General | 4/6/2017 12:00:00 PM

PAST LETTERS

Dear Eagle Nation,

Many people dislike Monday mornings and meetings. However, at Georgia Southern, you better get your cup of coffee and be fired up at 10 a.m. every Monday for our weekly staff meeting. As a department, we begin each week with a 2 1/2 hour staff meeting with the associate athletic directors who oversee the various departments that make up Georgia Southern Athletics. These meetings have three specific goals that associate with every topic discussed:

• Communication and coordination;
• Solve any problem in a collaborative manner; and
• How does any new idea affect our student-athletes and make our department better?

Each member of the leadership team is asked to speak about their area with these three goals in mind. A variety of topics are discussed, such as student life, academics, donor and alumni relations, fan experience and marketing. Associate athletic directors are asked to provide data once a month at our staff meetings, comparing the current and year's past data to determine how each area is progressing.

This meeting is the key to efficiency and coordination for our department. It is also how I hear feedback on how things are going and understand the direction we are moving in our department. Our department's leadership has grown throughout the last five years due to utilizing this approach. My staff has really developed a sense of ownership in their respective areas which has helped us move our department forward across the board.

A Symbol of Success
The Hard Hat Award has become a symbol of success in our department, and is given out at our monthly departmental staff meeting. Our staff at Georgia Southern understands that anytime we have success, we have outworked people and overcome obstacles as part of the journey toward achieving that success. I could not think of a better symbol for our accomplishments that also represents these qualities.

The Hard Hat has been given out for both conference championships, academic achievements or staff performances. For example, a Hard Hat Award was given to our grounds crew who managed to get a field game-ready after a severe storm. If you visit our office, you may see some of these hard hats displayed in various coach and staff offices.

I hope this look into how our staff meetings work, and our Hard Hat Awards, provides you with an idea that we are working hard to achieve success each and everyday.

Thanks


TK
"Beat State"