Miscommunication

Part of my job as a coxswain is to be very good at communication. I have to be able to communicate with my rowers so that each individual knows and understands what is needed to be done and when. It's also important to have effective communication to allow them to be motivated by what I am saying. No matter how hard you practice or how much experience you have, there will always be times when your communication skills are ineffective or confusing. While the four other coxswains and I are continually practicing our communication, our coach is a different story. Although he thinks he is being clear. A lot of times, we would have to be in his head to understand what it is he actually wants.

One example occurred recently. Each coxswain was in a four and we were doing what's called seat racing. This is when the boats race each other for a specific distance to see which boat is the fastest. Often times when seat racing occurs, coxswains are only allowed to steer and not talk to create the fairest racing possible. Prior to racing the coxswains asked our coach if we were able to talk. He responded with he didn't care, so long as we were all doing the same thing and that we didn't call moves. So therefore, the coxswains came together and decided that we would say the stroke rating the girls were at and the distance they had completed in the race. Then we told the rowers that it was up to them to take moves at certain times, since we couldn't call them. After seat racing was over, Coach was mad at all of the coxswains because we allowed the boats to take moves during the seat race, causing it to be unfair and therefore not allowing him to make any decisions on who won.

The aftermath of this problem was that we had to do another day's worth of seat racing, in which nothing at all was said by a coxswain or a rower. This is an example that occurs quite frequently between Coach and coxswains in which he thinks he is being clear, but instead is being vague. It is partially due to miscommunication, but it could potentially also qualify as misinterpreted as well, which stems from poor communication.

The miscommunication could have been prevented by further inquiring about the rules of racing. The coxswains knew what we were and weren't supposed to do/say, but we didn't know what the rowers were supposed to do/say.