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Why governing bodies buy software
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Open this episode on Tidy InsightsMistake 1: Buying Technology for the Governing Body, Not the Clubs
A state body evaluates platforms based on what their office staff needs - reporting, dashboards, data analysis. They forget that the actual users are volunteer committee members at 200 clubs who have 30 minutes on a Sunday night.
If the platform does not work for the volunteer treasurer at the smallest club, it does not matter how good the governing body's dashboard is. Nobody will enter the data.
Buy for the end user first. Build reporting on top.
Mistake 2: Trying to Replace Everything at Once
"We need one system that does registration, competition, governance, communication, website, and finance." No you do not. You need each of these things done well. And no single platform does all of them well.
The best approach: a competition platform for competition. A governance platform for governance. An accounting platform for accounting. Connected through integrations, not replaced by a Swiss Army knife.
Mistake 3: Underestimating Change Management
The technology decision takes two weeks. The procurement takes a month. The implementation takes a quarter. The change management takes a year.
Governing bodies consistently underinvest in change management. Training. Communication. Champions. Support. Feedback loops. The technology is the easy part. Getting 200 clubs to use it is the hard part.
Mistake 4: Building Custom
"Our IT team wants to build something custom." This is a common and expensive mistake. Custom-built systems are expensive to develop, expensive to maintain, and impossible to improve at the pace of commercial software.
They also leave when the IT person leaves. And then you have an undocumented system that nobody can maintain.
Buy commercial software that fits 80% of your needs. Adapt your processes for the remaining 20%. This is cheaper, more sustainable, and more reliable than building from scratch.
Mistake 5: Ignoring the Club Perspective
Governing bodies make technology decisions in boardrooms. Clubs experience those decisions at the coalface.
Before any technology decision, talk to five clubs. Ask what their biggest admin pain point is. Ask what they would change about how they interact with the governing body. Ask what would make their volunteers' lives easier.
The answers will be more valuable than any feature comparison spreadsheet.
The Common Thread
Every mistake has the same root cause: forgetting that technology in federated sport serves the network, not the centre. The governing body is not the customer. The clubs are.
Get that right and the technology decisions follow. Get it wrong and you have an expensive platform that nobody uses.
References
- Australian Sports Commission - Governance frameworks and technology strategy resources for state sporting bodies
- Sport England - Club Matters programme with digital transformation guidance for governing bodies
- Volunteering Australia - Volunteer capacity and technology adoption resources for community organisations
- Geoff Wilson - Change management and technology adoption frameworks for grassroots sport
- TidyHQ - Governance platform designed for club end-users with governing body reporting built on top
Header image: Blue and Red by Ellsworth Kelly, via WikiArt
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