SABR Business of Baseball Communications Survey Results

To further the understanding regarding how SABR Business of Baseball committee members think and feel about potential modes of communication and types of business of baseball information, the committee conducted an online survey of committee members in February 2010.  The topics of interest included:

·        Modes of communication

·        Frequency of communication

·        Communication screening

·        Committee listserv

This article describes the results of the survey.

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Respondents

Of the 145 committee members who started the survey, approximately 133 completed the survey.  This represents a response rate of 14% (total committee membership = 950).  However, it is unclear as to the number of committee members who are active versus nominal.  A working assumption is that the response rate of active members is much higher than the overall response rate.

Findings

Modes of Communication

Table 1 depicts the number of respondents who prefer a specific mode of communication by type of content communication.  Participants were able to select more than one mode of communication per type of content.

Table 1 – Modes of Communication

All values represent percentages.

As evident in the table, email is the preferred mode of communication for all types of content, with at least 71% of respondents reporting this mode of communication for each type of content.  Several committee members commented that email is an efficient means of contacting them, and several other committee members mentioned that technologies newer than email were beyond their desired interest level.  The committee website was consistently the second preferred mode of communication.  Comments around website usage were similar to those related to email.

There was also some interest in being communicated to via other modes, such as blog, social media, or the committee listserv.  However, this should be tempered by the fact that many of these members indicated a view of a committee future that includes Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds.  Podcasts from the committee seemed to fall outside of the scope of interest for most current committee members.

Action Items:

The committee will:

1. Plan to continue using email as the primary mode of communication.
2. Undergo a website refresh to be completed sometime prior to convention 2010.
3. Introduce some form of new mode for communication (e.g., RSS feed) in 2010, and will continue to monitor the interest in these modes in upcoming years.
   
   

Frequency of Communication

Table 2 depicts the number of responses around frequency of communication.

Table 2 – Frequency of Communication

All values represent percentages.

Analysis of frequencies by category indicated that there is variation among how frequently members wish to receive communications.  Notably, when it comes to research opportunities (48%) and general updates (51%), committee members mostly choose to allow committee leader discretion to guide the frequency of communication.  The comments from committee members around this topic focused on, “Communicate what you need to communicate”, and “Keep it simple”.  Committee members did express a strong preference for some form of communication (telling members about new content and opportunities) rather than no communication (members check on new content and opportunities).

Action Items:

The committee will:

1. Communicate periodically, as new content and opportunities emerge.  Communication frequency will likely involve a communication approximately every 8 -12 weeks.
2. Vary the frequency of communication depending on the type of content or opportunity.

Communication Screening

Table 3 depicts committee members responses related to communication screening.  As indicated, a little less than half (45%) of respondents screen their email based on subject line, while a little more than half of respondents do not screen their email by subject line.

Table 3 – Communication Screening

Action Items:

The committee will:

1.      Continue to develop relevant subject lines for email communications, but will not focus on improvement in this area.

Committee Listserv

Table 4 depicts the percentage of committee members who are also a member of the listserv.  Slightly over one-third (36%) of committee members are involved with the liststerv.

Table 4 – Members of Listserv

Several open-ended responses suggested a lack of awareness around the existence of the business of baseball committee listserv.

Table 5 depicts the percentage of committee members who believe the listserv should be used for posting daily news stories related to the business of baseball.

Table 5 – Listserv as Daily News Update Resource

Just over half (58%) of respondents indicated that they would like the listserv to be a forum for daily news stories related to the business of baseball.  When analyzing the responses of only those committee members who are members of the committee listserv, the percentage of respondents indicating that they would like the listserv to be a forum for daily news stories related to the business of baseball rises (69%).

Table 6 depicts the percentage of committee members who believe the listserv should be used for research requests (72%). 

Table 6 – Listserv as a Resource for Research Requests

There is some expressed sentiment that the listserv should be used for discussing committee research projects, and that daily news stories related to the business of baseball should exist elsewhere.

Action Items:

The committee will:

1.      Push to post daily news stories related to the business of baseball by the end of 2010, but, in alignment with SABR’s move to a new software package that will replace the listserv.  The committee will attempt to model the “moderator” approach currently used by SABR-L.  However, in order to succeed, this approach will require some time commitment from a group of approximately 30 committee members.  Each of these members may be asked to “moderate” the news stories and ensuing discussion for 2-3 days per month.

2.      Work with SABR headquarters to seek out solutions for making members more aware of the benefits associated with the committee (e.g., how to better advertise the existence of community activities similar to the listserv).

Other Comments

Approximately one-fourth of those completing the survey had an additional comment.  Many of the comments were around, “Keep up the good work”, especially around Outside the Lines.  Some comments centered on an expression of interest in getting involved in committee research.  A few comments related to finding ways to have committee members meet more frequently, or on overcoming geographical constraints.

Action Items:

The committee will:

1.      Say “thank you” for expressing appreciation of the committee’s work.

2.      Continue to communicate research opportunities, and will look into some different types of research opportunities.  What is most needed are committed individuals to lead research projects, and drive those projects to successful conclusion.  The committee will make project management tools available on the migrated website.

3.      Investigate technology that helps to overcome geographical restrictions.  Specifically, the committee will investigate the possibility of web meeting software.

Thank you to each of you that was able to complete the SABR Business of Baseball Communications survey.  Your responses will allow committee leadership to consider your collective opinions when making decisions.