can find further information and inspiring questions related to the «Active involvement in the club» action area in the set of cards which you will receive during the course.

Principles

Nurturing relationships with parents
When working with children and adolescents, you will inevitably come into contact with their parents as well – and that is a good thing! Parents’ attitudes towards sport have a significant impact on their children’s (sporting) habits. Take advantage of this: both the children’s parents and you are important role models. It is important that you are all on the same page.
Parents have certain expectations of you and your behaviour. At the same time, you also expect parents to set a good example. In order to nurture your relationships with the children’s parents effectively, you need to be aware of these expectations, and they need to be communicated openly by both parties.

In the following chart, you can see examples of possible expectations parents might have of you – and vice versa. Additionally, you will find various tips on how to deal with these expectations. Click on each image to find out more about these practical tips.

Addressing desired behaviour from parents – step by step

Step 1: Brainstorming
What do you expect from the parents? What does the club expect from the parents? What behaviours do you want to see?

Step 2: Desired behaviour
Encourage your club’s management committee and your leader colleagues to sit down together and discuss the behaviours you want to see from parents. Afterwards, you can define specific behaviours (e.g. how to behave on the sidelines).

Step 3: Focus
Select 3-5 specific behaviours that all of you consider essential. Keep the remaining behaviours in mind (see «Verhaltensgrundsätze Manual Grundlagen» p. 3 [Code of conduct in the Y+S manual - Basics]).

Step 4: Communication
Briefly describe the three specific behaviours that you want to see from the parents.

Step 5: Discussion
Talk to the parents about additional expectations and acknowledge their concerns and wishes. They can write down questions they might have regarding their own expectations and send them to you.

Networking and exchanging ideas
In addition to collaborating with parents, you will also network with other key players and organisations as part of your work within the club. Click on the images below. They depict people and organisations with whom you can potentially network and exchange ideas.

Good practice

In the following video, parents share their thoughts on Y+S leaders’ collaboration with parents:

In practice, Y+S leaders deal with key players and organisations in the following way:

Reflection

In this section, you will reflect on how you interact with people within your social environment. Note down how you would handle one of the following 5 topics (in your CURRENT state). Below you will find additional input and helpful questions related to the respective focal points. Keep your answers at hand. You will need them again at a later point (in the «transfer» section).

Focal point «Desired behaviours for parents»
Which behaviours do I want to see from parents? How and when do I communicate these behaviours with the parents?

Focal point «Exchanging ideas with parents»
What topics do I discuss with the parents? How do I promote communication with parents?

Focal point «Involving parents»
How do I involve parents in supporting the children and adolescents? How do I involve the parents in my activities?

Focal point «Exchanging ideas/networking with other Y+S leaders»
When and where do I exchange ideas with other Y+S leaders? What kinds of ideas do I exchange with other Y+S leaders?

Focal point «Other key players»
Which other key players from within or outside the club am I in regular contact with? Why?

Quiz

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Transfer

Pick up the notes you made earlier. Compare your CURRENT state with what you have learnt in this learning module. Use your reflections to formulate a concrete goal you’d like to pursue in the future. After that, write down that goal in your set of cards (on the empty page for personal notes).

Note: When formulating your goal, think about the SMART approach. Accordingly, a goal should be specific (S), measurable (M), achievable (A), relevant (R), and time-bound (T). A possible example could be: «by 1st June, I will have gotten in contact with the parents of every participant at least once (in person or via phone).»

Quiz

Solve the quiz questions and check your results at the end.