Effective Church Communications

• Break large jobs into small ones.

No matter how overwhelming the job, it will be done more effectively when it is reduced to a series of small tasks. Whether the job is producing a directory or writing a policies and procedures manual, spend time with pencil and paper identifying each step of the process. Then, working backward from the time the project must be completed, put the tasks on your list giving each a deadline. Seeing that the whole job doesn’t need to be done in a day, or even a week, keeps things in their proper perspective.

• Allow for lunch and break times.

When you are really busy it is easy to believe working through lunch and not taking breaks will catch you up. Actually, it may get you further behind. Researchers have determined that workers taking a 15 minute break in the morning and a 15 minute break in the afternoon are consistently more productive than those working that extra 30 minutes. Other studies confirm the benefits of a relaxing lunch hour. Fatigued, hungry people just don’t produce very good work. Mistakes are made that must be corrected later, often taking more time than doing it right in the first place.

A good practice is, “When you work, work; when you break, break.” If you compromise by working while having lunch or a snack at your desk, you produce mediocre work and lose all the recuperative benefits of a real break as well.

If you are consistently expected to do more than can reasonably be done, take the initiative in seeking a solution. The tendency is to expect the minister or a committee to recognize the problem and take action. Realistically, the person who suffers from a problem is usually the one who must solve it. As important as your job is, you are more important. Be responsible for taking care of yourself.

If you find yourself spinning your wheels, shuffling papers, or being unable to concentrate, give yourself a change of scenery. Leave the office for a short walk if you can, even it it’s just down the hall. Or slip into the sanctuary for a few quiet minutes. A short break makes a world of difference. When you plan your day, allow for your important “time outs.”

• Keep your list visible.

Your list is a map for your day. Sometimes side trips will be added to the agenda, but your list will get you back on the main road. Having your list in plain sight lets you and others see at a glance if your schedule can accommodate additional tasks. Seeing your agenda makes your supervisors more aware of demands on your time and enables them to evaluate your contributions realistically.

A short stand-up meeting each morning allows you and your minister to compare and verify priorities. Work ahead when things are going your way so those inevitable emergencies won’t find you playing catch-up. Be sure to add to your list things you do that were not on your original schedule. As long as your list is out where others will see it, omit any personal or sensitive information, unless it’s in your own private shorthand.

• Give each item on the list a priority.

Find out when each task is needed before listing it. Never assume a task is an A just because it comes from your executive. Ask. As soon as the list is made, ask yourself, “What can I delegate?” Mark those things D and note names. Delegating is an effective way to check things off your list without doing them yourself. Understand, delegating is not shirking your work. This important management skill frees time for work needing your personal attention and at the same time allows others to develop their skills.

Next, identify on your list the most important two things you must do yourself. These are your A1s. A good rule of thumb is not to have more than ten items on your list and only two A1s. Obviously, there will be days... But do try for those ratios.

Designate as As any other items that you must attend to, ideally no more than two. Use a highlighter to emphasize these high priority tasks. Next, mark as Bs the shoulds on your list. These are important tasks, but not musts. The remaining tasks are Cs, things you would like to do if all goes well, but low priorities. Just on Mondays I make a list of CZs, low priority jobs that I can do with any loose change time during the week.

Give each job a deadline, such as: do before 10 A.M. or a time frame, such as spend 40 minutes on this. This important step keeps you from scheduling too many hours of your day and from spending more time on a task than its priority dictates. Parkinson’s Law, “Work expands to fill the time available,” has never been repealed. If a time limit is not set externally, set a self-imposed deadline to keep yourself moving along. Multiply your estimated time need for the job by 1.25, giving yourself an extra 15 minutes for every hour you think you will need. I don’t know whose law it is, but things always take longer than you think they will.

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Gayle Hilligoss Picture — Article by Gayle Hilligoss

Ed. note: If we could only do what this article suggests it would add hundreds of hours of productivity to all our churches! As we mature in the faith, it is often the seemingly "little" things that can be the most destructive, but we must deal with them if we want to be all the Lord wants us to be. Gayle gives us fantastic advice in this article on how to conquer the distractions that threaten to do us all in.

Five o’clock, the end of your day. You were busy; you achieved some good things. Still, too much of the day was unproductive. Tasks that should have been done were not. Low priority tasks somehow edged out those of more value.

What could have been done differently? What actions would have produced better results?

Time management is a complex subject. Good sleep is important as it directly affects work productivity. Losing focus can be slightly aided with coffee or smart wakefulness pills you can get on https://buy-modafinil-online.org/vilafinil. Fortunately, understanding and acting on even small pieces of the puzzle makes a tangible difference. In most church offices, interruptions and distractions are routine. These techniques can help you handle them with ease.

• Get rid of clutter
Unnecessary stuff is a distraction in itself. Keeping the office neat is one of the best and easiest ways to increase productivity. Resolve today to stop accumulating and start discarding. Get rid of whatever you don’t need: outdated files, old catalogs, keys for you-can’t-imagine-what of course—but, if plants, photos, memorabilia, and bric-a-brac are time wasting distractions (and they certainly can be), remove them from your space as well. Stuff, even nice stuff, can slow you down if you have too much of it.

• Weed out unnecessary tasks
No one can do all the things that might be done—not even all the good things. Don’t try. Really. Too many things on your to-do list simply muddy the water and distract you from focusing on tasks that give the best return on time invested. Putting jobs in priority order is not nearly as important as choosing the necessary jobs out of the huge number of daily possibilities. Not everything that could be done should be done.

• Control the noise level
If you are reading this in your office, stop and make a quick list of the sounds you hear: perhaps office equipment whirring, lights buzzing, voices in the hall, computer, phone, coworkers, background music, construction going on outside, a custodian running a vacuum, daycare kids on the playground, traffic …

Even if you are a focused person, distractions will take a toll on productivity. What noises in your office could be controlled or eliminated? One ministry assistant was surprised to discover that all tube lighting fixtures didn’t buzz; hers had for years.

• Do an interruption inventory
Starting a project, stopping to answer the phone, starting again, stopping to check email, getting back to the project, stopping to discuss an issue with a coworker—so it goes. At this pace, more time may be spent on interruptions than on the project. Interruptions are one of our most troublesome distractions.

An effective way to get a handle on interruptions is to do a quick self-check:

1) As soon as you arrive at the office, list and number the things you intend to do today. If you are in the good habit of listing your next day’s goals before you leave the office each afternoon, use that list for this purpose.

2) At the bottom of your list, leave room for a list of interruptions and distractions.

3) As you begin work on each item on your to-do list, note the time.

4) Each time you are interrupted, mark the reason on your interruption list as well as the amount of time you were diverted from the task in progress.

Follow this drill for three or four days to give yourself a realistic picture of the kinds of interruptions you are dealing with and the amount of time they consume.

Some “interruptions” (phones, visitors, input from staff) are really our job. These distractions will never be eliminated. But most of us discover that many of our interruptions are self-imposed. We interrupt ourselves! Armed with your lists you can pinpoint these time wasters and you can control them.

Learning from your list, you can make it a practice to gather everything you need for a task before you begin, you can learn a computer shortcut before it is needed, you can ignore email until times you designate to check it. You may actually cut your interruptions in half just by eliminating the self-generated ones.

• Know what not to care about.
Think about some of the main topics of discussion in your office the past few weeks. Is anything there that really just doesn’t matter? Has time and energy been spent on things that have nothing to do with ministry, that are neither enlightening nor beneficial, that contribute in no meaningful way to the harmony of the office? Who needs it? Not you!

You care more about productivity than chatter. You know how to deal with distractions.

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

The number one time management technique and how to use it, part two

• Break large jobs into small ones.

• Allow for lunch and break times.

• Keep your list visible.

• Give each item on the list a priority.

Link to Part One of this article.

Link to Part Three of this article

Dealing with Distractions in the church office