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.

The Power of Infographics and an example of a useful one for Bible Teaching

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Best_Time_To_Post
This infographic illustrates the best time to post social media.

Infographics are those great images that help explain complex topics by using images, or as one definition put it:

"infographics turn data into information"

This quote comes from the site Cool Infograhics a (http://www.coolinfographics.com/) and it summarizes how useful these images can be. Infographics go beyond illustrating or decorating; they communicate by their combination of words, pictures and symbols.

I wanted to talk about this, first to provide a resource for learning about them and second, to share a useful one for Bible teaching that illustrates the number of New Testament manuscripts in comparison to other ancient documents.

Learn about Info Graphics from: Cool Infographics

If you want to learn about infographics, this site is one of the best resources. It not only features interesting infographics, but the commentary about each of them helps you understand what works and what doesn't.

Cool Infographics: http://www.coolinfographics.com/

Not as much training, but lots of ideas at: DailyInfographic

As its name says this site has a different graphic everyday on a huge variety of topics. Below is a link to one that talks about colors and branding. Though article doesn't mention churches, the color theory illustrated is very helpful:

"True Colors, Branded Colors" from Daily Infographic: http://dailyinfographic.com/true-colors-branded-colors-infographic

In addition to the article about colors, scroll through the site to find the infographic above on when is the best time to post social media.

Teaching infographic—number of NT manuscripts

Below is a great info graphic about the number of New Testament manuscripts as compared to the manuscript evidence for classical documents. For those who teach about the Bible, it's a useful resource. Below the image is the link to go to for it:

Bible info graphic
A great example of an infographic for Bible teaching. The large circle represents the number of New Testament documents in contrast with the small number of other ones from ancient writers.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2769387572471&set=p.2769387572471&type=1&theater

Unless you have lots of time—creating your own infographics may not be something you want to do, but on the web there are so many useful ones. Take a few minutes and check out the links—you'll learn lots.

Make it easier to interact with readers through www.contactme.com

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Contact MeNOTE: I messed up on the link from the newsletter! Mea Culpa!  CLICK HERE to go to the Infographics article.

We all know that the internet is a social medium and our websites are more than a way to talk to ourselves and about ourselves. Interaction is one of the things that make a website useful especially for a church. However, sometimes it is difficult for the people reading your site to know how to contact you if they have a question.

To make that process easier, check out:

http://www.contactme.com

I just signed up for this and my first reaction is that I like the basic form on the website. It does not take the place of comments that relate to specific content on articles, but sometimes people want to contact an organization about a question that doesn't fit any category and this is a great way to do this. It puts a CONTACT tab on your page listings at the top of the website (see the one above).  It also puts the little tab that is to the left of this page....not sure I like it, but I'll keep it for now.

Beyond the usefulness of the free contact form, though their integration with a calendar and database seems nice and easy to do, it doesn't seem that better than MS Outlook at the subscription price (I think it's about $9 a month, but hard to find which also bothers me) I'm not sure it's worth it.

MOST IMPORTANT CONTACT TIP OF ALL

Yes, that is in all caps and yes, I'm shouting it. YOU MUST RESPOND to messages! Nothing is worse than a church posting email addresses or putting a button like this on the site and then not responding when you get an email. It still happens far too often—I know, last week I sent a pastor an email about something significant (no names to protect the guilty) and no answer or even acknowledgement of the message. My message was not a pastoral concern and ultimately not terribly important. However, I would hope if a lonely or questioning person or someone with a desperate spiritual need sent an email believing that a pastor would answer that person would not be ignored.

Check it out, see if it works for you--and whatever you use, be sure to answer when people contact you!

Church Administrator and Office Manager advice: learn from business magazine websites

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In the past when I traveled to teach seminars (instead of the far more enjoyable online teaching I now do from beautiful Ventura, CA) as soon as I got on an airplane, I would head to the magazine collection and grab the Harvard Business Review. It is an excellent publication with well-written articles that often had useful application to church ministry. It is also a VERY expensive magazine and when my travel days were over, so was my enjoyment of it.

I was delighted to learn from a link sent to me by a friend that I didn't have to totally do without the advice from this useful source. A friend sent me this link to a very helpful article (lots of applications on the spiritual damage complaining can do):

http://blogs.hbr.org/schwartz/2012/07/emotional-contagion-can-ta.html

Access to more content from the Harvard Business Review

When you go to the link--don't be concerned when they ask you to register. When you do, you get free access to the HBR blog, which is filled with quality materials and access to 3 magazine articles a month. Of course you will be prompted to subscribe, but you don't have to and there is a wealth of useful materials here.

For thoughtful, useful material, check this out: http://hbr.org/

How to work well with others or what to do when our biggest problems are people, not computers, Part 1

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Gayle Hilligoss Picture
Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed. note: we recently ran a series of articles of great advice from Gayle on "How to delegate" (CLICK HERE to go to it) and this series follows well because it gives you invaluable advice on getting along, not only will volunteers, but everyone you meet in the course of your work.

How to work well with others or what to do when our biggest problems are people, not computers, Part 1

When computers first entered church offices, common knowledge was a) secretaries would resist them, and b) technology would generate the majority of office problems from that point forward.

Common knowledge was wrong: a) office assistants were, and remain, enthusiastic about what computers can do for ministry, and b) people, not computers, are still our greatest challenge.

These ideas were shared by ministry assistants when they were asked “What is your best pointer for working well with people?”

• be the adult
Maturity has little to do with age; it has everything to do with attitude. Conducting yourself as a responsible professional gives you a huge head start toward working well with others.

The mature person:
• has self-respect
• treats others with respect
• stays on task even without supervision
• shakes off injustice; isn’t concerned with getting even
• considers consequences before speaking or acting
• is trustworthy; keeps confidences

Certainly there are other criteria, other definitions of maturity, but these at least at essential.

• speak with restraint
We all know the person who if asked what time it is tells us how to make a clock. This is not the person we most enjoy working with. Enough said.

• practice common courtesy
Unfortunately, common courtesy is not all that common. Saying please and thank you shows consideration for others. Courtesy might even be viewed as a first step in heeding Paul’s words in Philippians: “… let each of you regard one another as more important than himself…”

• recognize your professional growth
You have come a long way since your first days in the church office. You know a lot now that you didn’t know then. Remembering what it was like not to know helps you work well with others. It helps you be a better teacher, a more patient supervisor, a less judgmental coworker. Everyone needs time to learn; sometimes that someone is you, sometimes it is the person you are working with.

• give respect; expect respect
“I allowed myself to be treated like an absolute mushroom in my first job. I was kept in the dark and fed lots of fertilizer. No wonder I wasn’t working well with others!” We asked ministry assistants for honest opinions—and we got them.

People who expect to be treated well usually are. Set the pace for office harmony by relating positively to others and anticipating the same from them. Consciously or not, we are always teaching others how to treat us. When it comes to behaviors, it is true that what you permit, you promote.

• ditch irritating habits
Working well with others demands a certain level of tolerance for coworkers’ idiosyncrasies and habits. We have limited control, if any, over the work styles of others, but we can contribute to office harmony by becoming aware of—and controlling—our own habits.

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To go to Part 2, CLICK HERE

Effective Delegation, The Ultimate Balancing Act, Part 2

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Gayle Hilligoss Picture
Article by Gayle Hilligoss

In Part 1, Gayle shared the foundation of why and how to delegate. This article goes into specific advice on how to make the delegation experience a successful one for you and your volunteers.

• Be available.
Once your worker has directions and starts the job you can get on with your own tasks. Before you do, assure the recruit you are available for questions. For most jobs it is also advantageous to establish checkpoints—agreed upon times you check on the task’s progress. Resist any urge to pop in more often. Trusting people is essential to effective delegation.

• Encourage, appreciate, recognize.
The key to having a good supply of enthusiastic workers is to make heroes of the ones you already have. Even the busiest people enjoy, and will want to make time for, opportunities to serve where their contributions are appreciated. Recall how you felt last time someone gave you a spontaneous “Good job!” Words are powerful. Be generous with your honest praise.

Many churches with regular corps of volunteers have clever ways to identify them: shirts, hats, and pins with a special logo; regular dinners or luncheons; an honor roll in the newsletter or on the website. You will think of many more ways to show your appreciation for these important people—not just the work they produce.

• Evaluate results.
Delegation is more of an art than a science. Situations and people are different; there are no magic rules—only reliable guidelines. Don’t expect instant success. Your other skills have matured and improved with practice—so will your skills of delegation .

Gauge how delegation is working for you by asking yourself some hard questions after each assignment is completed.

• Was time saved? Can I expect that in the future?
• Was the work done well?
• Did I pick the right person for the task?
• Was this a positive experience for all?
• What techniques would I repeat?
• What would I do differently?

• Put aside excuses.
Church office professionals offer a lot of reasons for choosing not to delegate: it is easier to do it myself; the job is mine so I should do it; I couldn’t find anyone to take this on; I don’t have time to explain to someone; it might not turn out well; I would just have to do it over. You can probably add an excuse or two of your own.

Each reason is plausible. Any one could persuade you to just “do it myself.” Nevertheless, the risks are slight compared to the benefits: your own professional growth, the opportunities for service provided, time and effort used most effectively, and a more balanced work load—for starters.

Take the risk. Delegate.

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For Part One of  "Effective Delegation, The Ultimate Balancing Act" CLICK HERE

You might also enjoy:

DDevotions Print Coverevotions for Church Communicators

This is a great book to give out as a thank-you to anyone involved as a volunteer in the church communications ministry. Click on the book to go to the link that tells you more about it.

 

 

 

"You are One of the Great Ones and far more important than you may realize," an encouragement for all church communicators

CLICK HERE or on the image to read one of the devotions from the book above. CLICK HERE to go to a download of a FREE flyer that you can get to share.