The Volleyball World Compared to the Real World Manufacturing Environment

The Volleyball World Compared to the Real World Manufacturing Environment
by Kevin Hindle (Vision VBC, Gainesville, Fla., Florida Region)

In this essay I will attempt to compare the positions in volleyball to the positions I see day-to-day in the medical device manufacturing industry, or any other manufacturing environment.

I am a manufacturing engineer at a medical device company and have been coaching men's and girls' volleyball for approximately 10 years. I have played college and club volleyball in Canada and some beach volleyball in Florida for about 30 years.

The Setter
I would consider the setter as the most important position on the court. The setter is the quarterback of the team, calling plays, paying attention to what is going on with the other team’s defense, helping others on the court, team leadership, cheering and communicating. They are expected to play defense, offense and everything in between. Let’s put it this way, they are the all-around person on the court that knows everything that is going on and knows everyone’s responsibility around them.

The Real World Setter
I would consider the setter on the court to be very similar to a supervisor in a manufacturing environment. In my past experiences in many different industries, the supervisor needs to know everything that is going on around them in order to be successful. They need to know what the responsibility of everyone under them is and I also think that they should be able to do the job of the people who are under them.

The Outside Hitter
I define this position as the go-to person on the court. This position demands a great deal of confidence, reliability and just a person with a "go get 'em" attitude. We rely on this person to put the ball away when needed, using their smarts to either pound the ball or finessing the ball to the ground. They also have the responsibility of blocking the right side hitter, which can be a challenge, especially if you have one of those smart setters in the front row.

The Real World Outside Hitter
This position in the real world environment would be the one on the shop floor that everyone goes to when the supervisor is not around. This person would be the one that is confident in all aspects of the job.

The Middle Hitter
In this position, I tell the player you have two jobs, one to block and take away all the holes that the defense cannot cover and the second to go up every time there is a set, going up every time to either draw the block or to hit, a very important position with a bit of responsibility.

The Real World Middle Hitter
I would consider this person to be one that has a certain skill and wouldn’t step too far out from that skill. In the industry that I am currently in, it might be a CNC operator, a very important job with a bit of responsibility, make the part and inspect what you have made.

The Right Side (offside) Hitter
This position is, in my mind, a very important position. The responsibility of being the one that has to block against the other team's outside hitter and in many cases is the home to the setter. This is one of the hardest positions for a right-handed person to hit from, so it takes someone with great talent to hit from this side, unless you are lucky enough to have a left handed-hitter to cover it. This is a very difficult position to be put in.

The Real World Right Side Hitter
This position in the real world would possibly compare to a quality control person, one that has the skill to identify where the mistakes are in the process and stopping the product before it goes out the door with any defects. A very hard position to do, the job of finding what is wrong, not what is right. This is a very difficult position to be put in. Have you ever tried to tell someone that what they just spent eight hours creating is wrong? Not fun.

The Libero
This is that special person, often the shortest and quickest person on the floor. This person is the defensive specialist, the one that if at all possible will dig every ball coming over the net and will cover the most court space. They are also the best passer on the team. I tell my libero that they own the back row. The libero needs to be vocal and confident. They also need to anticipate, be able to read or predict where and when that ball is coming back over. They should also be the person with the most court sense, knowing where the lines are etc.

The Real World Libero
In the real world, I would consider this polisher/finisher to be the specialist. This job is a specialized one especially in the medical device industry. They have the responsibility of knowing what to use and where to use it in order to make the parts visually and functionally excellent. They can make an implant that looks like it just went through hours of torture from my dogs, to the most visually pleasing implant. This is like the libero taking a hard hit ball, a tipped ball or a hard float serve and creating a perfect pass to the setter for an incredible play.

The Coach
I would describe the coach as the mentor, the counselor, the voice, the one that everyone turns to when there is a problem. They run practice, they teach the mental and physical aspect of the sport, they are the experience, they are the cheerleader and the problem solver. When things are not going the way it should, they are the calm that the team relies on to take control of the situation. The coach is also the mediator between player and player or player and parent, the list goes on.

The Real World Coach
In the real world, I would describe this person to be the director/supervisor. The director has the big picture of what is going on around them. They too are the mentor, counselor, cheerleader and problem solver for the members of their team.

I sometimes use these comparisons in my business and in practice. For me it describes real life situations.