Aquatics Guide - 2019 - 27

best way to stress the importance of
the initial certification and preseason training is to revisit those ideas
all season or all year long. Bring
your team together two to four times
per month to discuss what's going
well at your facility and what things
need to improve. Pick a single topic
from your conference and ask your
leaders to give tangible examples
of how they've implemented it or
where they are currently struggling.
Together, spend some time drafting
agendas that will help you cover
challenge areas and develop better
teamwork among your leaders. This
makes the topics from the preseason
training even more important, because it serves as a springboard for
the continual training and development of your leaders.
Daily Interactions
Finally, don't forget to communicate with and care for your leaders
daily. Even the best trained leaders
still need direction, feedback and
oversight. Take the time each day to
pick their brain about what things
need attention and how the lifeguard team is performing and ask
them what they need to perform at
the highest level possible. Also, use
these interactions as training exercises. Aquatic leaders will find themselves in all types of situations that
they may not have ever imagined:
How do they handle a parent who
is not supervising their children in
the pool? What do they do if a guest
demands a refund because of a bad
experience? What should be said to
the lifeguard who has been late three
of the past four shifts? Start jotting
these types of circumstances down
on notecards and ask your leaders
a different question each day. It will
help them to start thinking about

how they would respond and handle the situation, and it gives you a
teachable moment if they aren't sure
exactly what to do.
The Time to Start Is Now
As aquatic professionals have just
kicked off another year and planning for the upcoming summer
season, they should be intentional
about how they view the importance
of their leaders and how best to train
them. Through initial certification,
preseason and in-season training, as
well as communicating with them
daily, they will set their aquatic operation to thrive for this year and
many more after it.

George Deines is Studio Director for CounsilmanHunsaker (georgedeines@chh2o.com).

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Aquatics Guide - 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Aquatics Guide - 2019