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IAAF Member
Federation Introduction: About this manual The national athletic federations which make up the membership of the International Amateur Athletic Federation are the administrative and operational building blocks for the sport of athletics – on both domestic and international levels. The continued development of athletics around the world depends on how effectively federations function and meet their obligations. All federations face challenges, and, in some cases, a struggle for survival. Athletics is in perpetual competition with other sports, as well as with a growing number of leisure options, to attract and retain participants, supporters, public interest and resources. Failure in this competition could mean that athletics is marginalised. In most countries the sport’s competitors are getting tougher every day, intensifying the challenge faced by federations. Clearly, hard work, organisation, skills and vision on the part of each federation’s leadership are critical to the success of the sport. The Aim and the Audience The primary aim of this manual is to assist IAAF Member Federation leaders by preparing them for their roles and improving the performance of their duties. It is meant to be a practical guide containing information and ideas collected from the experiences of the Directors of the IAAF’s Regional Development Centres, and international group of sport administrators and relevant publications around the world. For reasons of space and clarity, the text is addressed to the office holders of IAAF Member Federations – Presidents, General Secretaries, etc. The target audience is however, is wider and includes all those involved in the management and administration of athletics – federation employees, club leaders, individuals aspiring to a position of responsibility and anyone who wishes to see the sport of athletics run more effectively and derive greater enjoyment from their efforts. Management and Administration Perhaps the best starting point for this manual is a clarification of what is meant by the terms which feature in its title – management and administration. Management involves decision making and setting up systems to implement policy. Managers are concerned with making things work – getting their organisation to function effectively, meet its obligations and achieve goals. In the context of a national athletics federation, effective management means ensuring that the whole range of staff and volunteers involved are positively motivated, know what is expected of them and have the authority, resources and support to meet those expectations. The term administration usually refers to the day-to-day running of systems. Administrators are responsible for carrying out decisions and routine, but often important, activities and paperwork. Logic, order and method are qualities associated with smooth administration whereas effective management calls for a spectrum of skills including communication, time management, leadership, teamwork and planning. The two functions are, of course, closely linked. Indeed, one without the other usually spells disaster – both the making and implementation of decisions require good administration to access information and effect action; similarly administration without good management is likely to be inefficient (too much, too little or irrelevant paperwork). In many large modern organisations, such as business corporations, these two areas can be separated as specialised roles and taken by different individuals with professional training in that area. However, because of the nature of most national athletic federations – with relatively small workforces and a high percentage of volunteers – this is not normally practical. Very often key personnel must take on the responsibilities of both these roles, creating a need to develop the abilities and skills for both areas together. The Approach This manual is intended to be as practical as possible. The approach taken is to present an overview of the most important background information, the key skills required by a federation’s leaders and the critical tasks which a federation must carry out on a day-to-day basis. It is hoped that each bit of information will add to the reader’s understanding and ability and contribute to the work of his or her federation. The project to create this manual started with the idea that the "best way" to run a federation can be expressed in one short, clear statement: Do the essential things well! Although this sounds simple, it can be extremely difficult. It requires a proactive and energetic approach, concentration of efforts on basic, critical tasks without being distracted by non-essential aspects, and enough understanding to recognise when work has been done to the proper standard. This is not to say that federation leaders have to be expert in each field involved in the running of the sport, only that they should have a sufficient base of knowledge to allow them to either take on tasks themselves or delegate confidently, the skills to supervise and assist others in their work and the ability to assess the effectiveness of what has to be done. The style adopted throughout this manual is to give as much information as possible in the form of bullet points and checklists. Where they are deemed essential, theoretical discussions are presented as briefly as possible and references to the main source materials are given at the end of every chapter for the reader who wishes to explore the topic in greater depth. A list of the source materials and other useful publications is given in Appendix 6. Using this Manual It is assumed that you, the reader, are a busy person. Therefore this manual is set up so that you do not necessarily have to read it from cover to cover. If you require information on sponsorship, for example, it is possible to turn to the Financial Resourcing chapter and find ideas which are relevant without having read the entire volume. It is hoped, however, that you will eventually have the chance to read all the chapters presented – as developing knowledge is the foundation of successful leadership. Of course, what is presented here will not automatically make you a good leader, manager or administrator. Running a successful federation is a craft which is mainly learned through practical experience. Moreover, it is not possible in a single book to give a ready solution to all the questions and challenges which you might face. It is expected that some readers will find that their understanding and capabilities are well developed in some areas and that the chapter on a particular topic is useful only in review while in other areas the practical suggestions made will be of greater interest and value. As you read the material that follows, you are encouraged to review your current practice and to examine objectively both your own effectiveness and that of your federation. As in athletics, there is almost always something that can be done differently to improve performance or develop. If this manual contains ideas which you can use to make things better in your federation, then it can be judged a success. |
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