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.

Be a better listener, part one: Mastering the Most Overlooked Communication Skill

By Leave a Comment

Gayle Hilligoss Picture
Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed. note: this week celebrates Administrative Assistants and this series of articles gives some of the best advice possible for good working relationships. Without listening, it's hard for anything constructive to take place in the church office—give yourself a gift—read all three parts as they are posted, and learn to listen well.

“I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I said.”

This classic statement proves the point: communication is not easy.

Listening and hearing are not the same.

Americans spend at least 80 percent of their waking hours communicating—speaking, listening, texting, emailing, reading, and writing. The form your communication takes varies, of course, depending on your lifestyle, but a common rule of thumb says that on average 9 percent of our communicating is done by writing, 16 percent by reading, 30 percent by speaking, and 45 percent by listening. Factoring in email, tweets, and instant messaging, we might adjust the percentages a bit, but taking in information (listening in one form or another) still takes the lion’s share of communication time.

Verbal skills enabling you to express yourself and get your point across are vital to your ability to do your work well. But equally important for the Christian professional— perhaps even more important—are listening skills. Every day you have an opportunity to work better, serve better, minister better by listening better.

The idea of listening as an acquired skill may be unfamiliar. Many think of listening and hearing as the same. Not so. You can hear and never really listen. Hearing is entirely passive; listening is an active process.

Often the more you hear, the less you listen. You are inundated with noise and messages every day. You are aware of the sound. Though you may not even try to comprehend what is being said, though you learn to filter out much of the noise around you, you hear it. In fact, you may become so used to filtering out sounds that even when you try to listen, you cannot. Listening, unlike hearing, is a skill that requires understanding and grasping the idea. Listening gives meaning to the sounds you hear. Because few of us have been trained how to listen, most of us are rather poor at it.

But you can master the art of listening, our most neglected communication skill.

Three levels of listening

You learn to become a good listener the same way you learn to become a good speaker: discover the system and practice. Just as some speakers are better than others, some listeners are better than others. Similarly, as a speaker your performance will vary. Your performance as a listener can vary too.

Each of us listens on at least three different levels, each requiring a higher degree of concentration and sensitivity. You may use all three levels during the course of the day.

At the first level, marginal listening, little real understanding occurs because you are preoccupied with your own thoughts. You tune in and out, following the discussion just enough to get the gist of it. A speaker generally knows when the marginal listener is not paying attention.

At the second level, evaluative listening, understanding is superficial. You stay emotionally detached, and do not actively participate in the communication. You ask no questions and give no feedback. You may even fake attention while really concentrating on what you want to say when the speaker is finished.

The third and most effective level is active listening. The active listener is sensitive to the meaning behind the speaker’s words. You are totally attentive, watching for overtones and body language. You show both verbally and non-verbally that you are there for the speaker. This active listening behavior is known as “attending.” Attending is one of the biggest compliments you can give as a listener.

Little instruction in listening
When it comes to teaching communication skills, schools traditionally concentrate on reading and writing. Some instruction is directed toward verbal skills, but virtually no instruction is given in listening, the skill we actually use most in life. As a result, the average adult listens at no better than 25 percent efficiency.

One obvious difference between written and verbal messages is that if you do not understand or remember a written message, you can go back to it later. It is permanent. But, usually, what you hear is fleeting; either you get the message right, remember or note it, or it is gone. Retention is essential.

We don’t do so well, despite the fact listening as a way of taking in information is used far more often than reading. Immediately after listening to a ten-minute presentation, the average person understands and remembers only about half of what was said. After 48 hours less than 25 percent is remembered. Perhaps this is to be expected in a society that places tremendous value on speaking and seldom recognizes the value of listening. People who speak out are generally seen as assertive, capable, and in control—even if what they say is of little value. The quiet listeners, on the other hand, may be perceived as lacking in confidence. Yet, it is often the listeners who have the best grasp of situations and a greater insight into possible solutions.

Becoming an active listener involves sharpening your ability to understand, evaluate, and respond to what you hear. The single most important element in your ability to do these things is not intellect but attitude. You must realize the importance of listening, want to improve your skills, and believe that you can.

_______________________________

Series of the Three Articles on Be a Better Listener by Gayle Hilligoss

Click on any of the links to go to the article:
Be a better listener, part one: Mastering the Most Overlooked Communication Skill by Gayle Hilligoss

Be a better listener, part two: AIM, the three significant aspects of listening by Gayle Hilligoss

Be a better listener, part three: Ten techniques you can start to use now by Gayle Hilligoss

 

Recruiting Volunteers—Why and How

By Leave a Comment

Gayle Hilligoss Picture
Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed.note: Volunteers are often essential if you want to get done the amount of communications needed for all the ministries in a church. The primary ministry assistant usually has more than enough projects in addition to the primary communication work (bulletin, newsletter, website) of the church to keep her very busy. If the various ministries of the church including children's, men's, women's, mission's, singles', etc., are going to get all the needed communications done, the primary ministry assistant will need help. Gayle Hilligoss as usual has some wise and very practical advice on recruiting and working with volunteers.

 

Want to start a lively dialogue among ministry assistants? Bring up the subject of volunteers. After a candid discussion, those present at a seminar eventually did agree that selecting and training volunteers can:

• multiply your time and productivity
• require an investment of time and energy
• be a blessing—or not!

Applied to the church, the Pareto Principle or 80/20 Rule suggests 80 percent of work is done by 20 percent of the members. A lot of office professionals would like to locate a few people beyond that significant 20 percent and put them to work. In many churches budgets are tight, programs are expanding, and both paid and volunteer workers are overextended. People are busy. Why should they want to handle the office tasks you’d like to give away?

Research suggests people volunteer because they want to:

• share their time and resources
• provide something someone needs
• experience a sense of accomplishment
• feel more a part of the community
• gain experience at a skill
• contribute a skill or knowledge
• heal from a personal loss
• contribute to positive actions
• have influence on how things are done

Understanding motivation helps you build effective volunteer ministries which provide people opportunities to give, to share, and to grow. Everybody wins. Including you.

Those who have successfully recruited and worked with volunteers say a satisfactory experience depends on following proven basics.

Recruit selectively

We call them volunteers, but recruits is more accurate. Not to stumble over terminology, recruit your volunteers. Instead of putting out a blanket SOS, ask specific people to do specific jobs. Being a successful recruiter takes time and effort, but the results are worthwhile. Not only will you gain the help you need, the enlistees benefit from the experience as well.

Start by making a list of jobs you want to delegate. Be specific about what each job entails.

Make a list of possible helpers whose talents and personality make a good match to the tasks. Think beyond the people who already do everything. Consider those whose talents are not presently being utilized at the church. In every church there are individuals, some who are already busy individuals, who are willing and even eager to pitch in.

Write, call, or visit each prospective helper. Make your request and explain the task.

The key to recruiting these people is to let them know you have worthwhile tasks to do and their expertise is needed. People resent being asked to do simple busy work; likewise, no one enjoys being expected to perform far beyond his or her abilities.

Define expectations

Most recruiters do a good job of explaining what needs to be done. Fewer take the equally important step of identifying standards of performance. People perform better when goals are clear and specific; take time to define the quality of work you require.

For all but the most simple jobs, provide written instructions. Include in this job description the scope of the volunteer’s authority and to whom she is answerable. People need to know up front the criteria for excellence.

Ask for a short term commitment

Proceed cautiously. Start with a request for a single project. Or gain a commitment for a week or two. If the arrangement works well, you can ask for a repeat. If not, neither of you will be put in an awkward position to end it. Many longtime assistants suggest no volunteer, regardless of reputation or experience, should be recruited for more than a year at a time.

Provide guidance

Once your recruit has accepted, provide training depending on the complexity of the job. Don’t micro-manage, but do provide adequate instruction on how the job is to be done satisfactorily.

Be prepared to spend some time getting your recruit up to speed. She’s seen the written description, now show her how the job should be done. This is no time to be nonchalant. If you take training time lightly, you send the message this is not so important after all. Once any questions are answered, let the worker take over. Assure her you are available if needed.

Monitor progress

Check back in 15 minutes or so to see how things are going. Answer any questions. If there are problems, make course corrections right away.

Don’t overdo, but do check periodically as the project progresses. Observe what has been done since you last touched base. Ask the recruit to show progress made; discuss any changes to be made.

At the end of the task, spend a few minutes with your worker talking about the experience. Ask what she learned about the job, both positive and negative. Find out if there were any surprises and how she handled them.

An effective recruiter can learn a great deal about workers from this kind of feedback: how suited they are for the job, how they respond to suggestions, their ability to give and take directions, their work ethic, and more. Just as important, this is your opportunity to congratulate workers for good decisions, offer optional solutions, and ask for ideas on how the process might be improved. Good ideas often come from people looking at tasks with a fresh view.

Be pleasant, brief, and kind. You want your volunteers to succeed at their tasks.

Express appreciation

Appreciation and recognition are vital to a successful volunteer program. Churches use scores of devices to encourage esprit de corps: lunches, banquets, day trips, newsletter honor rolls, even a website devoted to volunteers and their activities.

Be as plain or as fancy as you like, have fun with it, and just be sure you use the magic words, thank you. Show volunteers they are valuable members of your church office team. Let them know the work they do is important to the success of the ministry. Set the example by your caring attitude, your positive spirit, your effectiveness.

Some churches provide attractive shirts for their volunteers; others use badges or baseball hats imprinted with a distinctive logo to identify their volunteer corps. Many honor their workers with certificates. These little extras not only show appreciation, they encourage team spirit.

An effective way to enlist more volunteers is to make heroes of the ones already serving.

Be realistic

Even though you do your best to choose the right person, equip each volunteer to do his or her best, and sincerely show your appreciation—still, this person is not a paid staff member and will likely operate with a different agenda. Be aware that some volunteers take commitment more seriously than others; don’t be dismayed if a volunteer turns out to be less than reliable.

Nevertheless, expect a good experience. Most of the time that is exactly what volunteers deliver!

 

How to be a SUPER ASSISTANT in the church office

By Leave a Comment

Gayle Hilligoss Picture
Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed. note: Sometimes we might wonder why we do what we do and how do we measure our success? This inspiring article from Gayle Hilligoss will help challenge and encourage you. Though currently I do all the church communication work from home for my bi-vocational pastor husband, I found this advice timely and practical.

As a full-time trainer I met with more than 75,000 ministry assistants throughout the United States and Canada. I visited hundreds of churches from New Hampshire to Hawaii, from Wyoming to Florida, and spent time with you in dozens of states between. Many of us have corresponded regularly for years. So, I speak from firsthand experience and observation when I say you are an extraordinary group.

You know what your job is—and what it isn’t.

As a super assistant you understand that to hit the target you need to know where the bull’s-eye is. You know the responsibilities and duties involved in your job. Even better, you know what results are expected. Knowing what the job is allows you to take the proper steps toward being able to handle it with confidence, skill, and poise.

When no position description is in place for your job, you take the initiative in writing one. With your job clearly defined, you enhance and extend your responsibilities without taking on the responsibilities of others. While always ready to lend a hand when needed, you focus on your own work and allow others to do theirs. People enjoy working with you.

You work toward being effective—not merely efficient. Efficient secretaries do the job right; effective ones do the right job right. You make wise choices regarding how to spend your time.

You recognize your job as ministry.

Your job is more than a job. It is ministry. Ministry is seldom convenient. Needed but routine work can be tedious. People tend to take you for granted. Service above and beyond is often required. Emergencies arise, extra effort becomes necessary.

You shine because when the need is there, you do more than just enough to get the job done. Whether managing the everyday work of the church office, rolling up your sleeves for special church programs, or dealing with emergencies, you approach the tasks at hand as ministry—an opportunity to show God’s love through service to others.

You commit to excellence.

The difference between excellence and mediocrity nearly always lies in the small things, in the details. And taking care of details is what your work is all about. Ministry involves a million little things done with consistency, competence, and compassion.

It takes more effort to look after the little things. But you do it. And the effort shows. You are known for your good work. The pastor and congregation can depend on the quality of your work.

People are still touched by dedication. While they may not know the mechanics involved, they can tell the difference between a neat, accurate bulletin and a messy one full of errors and misinformation.

Whether people notice or not is not the question though. You are serious about your work and feel an obligation to do your best. You care enough to invest yourself in doing excellent work—a mark of the true professional.

You keep learning.

Twenty years ago maturity and experience compensated to some small degree for current training. No more. Today, the knowledge you need to do the job—the methods and the machinery—becomes obsolete very quickly. You are committed to staying on the cutting edge. Seminars, webinars, classes, print journals, digital resources, and ministry assistants organizations keep you informed and inspired.

Certainly, there is a price to pay for training—in time, effort, and dollars. But you know the price to be paid for not learning; you choose the wiser option.

You communicate responsibly.

The secretary is the hub of the information wheel in the church. You are the one people count on to know who, how, what, when, where, and why.

No organization can do its job well without the free flow of necessary information. But, in order to use and dispense information, you must have access to it. That access requires your confidentiality. You have the trust of others because you never indulge in gossip or loose talk.

You aren’t afraid to ask.

The three-letter secret to success is ASK. If you need something, or think some action ought to be taken or some situation ought to be corrected, you communicate those concerns.

If, as people communicate with you, you are in doubt about any aspect of the information or instructions, you ask questions rather than assume. Assumptions are too often wrong. Asking saves time, dollars, efforts, and tempers.

You accept criticism objectively.

It can be difficult to take criticism for what it’s worth, to remember that sometimes it’s worth a lot and other times it’s not worth much.

You don’t allow yourself to take criticism as a personal attack. You learn what you can from it, resist trying to justify your actions, and always consider the source.

In your own operating style, you practice being a role model instead of a critic; your goal is to fix problems rather than to place blame. You assess situations, plan constructive courses of action, and set them in motion.

You maintain a positive attitude.

Each of us tends to find whatever it is we look for. You have developed the habit of immediately seeking something positive in every experience—especially in the experiences others might view as negative. You are not a Pollyanna, but are resilient about foul-ups, knowing that mistakes and misunderstandings are a normal part of life. You never make them more important than they are.

Unlike those who allow the weather to dictate their feelings for the day, you remain sunny even on gloomy days. Others may allow how people treat them to set the tone of their day. If people treat them well, they feel good; if not, they have a bad day. You know that no one can ruin your day unless you allow it. You  don’t expect praise or appreciation for everything you do—even the outstanding things. For you, the satisfaction of a job well done is its own reward.

You are flexible.

Being flexible is being willing to discard a cherished opinion, to try new ways of doing things, and to learn new methods. As comfortable as an old habit can be, a new way can be even better.

While a detour from the familiar may temporarily slow you down, it keeps your job from being boring and demonstrates your professionalism.

You keep your eyes on Jesus.

Strange as it may seem, working at the church can be detrimental to one’s faith. Nurturing your spiritual life is essential.

Church members, perhaps even the pastor, can (perhaps unintentionally) treat your Sunday worship time like just another day at the office. Wisely, you don’t.

Because you care so intensely about the church and its ministry, it could be easy to become disillusioned when plans and people fall short. Wisely, you don’t.

Daily time in prayer and reading God’s Word keep you on track. You understand people, even God’s people, may fail you—but Jesus never will.

You are super assistants! Keep up the good work.

“But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” —Isaiah 40:31  NLT

Kill complacency and continue to grow personally and professionally

By Leave a Comment

Gayle Hilligoss Picture
Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed. note: The last article by Gayle was a wonderful encouragement on how to handle pressure, and this article is a fine balance to that information because we can be destroyed just as easily by complacency. Read on for advice on how to kill complacency and continue to grow.

Complacency can be an occupational hazard for any professional. Once a person becomes proficient in her job, the temptation to coast often comes into play.

What sets the true pro apart is her ability to continue to grow personally and professionally—to stay on the cutting edge—regardless of how long she has been on the job, how many responsibilities she handles, how many seminars she’s attended. The wise assistant realizes there are always fresh ideas to discover, new possibilities to explore, and more mature insights to gain.

• Build on your strengths

One of the most important elements of success in any endeavor is the ability to recognize what you do best and what gives you the greatest satisfaction. It may be writing, graphics, supervising, organizing files, or another of your responsibilities.

• To grow in your job, find as many ways as possible to use your unique gifts regularly during your day.

Exercising these skills boosts your self-esteem, keeps your work interesting, and strengthens your expertise. This is good both for you and for the church.

• Find ways to use your gifts outside the office as well.

Get involved in an office professionals organization, a ministry project, whatever allows you to use and develop your gifts as you give back to your organization and your community. You can establish yourself as the person to contact in matters concerning your field of choice.

• Appreciate the value of time

Those who excel in ministry are those who know the value of resources and use them well—and no resource is more valuable than time. Unlike other resources, time is finite. Everyone has just 24 hours a day; there is no way anyone can get any more. So the trick, then, is to invest each of your minutes in something that matters and not to waste any minutes on what doesn’t.

Few accomplishments are more professionally rewarding than skillful time management. Of course, this skill is not a once-for-all endeavor. But with practice you get to the point where you can realistically control at least 60 percent of your work time.

Some important steps in time management:

  • Before heading out the door at the end of each day, take a few minutes to list your top priorities for the next day. Consistently do this until it becomes second nature.
  • In the morning, review and adjust the list as needed. Then stick with it.
  • When an emergency pulls you from your plan, address the need and then immediately get back on track. Eliminate habits that nibble away at time and keep you from priorities.

Killing complacency, building on your strengths, and valuing time will keep you right where you want to be professionally—on the cutting edge.

Operate effectively under pressure

By Leave a Comment

Gayle Hilligoss Picture
Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed. note: As we start into the New Year the wonder and joy of the holidays is gone and it seems like we have an overwhelming amount of work to do. Gayle's advice is extremely timely and useful as always. Her words greatly encouraged and inspired me—I trust they will help you also.

There was a time, not really so long ago, when common knowledge decreed it was somehow a good thing for the ministry assistant to be frazzled and stressed, that in some way, looking and acting crazed showed one’s commitment or dedication. Now most of us recognize that is not the case, and a part of our continuing education involves learning how to function effectively when the crunch is on.

Let’s say a major deadline is coming up fast. A series of small emergencies has interrupted your schedule for days. Everyone wants everything now. You can do this!

• Resist the urge to simply head toward the squeakiest wheel. Take a deep breath. Either rework your existing to-do list or make a new list of all the tasks awaiting your attention.

• Go through the list and shift to another day any tasks that can be delayed. Usually these are jobs someone tagged as urgent when they were assigned but, given the current office climate, they are no longer quite so important.

• Next, identify any jobs someone else can do for you. Take time to make assignments, get others going on the work, and check those off your list. Don’t be too quick to say that no tasks fall into this category. Almost always, if you are open to the possibility, you will find at least a few things to delegate.

• What is left on your list are tasks you must do personally and do now. Pick two of the smallest of these important jobs. They might be contacts you need to make to extend deadlines or calls for information on a project. Your object in choosing quick jobs is to establish momentum—to get things rolling and give you a sense of control.

• If you’ve done a thorough job with the steps above, there are only a few tasks left on the list, but they are major. At this point you may need to share with those involved that everybody may not have everything they want when they want it. Give Christian professionals the opportunity to show they understand and appreciate that one can do only what is humanly possible. If you need to create some uninterrupted work time, line up someone to field calls and visitors. If at all possible take yourself out of calling range; have your recruit handle things as if you were out of the country.

• Choose the most pressing task, bite the bullet, and start. Focus on this one job; don’t allow your attention to be diverted to urgencies that pop up. Avoid the firefighting mode; stay calm. Take your lunch hour as well as some occasional breaks. You work more effectively when you are not weary.

• Dealing pragmatically with pressure has enormous advantages. You don’t waste time wringing your hands or bemoaning your situation. You acknowledge what needs to be done, get a handle on your priorities, mentally prepare to tackle the job, set a realistic pace, and follow through. This is the way to get things done.