In the world of sports technology is gradually bringing in changes, with small pieces of new tech being incorporated into old ways of doing things. In sport, this helps preserve the tradition while slowly improving every aspect.

As an ex-pro basketball player and Olympian, I avidly follow developments, particularly the use of technology in sports. Here are five areas where tech is having an impact and improving sports…

1. Funding

Talent and effort should be all it takes to become a professional athlete. Unfortunately, funding tends to be a major deciding factor. Those without the funding can’t afford to take time out from work to train, can’t afford the best trainers, and won’t be able to access the best technology.

Until fairly recently, however, top athletes and teams have taken the lion’s share of funding and sponsorship opportunities. Less well-known athletes along with those just starting out have struggled to get the funding they need to break into the professional leagues.

The good news is that, in recent years, new sources of funding have arisen, allowing fans to financially support clubs and athletes in return for a share of future incomes. Not only does this provide an additional avenue for fans to get involved but it also provides a way for up-and-coming athletes and clubs to raise unrestricted funds, helping them to go pro.

1. Sports Equipment Design

While computers have been at the forefront of a lot of changes in sport, one of the most significant comes from the world of materials and product design and engineering.

Tennis rackets and golf clubs, for example, have seen some huge technological leaps, using new graphite shafts for better weight to strength ratio. Computers have, of course, assisted with these new designs, improving performance through the use of aerodynamics.

The deployment of new materials, such as kevlar, have also dramatically improved the strength of sails, bicycle helmets, and even football boots. Kevlar is a fibre that is around five times stronger yet much lighter than steel, making it ideal in these heavy-use situations. I see many of these new materials being applied to sports equipment in the coming years, helping to make it stronger, longer-lasting and safer.

1. Training & Nutrition

What separates the amateur and pro athletes is training. More, better training will create professional athletes out of even the most modest spark of talent. A lack of or low-quality training will hamper even the most promising of players.

Computer-aided training programmes now integrate live data into sports science models to help improve every aspect of the athlete’s performance. Tennis player can improve their services, swimmers their technique, and footballers their strike rate. What’s more, computers are now beginning to spot areas of weakness and suggest improvements, potentially helping to avoid long-term injuries building up.

New technology also makes it easier to monitor an athlete’s nutrition, computer programs have improved nutritional advice, and developments in food and drink production allow for very precise nutritional balance as well as new protein bars, energy drinks, etc.

In the future, I see more wearable technology being integrated to utilise live data and provide immediate feedback to athletes and coaches. Training and nutrition can then be quickly adapted to the athlete’s needs, improving performance while helping to avoid future injuries.

1. Engaging Fans

There has been a proliferation of new ways to watch sport ‒ from HD streaming to watching via betting sites. This has allowed fans to get involved in the action, betting on in-play odds, commenting on streams, and even just seeing more detail of the game.

There have also been now ways for fans to get involved in the action, such as fantasy leagues and in-play betting, engaging fans through personal investment. Fans can also support individual players and teams financially, through sites like Globatalent, as well as trading player-based stocks on sites like Sports Stack and Football Index.

Platforms such as Twitter have also made it easier for fans to connect directly with athletes, getting immediate responses and exclusive opportunities to meet their idols. I believe this interactive element is responsible for the resurgence of interest in sports over the past ten years and is helping athletes to build a business around their sporting career.

1. Fairness

While we’d all like for players to be good sports and professional in their attitudes, we also want to see passion bursting forth through their performance. We want them to push as hard and as far as they can go in order to surprise and delight their fans.

However, the downside to all this passion and performance has been athletes cheating or claims of unfairness in referee decisions. We’ve all been aware of the controversies surrounding goal-line decisions in international football games, for example, and Lance Armstrong’s doping scandal shocked and shook the world of cycling, damaging the reputation of the sport.

Fortunately, however, technology is improving every aspect of fairness in sport. Video referees can now be called on to make decisions using slow-motion cameras at every angle, goal-line and hawkeye technology can now deliver uncontroversial decisions in football and tennis, while anti-doping techniques can now spot a huge range of illegal performance-enhancing drugs before a scandal breaks out.

Not only will this new level of fairness help keep controversy and scandal away, but it will also bring a renewed enthusiasm for sports that have been plagued by unfairness in the past.

We still have some way to go, but now that the technology has been accepted in the sporting world, I believe we will see the rapid adoption of new technologies across every aspect of the sporting world, helping to improve everything.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ferran Martínez is one of the co-founders of GlobaTalent. He is a former pro basketball player for FC Barcelona and Spanish National Team, a Laureus member, led sports entertainment at several private banks and is now a successful entrepreneur. He also has experience in advising in terms of investment and has done so for FC Barcelona players.

Web: https://globatalent.com/

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/globatalent.official

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/globatalentsport/

As business grow it is likely that inefficiencies will be found it their processes. If left untackled such inefficiencies can run a business into the ground. Customers will feel they aren’t getting good value, the company will struggle to be profitable, and employees will get frustrated and start looking for jobs elsewhere.

You need to go into battle against inefficiency which will require examining all your business processes. Businesses usually do this with the help of an experienced consultant. While more costly than completing this work in-house, a consultant will have the skills and experience to spot inefficiencies, the knowledge about what works to solve the problem, as well as both the methodology and objectivity to complete the process quickly and…efficiently.

If you are ready to start right away, however, you can  being by identifying the three enemies of efficiency that may be lurking in your current  processes. These are rigidity, variability and waste. Let us look at each of them.

1. Rigidity

In our fast-moving, tech-driven, globalised world, businesses need to be flexible and adaptable.

The same goes for their employees. Those who adapt to the needs of the business help make processes quicker and smoother while those who rigidly stick to what they know are likely to cause bottlenecks.

People within a rigid process may end up waiting for everyone else to make their contributions before making their own, for example.

If these employees are allowed more flexibility, however, then they know they can get on with other things while they wait for information. You may discover technology that allows different teams to work on a document simultaneously or a process that removes the need for multiple checks. Changing this process means greater efficiency, faster output, and happier clients and staff.

It should be noted, however, that flexibility doesn’t mean unstructured or seat of your pants. Employees need to feel confident and clear on how to manage their time/workload rather than being left entirely to their own devices.

2. Variability

Combatting overly rigid processes is the first step in managing resources ‒ allowing staff to better utilise their time. Expecting 100% utilisation, however, is unrealistic and impractical. ‘Stuff’ happens and your teams need to deal with it quickly or risk it turning into a bottleneck.

Even on factory floors, where there is very little variability, manufacturing managers may only plan their machines to operate at around 80-85% load. The other 75 minutes of the day are left unallocated to allow time to deal with unexpected ‘stuff’.

In the modern office teams can be pushed to work at near 100% load leaving little flexibility to deal with unexpected variability. By viewing workload across entire teams, however, you can introduce flexibility and improve your capacity planning.

For example, say your design team currently needs to make all changes to graphics within a document. Training other staff on how to make minor changes to graphics will alleviate bottlenecks.

3. Wastes

Waste can be broken down into eight branches: transport, inventory, motion, waiting, overproducing, over-processing, defects, and skills.

These wastes spell out TIM WOODS ‒ handy for remembering them. Let’s look at them one at a time.

Transport ‒ This can apply to the movement of anything from goods, to people, to documents. Even a small amount of transport waste can build up. Looking for ways to decrease movement, shorten the distance or reduce the item size can all help to minimise transport waste.

Inventory ‒ Anything you buy or produce in bulk can suddenly become redundant. For example, you print 50 new customer forms in case you need them, but then the forms need to change. Be as lean as possible with what you buy or produce. That way you can minimise inventory waste.

Motion ‒ People need to move around to do their job and this physical movement takes time, money and effort, quickly leading to waste. Say, for example, that your marketing team often need to meet your design team, one is on the 4th floor and the other on the 12th. This will waste time and money as people go up and down. Try to look for ways to rationalise the placement of people to help minimise motion.

Waiting ‒ This is connected to rigidity (see above). If people are waiting to proceed on a task until someone else has made their contribution, you create waste. When different teams have different priorities, you can end up with some very long delays. Introduce more flexibility into your processes to minimise the time wasted waiting around.

Overproducing ‒ If you produce more than you need, stock turns into inventory (see above) and is at risk of redundancy. Try and be as accurate as possible when assessing the needs of your customers and anticipating future orders. Improving this may require new technology or processes.

Overprocessing ‒ You want the document you produced to be incredible, but does it really require checking three or four times before it goes to the client? Is it really about improving work or about including people in the process? By providing clear briefs you will help to minimise the checking needed, the number of mistakes made and the number of people included in the process.

Defects ‒ Mistakes devalue your output, take time to correct, and are demoralising for staff. Some mistakes will always happen, but unclear briefs or communication, a lack of information, and poorly defined processes will dramatically increase defects. People need to know clearly what’s needed, what the intended outcome is, what’s important, and how to go about it. Otherwise, they will experiment with novel processes to achieve an unclear objective, introducing many mistakes and inefficiencies along the way.

Skills ‒ People need the relevant skills for the task. Sounds obvious, I know, but managers often misuse the skills within a team. For example, I’ve seen experienced copywriters being used for time-consuming admin tasks and I’ve seen interns being thrown onto sales calls. Misuse of skills is an inefficient use of personnel and also leads to mistakes.

By working through each of these potential areas for inefficiency, you will gain a good overview of the processes used by your business and a fair idea on how to improve them. However, thinking back to point number one, rigidity, it’s important to be flexible in your approach. In a startup, for example, it may not be possible to establish clear processes as people are managing multiple roles.

As the business expands, eliminating inefficiencies becomes increasingly important to growth. Upskilling employees can be crucial to keeping them motivated in the long-term, for example, and it will help manage workload if someone is ill.

Keep these points in mind as you grow and use them as red flags to be resolved when the business has the capacity. At that point, you can use a consultant to analyse your inefficiencies and suggest improvements in order to rapidly grow your SME. For example, you can post a question on Consulthon and ask for responses from a range of experts, and then book a one hour call with the one you feel best suits your business. This is a good way to keep your consultancy costs down, and ‘try before you buy’

Keeping inefficiencies to a minimum is essential if you want to grow your business and your profits, so start by doing as much as you can in-house and then look to bring in outside experts as the business expands.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marieta Bencheva is co-founder of Consulthon,a UK Management Consulting Expert Network. Businesses can raise a Business Challenge and the network’s experts will brainstorm solutions. After selecting the answer they like the most, the business can book a paid one-hour advisory call and deep-dive session with that consultant. All the consultants are vetted by Consulthon and the platform offers businesses access to a wide range of skills, in a variety of sectors and countries.

Web: https://consulthon.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/consulthon/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CONSULTHON.CO.UK/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/CONSULTHON  @consulthon

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consulthon.co.uk/ @consulthon.co.uk

Processes not just formal procedures to be followed in order to get things done. Your processes reflect the culture of your business, including values, and why you do what you do.

Because of this your processes are fundamental to your business. By sticking to clear processes, you maintain consistent quality, service and brand experience.  However, there is a danger that they get out of date. Processes need to evolve and grow with the business, and also adapt to external pressures. Processes that work for, say, a two person startup won’t provide what is required for a medium-sized business with a full product range.

Processes that do not work can lead to numerous problems, such as customers complaining about poor product quality or bad service; wasted resources, increasing costs, bottlenecks etc.

Correctly identifying problems is a challenge but also the first step towards finding a resolution and improving processes.

Here are two main methods to a) identify the root causes of the problems you need to tackle, and b) help you find the solutions and process improvements that are necessary.

1. Problem-solving session

Problem-solving sessions are ideal when you already know what the problem is but are unsure how to solve it.

Firstly, create a commonly understood/agreed description:

• What the problem is ‒ a simple problem statement
• When the problem has been seen
• The magnitude of the problem
• The impact/ consequence of the problem (why is it important)

You may end up with a specific description, e.g. “We have lost 20% of our clients in the past year”, or a vaguer one: “Our profitability is decreasing”. Make no assumptions about the cause at this point!

Once you have a clear description of the problem, it’s time to measure its extent. To do this, you’ll need a comprehensive list of value elements ‒ anything that affects your costs or benefits your clients.

Involve the wider team now, including a representative sample of people who experience the issue.

A fishbones diagram can help identify the possible causes of the problem. For each branch (i.e. each possible cause) list every element involved in that branch.

The reasons for problems can generally be grouped as 8Ps or 8Ms:

The Ps

Physical Evidence;

Personnel;

Place;

Product or Service;

Price;

Promotion;

Process;

Productivity & Quality

The Ms

Machine (technology);

Method (process);

Material (Includes Raw Material, Consumables and Information.);

Manpower (physical work) / Mind Power (brain work):

Measurement (data from reports, checks and controls);

Milieu / Mother Nature (Environment).

Management / Money Power;

Maintenance

Once you’ve clearly articulated the problem and discovered the extent of its impact, you need to identify solutions and immediate fixes.

A workshop where staff can brainstorm is a good way to do this. The outcome will be a range of potential solutions which you can test and implement. It’s good to prioritise the solutions based on their likely impact and the time/effort/money required.

• Customer journey/value mapping

If you’re uncertain what the problem actually is, or want to be more comprehensive in your solution-gathering, or to improve processes in general, a customer journey map or value stream map can be useful.

A value stream map visually captures all your current processes down to the last detail.

First create a comprehensive list of your value elements ‒ anything that affects your costs or benefits your clients. Think of these elements as client touchpoints ‒ times when customers interact with your business.

Next gather data on the monetary and time value of each element; how much are they worth and how much do they cost? How long do they take? How much does this time cost you? As you go through each element, try to identify those that:

• add value for the customer ‒ things customers are willing/wanting to pay for
• are business non-value-added functions ‒ things your business needs to operate but which don’t add value, such as regulation and compliance costs
• do not add value ‒ waste to be eliminated.

From this point, it should be straightforward to identify processes that aren’t adding or delivering value and begin investigating why they don’t.

Perhaps Sales are used to promising a two-week delivery timetable, but it is delivered after four weeks and the customer is upset. The customer may understand, and therefore not report their experience back to your company.

Get the whole team involved in this discovery stage to help uncover such hidden issues. You could even start with a customer survey to identify any loss of value from their perspectives.

When you have identified the problem(s) it’s time to get on with finding solutions. Again, a team approach is helpful – don’t reject any idea out of hand. Aim to make your processes as lean as possible, to ensure they add value, and are all completely aligned.

Another option is to combine the two methods above. Write your problem statement, then gather client feedback and complete your value-stream mapping. Then run a problem-solving session on each touchpoint in your value stream map to ensure that every touchpoint delivers maximum value.

Regardless of the method, the trickiest part is being objective enough to accurately identify the root issues. To help overcome this and make the process faster and more effective, organisations often hire an external consultant to analyse their current processes, identify issues and offer tried-and-tested improvements. They know all the little questions to ask and the steps to follow to drill into the minute details.

If you don’t have the budget for a full-time consultant, you can use platforms like Consulthon to get some free ideas around what the problem may be and how to approach the issue, from expert consultants. You can arrange follow-up calls or meetings with the consultant with the best approach, allowing you to check-in with an expert at key milestones along the way.

Over time it is inevitable that your business processes will need to change.  Don’t put off tackling what needs to be done. Pick a method that is best suited to your current situation and find the solutions and process improvements that will give your customers the best service, support your business and grow your profits.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marieta Bencheva is co-founder of Consulthon, a UK Management Consulting Expert Network. Businesses can raise a Business Challenge and the network’s experts will brainstorm solutions. After selecting the answer they like the most, the business can book a paid one-hour advisory call and deep-dive session with that consultant. All the consultants are vetted by Consulthon and the platform offers businesses access to a wide range of skills, in a variety of sectors and countries.

Web: https://consulthon.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/consulthon/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CONSULTHON.CO.UK/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/CONSULTHON  @consulthon

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consulthon.co.uk/ @consulthon.co.uk