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 Biblical Inspiration to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission.

Just good or the best? In all you do in the church office…..

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Milk and cookies remind us of great church service to others
Is the quality of work you perform as a ministry assistant like bland vanilla wafers or chocolate chip cookies with milk?

With research I’d narrowed my choices to two. The salesman was helpful as we compared features of the pair of vacuum cleaners under consideration. Still I wasn’t sure which one would best do all I needed. “Why not buy both, take them home, use each on your carpets, see which handles better for you, and just bring back the one you like least?” he offered.Knowing that opened cartons and used products are sold at a discount—and thus lower the seller’s profit—I asked, “Your company is okay with a customer doing that? I like shopping here and don’t want to abuse your good service.”

The salesman responded with an interesting illustration. He explained that his company’s goal is to provide “chocolate chip service.” I learned no real cookies are involved, just performance. And that even good service, chocolate chip service, has degrees.

Imagine going into a store and, as you shop, being offered a plate of chocolate chip cookies. How nice! Then you discover the store next door doesn’t want to be outdone, so their cookies are homemade and warm from the oven. Store three takes note and adds walnuts to their freshly made cookies. Store four gets inspired to do even better and serves its shoppers cartons of icy cold milk along with their baked treats.

“Our company tries to anticipate what customers want from a business,” explained my salesman. “We are keenly aware of what other stores are doing. If service can be seen as cookies, we want ours to look like warm, freshly baked chocolate chip chunkies with walnuts—served with a tall glass of milk. The ordinary store-bought variety won’t do.” In this case, that meant encouraging me to test drive two vacuums and then cheerfully extending a refund for the one I returned. I chose my sweeper—and will do more business with this store.

More importantly, since I tend to relate many things in my life to the church office, the experience caused me to reflect on how the chocolate chip principle might be applied by ministry assistants. Think of the services you render, the tasks you do, the questions you answer, the courtesies you extend.

Ready for an experiment? Try seeing the sum of your work product as a cookie. As you do, remember: There are chocolate chip cookies and then there are Chocolate Chip Cookies!

As a professional you recognize the difference between mediocre and extraordinary. You know that even good work can be improved. Establish yourself as someone who consistently delivers the best!

Excell in customer service as you serve your church

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Customer service is important in the church
Customer service is important in the church as we are to be servants of Jesus.

Editors note: When Gayle sent me this wonderful article I was reminded of how we ought to serve one another and this article has some very practical advice on how to do that well.

Excel in customer service
Perhaps you have never thought of churches having customers, but the terminology is not such a stretch. The people you serve have chosen your church; they expect certain goods and services; they support the church financially.

Nothing demonstrates your true professionalism more than exceptional customer relations skills. Anyone can learn the fundamental rules of courtesy and thoughtfulness. The irony is that few do.  Exercising these basics puts you ahead of the crowd.

• Give full attention to the task at hand.
When a visitor is in your office or on the phone, focus on that person. Avoid chitchat with anyone else. Stick to business.

• Be sensitive to the other person’s needs.
The ability to put yourself in another’s shoes is invaluable. How would like to be treated in a similar situation? What actions would you appreciate? Do what you would like done.

• Use the magic words.
Please and thank you seem to be heard less and less, but their use still identifies the knowledgeable business person, as well as the thoughtful Christian. Keep the basic courtesies as an integral part of how you operate. Set the pace by being unfailingly polite.

Correct communication challenges
When church staff members are asked to identify hindrances to office effectiveness, a lack of communication is always at the top of every list.

The best communicators:

  • keep others informed
  • share vital information
  • reply to communications received
  • say what they need and when they need it
  • confront problems as they arise
  • respect others’ need for information
  • keep messages clear and simple

Exercise your communication skills daily.
Establish yourself as the communication hub of the office. Be interested and informed. If someone doesn’t provide the information you need, ask. Maintain your objectivity; never let emotions muddy the waters.

Communicating is more than giving messages; it is receiving them as well. Being a good listener is essential to your goal of being an excellent communicator and providing excellent customer service in any business or church.

Church office professionals–Let’s Get Growing!

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Let's get growing as church office professionals.
Church Office Professionals need to be intentional about opportunities to grow and here are some challenges that will help.

Professional growth doesn’t just happen. Those who achieve expertise and maturity work at it.

One of the most attractive aspects of serving in the church office is that generally you have great freedom to make the job as significant as you want it to be. You can do only what the job demands or you can enhance your work by delivering over and above the norm.

Claim whatever freedom you have in your job. Put it to good use. Examine every day for opportunities to grow in ability, in knowledge, and in purpose. There is no limit to the good you can do.

Avoid pointless controversy

Are you ever amazed at the amount of time, effort, and energy eaten up by dissension in the church? The bad news is that the secretary often feels drawn into these conflicts. The good news is that you can be a positive influence and show your maturity by staying out of the fray.

• Examine your impulses.
What is your natural response to criticism? to a fuss reported to you? to rumors and gossip?

Before letting those reactions go public, ask yourself if they are responses you feel good about. In the past have you been pleased with the results of following those first impulses?

• Choose a wiser path.
To get better results from our actions, we need to choose better actions. Learn from the past. Next time others get tangled up in pettiness—issues having no real importance—you can choose to stay out of it.

• Focus on doing your job well.
While it is not your job to counsel others, you can lead by example. You grow in professionalism by concentrating your time and effort on doing good, productive things.

• Be a calming influence.
As you have opportunity, during the regular course of your work, be a peacemaker. Say and do positive things. Sincerely pray. Continue to love and minister to the people whom it is your job to serve.

Keep skills up to date

Like clothes and hairstyles, skills become dated and old-fashioned. Even the excellent typist doesn’t automatically become proficient at word processing. The prize-winning website of five years ago will take no ribbons today. The best records management of that era is less than adequate now. Staying in top form takes a commitment to change and growth.

• Evaluate your skills level.
Ideally, your church office has a yearly evaluation process in place—a means of measuring each staff member’s technical and interpersonal skills. But, do your own evaluation as well. Take an objective look at your progress over the past year. Pinpoint areas needing additional effort. Identify new skills you will acquire.

• Confer with your supervisor.
You can’t hit the bulls-eye if you’re not sure where it is. You need to know exactly what is expected of you, what skills your executive values. If you perceive it is your computer skills that need sharpening, and the pastor is most concerned about another matter entirely, you need to gain insight from one another and reach an agreement on priorities.

• Act on your assessment.
Once you know where you are, take action to get you where you want to be. Whatever your location, there are training resources within your reach via the Internet. Certainly, financial realities are a factor but every church can provide training opportunities of some sort. Realize, too, that personal funds spent on training are well spent. Pleasure gained by material things is soon past; pleasure gained by knowledge lasts a lifetime.

These are a few areas you can pursue in enhancing your job. You will think of others. Now is a great time to get growing!

A Boss Views Church Administrative Professionals

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The opinion of our Boss is our most important evaluation.
The opinion of our Boss is very important and here are the most valued characteristics.

Administrative Professionals Week is a time when we celebrate the contributions of Administrative Professionals in the church office. But no matter what the celebration, the wise assistant knows what counts in the long run is not so much what you view as professional behavior, but what the boss sees as admirable.

As you access your skills and abilities, consider these attributes that supervisors consistently list as relevant.

  • dependability
    Some say the best “ability” is dependability. Even the most outstanding skills are diminished unless the assistant is consistently in the office on time and equipped to do the job. The boss wants to know his assistant is where she is supposed to be when she is supposed to be there, that she says what she means and means what she says, that she delivers what she promises.
  • competence
    A reasonable expectation is that the person at the desk can and will field well whatever the day brings. Competence is doing more and doing better than just enough to get by. A supervisor shared, “Our assistant learns something new about the job every day—a software technique, a time saver, a helpful website—and in staff meetings she often passes along tips the rest of us can use. I appreciate that.”
  • confidentiality
    Along with ministers and other church staff, the assistant must be a person who can be trusted to keep the information she handles to herself. Every person has a right to know that the private information coming into the church office is not randomly “shared.” The importance of this essential attribute cannot be overstated. Many would say that loose talk causes more discord in churches than any other behavior. Everyone appreciates those who are above reproach when it comes to confidentiality.
  • time sensibility
    Understanding the value of money, you would never tell a salesperson, “I’ll take that new Mac; I don’t care what it costs.”But sadly, we often do the equivalent with our time. Never spend more time on a project than it is worth! Determine the smart amount of minutes the results are worth to you; then don’t allow yourself to spend more. Keeping priorities straight in the church office is never a one-way street. While it is fair for the boss to expect the assistant to respect what is important to others on the staff, in the most effective offices the pastor and staff likewise respect the assistant’s priorities.
  • accountability
    “In this office, when we do well we all get the credit; when a mistake happens we all share the blame.” That was the often stated philosophy of one wise pastor. Still, his assistant noticed he appreciated when she took personal accountability for her errors. Mistakes happen. Owning up to them is the right thing to do.
  • positive attitude
    Having someone at your side who looks for and appreciates what is right with others adds to the effectiveness of any office. “I expect my assistant to give people the benefit of the doubt, to believe the best of them, to never gossip or bad-mouth, to never hold a grudge, and to look for the bright side in every situation.” You would have to believe a boss with these expectations is a positive person too.
  • calmness under pressure
    Schedules can fly out the church office door in a hurry. The assistant who can keep things in perspective and adapt to whatever crisis arises is a valuable asset to the staff. Not handled well, events quickly get out of hand; often the way an issue is handled is remembered far longer than the problem itself. Keeping one’s composure allows smarter decisions and sensible solutions.
  • testimony
    While a Christian is a witness wherever she works, working in a church office is different from working at a secular job. The excellent assistant sets a high bar for personal standards: thoughtful conversation, nonjudgmental listening, honest actions, gracious deeds, steadfast support, enthusiastic cooperation, conscientious service, respectful interactions. When the assistant sees herself as a Christian professional, when she thinks, acts, and looks like such, others tend to see her as a Christian professional too.An observation: No two pastors are alike. The wise assistant observes, asks questions, and discovers personal likes and dislikes. The insightful supervisor does the same. The result is an extraordinary team.

A Salute to Administrative Assistants to celebrate their special week

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Administrative Assistants WeekCommemorated annually since 1952, when originated in the United States as National Secretaries Week, Administrative Professionals Week is now observed in several countries throughout the world. This is only one of the important changes in the profession the week reflects.

Typewriters have given way to computers; formal correspondence has been largely replaced by email; mimeographs are long forgotten. Technological progress continues to advance at warp speed. Even as you read, your office machines and software are becoming obsolete.

More than technology has changed. While the profession remains overwhelmingly a female one, secretaries have changed. So have pastors. More than ever, today’s ministers recognize assistants’ potential and provide opportunities for them to use current skills and develop new ones.

Consequently, while the work of the church office has always been important, today’s office professionals are reaching new levels of accomplishment. You are more involved than your colleagues of fifty years ago in the administrative process, in decision making, and in planning and implementing long-term goals. This change is not just a shift in terminology. Regardless of title, the ministry assistant of 2013 is, in fact, an administrative professional.

Reflecting on the profession today, it is appropriate to acknowledge that church secretaries have traditionally brought to the job something extra, an intangible element hard to define—something beyond technical competence, positive attitude, or even commitment. This attribute shows itself in meticulous attention to details, in thoughtful actions, in a Christ-centered spirit.

Simply, ministry assistants serve. And you do it well.

Now, with more churches eager to use all the skills of all their staff and with technology providing the means to explore innovative techniques, you have unprecedented opportunity to be involved in ministry in new and exciting ways from professional looking printed materials to interactive websites. As always, you add to your work that something extra which has long been the hallmark of Christian professionals. Good for you!

Administrative Professionals Week 2013 is April 21-27 in the United States with Wednesday, April 24 designated as Administrative Professionals Day. The purpose is to recognize the significant contributions of your profession.

Effective Church Communications wishes you a great week.