Developing Interpersonal Skills in Sport Management

To assess or develop someone's interpersonal skill profile, map their behaviors against the two-dimension, 12-skill framework:

Communication dimension (5 skills):

1. Active listening
2. Oral communication
3. Written communication
4. Assertive communication
5. Nonverbal communication

Relationship-building dimension (7 skills):

1. Cooperation and coordination
2. Trust
3. Intercultural sensitivity
4. Service orientation
5. Self-presentation
6. Social influence
7. Conflict resolution/negotiation

Then align findings to management level:

• Operational level → prioritize motivation ability
• Middle management → prioritize communication ability
• Top management → prioritize team-building ability

Progress:

• Step 1: Identify the individual's current or target management level (operational, middle, top)
• Step 2: Score/observe the individual across all 5 communication skills
• Step 3: Score/observe the individual across all 7 relationship-building skills
• Step 4: Identify the 2-3 skills most critical to their management level
• Step 5: Flag gaps between current competence and level-appropriate priority skills
• Step 6: Design targeted interventions (training, mentoring, role rehearsal) for the gaps
• Step 7: Re-evaluate after a defined period using the same 12-skill checklist

Diagnostic questions to ask for each skill:

• Communication skills: Does the person accurately receive, process, and transmit information (verbally, in writing, nonverbally) in a way that is clear and appropriately assertive?
• Relationship-building skills: Does the person build durable, cross-cultural, trust-based working relationships and resolve conflict constructively?

Example 1: Input: A newly promoted operations coordinator at a minor-league sports facility struggles to keep part-time staff motivated during high-turnover periods. Output: Diagnosis — operational-level role, so motivation is the priority lever. Map motivation deficits to underlying skills: likely weak social influence and service orientation. Recommend: (1) coaching on positive reinforcement techniques tied to social influence skill-building, (2) shadowing a high-performing operational supervisor, (3) short daily check-ins to practice active listening with frontline staff.

Example 2: Input: A middle manager in a college athletics department is well-liked but repeatedly causes confusion by giving vague instructions to department heads. Output: Diagnosis — middle-management level, so communication ability is the priority. Root cause: weak oral and written communication, not relationship-building. Recommend: structured-instruction templates, practicing SBI (Situation-Behavior-Impact) feedback format, and a written-communication review cycle with a trusted peer before instructions go out.

Example 3: Input: A newly appointed athletic director (top management) is technically skilled but unable to unify department heads into a cohesive strategic direction. Output: Diagnosis — top-management level, so team-building ability is the priority, which draws on cooperation and coordination, trust, and conflict resolution/negotiation. Recommend: facilitated cross-department retreats, trust-building exercises, and formal negotiation/mediation training before further strategic rollouts.