Why (and how) communicators should have a ‘spring training’

Though many of us are still shivering in heavy coats and scraping ice off windshields, baseball is back.

Even non-fans must admit there’s something warm, alluring, comforting and nostalgic about spring training’s sharp cracks of the bat and ball-thumped mitts. As Chicago Cubs icon Ernie Banks said: “Spring training means flowers, people coming outdoors, sunshine, optimism and baseball. Spring training is a time to think about being young again.”

Spring training is about much more than baseball itself. It’s a time for players and coaches to spend a month refreshing relationships and reviewing fundamentals—and easing back into the rhythm and routine of the notoriously grueling 162-game season. Young players get a chance to shine; old hands mostly just stretch, eat sunflower seeds and refresh muscle memory; and the game scores mean absolutely nothing. Think of a monthlong corporate “team-building” exercise.

Wouldn’t it be something if communicators tried something similar? You might not talk your boss into a month’s worth of “exhibition games” or exercises, but you might try spinning your own “spring training for communicators.” Consider these four ideas: