Effective Church Communications

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and Biblical Inspiration to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission

Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and a Biblical Perspective to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission. Our tools constantly change; our task doesn’t; we can help.

Being a Better Office Manager, part three

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Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed. note: This is the last week of a great series on How to be a Better Office Manager and this week  she concludes with some excellent advice:

As an effective manager, you will:

• Learn all you can about the church, the denomination, office administration, management principles—every subject related to the work of the church office. Use online resources, study written materials, and attend seminars. Study communication and human relations skills.

• Communicate with others. Let your team know your standards for good work and periodically tell them how they are doing. Provide the information people need to do their jobs well. Touch base with them often; be available for questions and suggestions. Include them in decisions concerning issues affecting their work, but realize group decisions are seldom good decisions. Listen; then make the decision alone.

• Involve your team. Delegate. Trust your people with responsibilities. Effective managers do not try to do everything themselves. Turning loose of routine tasks allows you to focus your efforts on the parts of the job only you can do.

• Support your team. Show confidence in them; let them know they can have confidence in you. Pray with and for those you minister with as well as for those you minister to.

Encourage people in their efforts. As a manager you want your team to be willing to try new things. They need to know it is acceptable to make mistakes, or even to fail. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Develop mutual trust and respect. People usually live up to the expectations of others. Expect excellence, not perfection, and show appreciation for your team’s efforts. Go to bat for them for equitable pay and benefits. Be the kind of manager you would like to work with.

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For the first two parts of this series:

Being a Better Office Manager, part one

Being a Better Office Manager, part two

Being a Better Office Manager, part two:

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Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed. note: Last week  Gayle introduced the topic of How to be a Better Office Manager and this week  she continues with some excellent advice on:

The Five basic functions of management are planning, staffing, organizing, directing, and evaluating.

• planning
Planning is the first step in constructively moving from where you are to where you want to be, from the way things are to the way things ought to be. Base your plans on specific measurable goals. In planning the work of the office you must have a clear view of:

• what needs to be done and when;

• the skills and abilities of each worker.

Once the plans are made, take action. The ultimate goal of your planning is not to do work, but to accomplish results.

• staffing

When hiring new people, search for the best available. Look for those with commitment and a sensitive spirit as well as technical skills. Be secure enough to surround yourself with sharp, talented people.

Be familiar with the position description of each person you supervise. Assign tasks to best make use of your people’s talents. Know who can do what best. Give staff members opportunities to grow in their jobs and to use their initiative. As you do these things, you will be making positive strides toward building a team.

• organizing

The manager has five basics with which to work:

• people—both volunteer and paid;

• resources—equipment, property, funds;

• information—facts about needs, opportunities;

• experience—what you know, your abilities;

• time—your most valuable resource.

The effective manager coordinates these basics in organizing the work of the office.

Teamwork is enhanced when each element works smoothly with the others. For instance: a person receiving an assignment has the information and ability to do the job, enough time is scheduled, necessary equipment is available, sufficient information is at hand and backup help is ready if and when it is needed.

• directing

Your communication skills are basic tools in directing your team members. Most direction is verbal. Give clear, concise instructions. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Identify who is to do the job, what specifically is to be done, where will it be done, when will it be started and finished.

Within those guidelines recognize the method of giving direction that will get the best results from each team member. One person may need written support, or every detail explained; another may need only the briefest instruction.

• evaluating

Because even the best planning, staffing, organizing, and directing can be improved, evaluating is essential. Evaluating allows you to look at the course and make corrections.

Analyze each project as it is completed. How do you rate the results? What action steps would you repeat? What would you definitely not repeat? What was not done that should have been? Put tasks under a microscope; you grow in the art of management as you learn from your experiences.

Set up a filing system up to preserve your resources for use next time. What counts is not how hard the team worked or how many hours were put in, but what results were achieved. Accurate evaluation preserves the lessons learned and gives you a better return on time invested when you do the next project.

As you evaluate workers be generous with expressions of appreciation—both privately and publicly.

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To read part one of  Being a Better Office Manager, CLICK HERE

To read part three of Being a Better Office Manager, CLICK HERE

Next week, we'll have part three and you'll learn the tasks you need to do as an effective manager

Being a Better Office Manager, part one

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Article by Gayle Hilligoss

“The right person in the right role, given the right tools and the right encouragement, is a key to good management.”    —Ted W. Engstrom

Of the many responsibilities encountered in your professional life, none is more challenging than developing management skills—those skills enabling you to effectively supervise others.

During your first days in the church office, it is likely you were responsible only for producing your own work. You were given assignments and you did them.

As office manager you move from the supervision of work to the supervision of people. Besides maintaining excellent technical skills, you must exercise supervisory talent as well. [Read more...]

Our most important time, our quiet time with God

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Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed. note: We are all familiar with the story of Mary and Martha, but it is so easy to forget when we are working so hard for Jesus, to spend time with Him—Gayle's article is a wonderful reminder of how important that time is.

Even in churches it is easy to neglect to leave “God room” in our plans—room for God to reveal His will regarding our goals. While all time is essentially God time, setting aside a quiet period with God each day is surely our most important time.

The Scriptures provide a fine textbook on time management. Jesus gives the ultimate example of the value of planning. He spent thirty years planning for his three years of ministry. Spending time in God’s Word keeps us on track and helps us put our priorities in order. It inspires us to aim for excellence.

In aspiring to excellence, avoid becoming perfectionistic. Jesus was perfect, not a perfectionist. He worked with imperfect people in an imperfect system. He entrusted his work to us! Would a perfectionist do that? Do your best; then turn it loose. God will bless your honest efforts.

Everyone who has ever read a book on time management or who has attended a seminar on the subject has been reminded we all have the same amount of time. We all, regardless of status in life, have only 24 hours a day.

Time is a resource—our most precious because, unlike money or energy, it cannot be saved up to be used later. The minutes go by; we cannot truly manage them. What we can manage is the way we use our time.

Be aware of time as you go through your day. Scrutinize the jobs you do and look for creative ways to cut minutes off each task.

Even so, don’t fall into the stressful game of “Beat the Clock.” Find a comfortable pace and whatever transpires, don’t neglect your quiet time.

Be sure to schedule and to take a couple of breaks during the day. Leave the office for a lunch hour. Studies indicate that people who take short breaks mid-morning and mid-afternoon and who take a full lunch hour are more productive than those who work straight through. Tired minds and tired bodies simply do not produce good results.

A good rule is to ask yourself several times during the day, “Is what I’m doing the best use of my time now?” Your schedule must be rigid enough to be effective yet flexible enough to allow for priority shifts beyond your control.

Amid all your busy-ness, your quiet time is essential. This is when you gain a clear picture of the results you want to accomplish—not simply the tasks at hand. God time allows you to know your true goals and to focus on them. No priority is higher.

 

Setting Goals—The main thing is to keep the main thing the MAIN THING, part two

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Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed. note: We've broken the great advice here into several articles because there is so much to apply in each one. You can read them separately or together, but no matter what order you read them in, use the advice to make yourself more productive. CLICK HERE to go to Part One of this article.

You can keep the main thing foremost in your life if you remember to make your goals your own, to set goals that can be measured and to commit your goals to writing. Ironically, many of us take more time to plan a vacation than to plan the more important aspects of our lives. Get your goals on paper now. You owe it to yourself to have a sense of direction. Be responsible for doing this for yourself.

• Act on your plans. Once your goals are identified you start the adventure of beginning to work on them and seeing them become reality. Knowledge is of little value unless it is put into action. The hardest part of any project is often just getting started.

The science of physics recognizes two kinds of inertia. Standing objects tend to remain stationary; moving objects tend to remain in motion. It is difficult to get an object with stationary inertia started. Conversely, it is hard to stop an object once it is in motion. Once you get going as a goal setter, you will be hard to stop. A first step is to be determined enough to convert your wishes into daily habits.

• Establish productive habits. As much as 70 percent of what we do is determined by habit. Your habits are always with you. They can be your biggest helper or your heaviest burden. Do something a few times the same way and a habit, good or bad, is formed.

The secret is to take habits seriously and to be firm as you work at developing productive habits. Bad habits can destroy your loftiest intentions to change; good habits can increase your chances for victory in whatever endeavor you undertake.

• Cultivate a positive attitude. Positive attitudes are like nourishment to the body and soul. The right attitude will carry you through the worst days. You can believe God’s word, “but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26.

Most of us get from life exactly what we expect to get. God has given you the privilege of making choices; you are in charge of your life. You are in control of your attitude. It is not your family, your boss, your parents or your breaks in life that create attitude. Your thoughts and reactions are totally up to you.

Expecting failure often creates failure. Expecting success releases energy to create achievement. Never make excuses for yourself.

Begin today to see yourself as the person you plan to become. You will find yourself living up to the image you have of yourself. Think bigger than you ever have before. Consider the many parts of your life. Decide which are really important to you; make specific plans to spend your life on what matters.

Goals:

• provide direction; point you toward the future

• keep you on track; motivate you to achieve what you care about

• prevent wasted time by focusing your efforts

• contribute to your sense of purpose

• form the basis of your philosophy; say, “This is who I am.”

Goals must be:

• clear and specific; write them down and give each a deadline

• realistic and valid; not wishful thinking

• achievable; consider your resources but don’t sell yourself short

• important to you; are you willing to pay the price in time and effort?

• worthy; will this make you a better person? help others? bring satisfaction?

Don’t make the mistake of wasting time, effort and energy on things that really do not matter. Keep the main thing the main thing.