I’ve had a chance to play with the CCB updates today. I’m impressed.
How do you like these updates?
Lead – a great tool that capitalizes on your churches digital strategy { CCB users }. Gone are the days of overlying on your Church Clerk for member contact information, or needing to rush home to access your ‘member spreadsheet’ stored on your personal computer. Download it today https://www.churchcommunitybuilder.com/lead-app
via LEAD – a new app for Leaders — CCB Support
This week I’ve felt challenged to look at how we use our communications assets – specifically social media.
What if…
This week I had a video chat with some people of Breeze. They asked me what my favorite part of the software is? I went with what we use the most: sorting and emailing.
But the more I think about it, those might not be my favorite things. Here’s a few things I really like. Not just with Breeze, but also with CCB, and any church management software.
Profile fields that offer ways to help people connect.
Most people profiles are going to contain very basic information: name, address, phone number(s), email. But I love it when we go deeper with custom fields: gifts, talents, abilities, interests. By running regular search reports on those fields, we can help people connect to areas of service – and to other people. Most software companies offer ways to customize your profile fields. Take advantage of those. Then regularly run those reports and make sure people are getting connected.
Forms.
I’m about to do a whole blog post on why forms are important, but here’s a few key points:
Ensures everyone gets the same information.
Helps with pre-planning and organization
No more “lost” emails. Saved digital record of form submission.
Follow-Ups and Process Queues.
Whatever your software calls them, I love them. When a first time guest is entered into the system, a follow up is assigned to a pastoral staff member (the youth pastor for any new students in the youth group; our senior pastor for any new families). Once that follow up is complete, the Pastor can add notes, and check the ‘complete’ box. Then we run regular reports on completed follow-ups, in conjunction with event attendance reports to see how people where people are connecting.
What are your favorite things?
Recently my husband and I went on a vacation. I found myself one day, wandering the market, looking at souvenirs. Should I buy the kids t-shirts they’ll grow out of? Should I buy jewelry, toys, trinkets? Will they like the style and color of jewelry I pick out? Or will it sit in a drawer – never worn? Will the kids play with the toys? Will they break? Will they fight over them? Will the trinkets sit on a shelf, collecting dust, becoming a burden?
As I wandered the market – each booth blending and blurring together – items at one seemingly identical to the others – my mind drifted to our church management software.
I love that fact that we customize our fields. And that we can add additional custom fields. But are we taking it too far in some cases? Are we creating fields that are unmanageable? Want to track people’s favorite foods for the next church-wide dinner? We can do that. Want to know their favorite music? Their favorite restaurants? Their favorite type of cheese? We can do all of that. Under the profile fields, I’ll add in a field for favorite cheese.
But what happens if the church grows exponentially? What happens when the cheese ministry leader gets called to another ministry? Say, maybe, the fruit ministry?
And now – when you export that spreadsheet – there are huge gaps – missing information. And then we spend our time trying to chase down information, filling gaps that ultimately, may not be that important.
At the end of our shopping, I realized that the best ‘souvenir’ I could bring home, was a well-rested, clear-headed, refreshed and renewed version of myself. One that wasn’t feeling distracted or irritated. A version of myself that wasn’t stressed from trying to pack breakables into an already full suitcase or stressed whether someone would like the jewelry or toys I’d picked out.
Take a look at your profile fields. Do you need to know all of them? Is it time to get back to the basics? Look at what you’re realistically using the software for and what you want out of it. I have a friend who compares life to shooting. You aim first, then shoot. You don’t fire and hope it lands somewhere near the target.
Decide why you have the software and what you really want and need it to do. Build your profile fields around that.
Chances are, you don’t need to keep track of favorite restaurants…or cheese.
“Mom, can I have the keys to the car? I’d like to go out.”
“Sure, son. See you soon.”
Except that ‘son’ hasn’t passed a driver’s test. He doesnt’ have his license. He never even gotten his permit. He hasn’t taken Driver’s Ed class. And he’s never driven this car.
Would you do it?
I hope not.
And yet, we do it every day with our software access.
New staff member? You get staff access.
New ministry team leader? You get ‘group leader’ status.
New teacher? Don’t forget to take attendance.
Software administrators get frustrated when data is entered outside of the boundaries of standard operating procedures.
Executive Pastors get frustrated when their end reports are inaccurate.
And our new-hires and ministry leaders are frustrated because they don’t know what they did wrong.
Here are a few things that can help avoid some uncomfortable situations and unwanted scenarios:
1. Training. This is my favorite word. Set aside some intentional training time for new-hires, new group leaders, no ministry directors, etc. Make it part of the onboarding process. The more access they have, the more training they need.
2. Continuing Education. Just as software administrators receive emails from software companies regarding software updates, so should the people using the software. Anytime there is a software that will effect their area of ministry, make time to talk to them about it.
3. Clear Expectations. Do the teachers know they are supposed to take attendance? Do the ministry team leaders understand they are expected to use the software to plan events and schedule volunteers? Do group leaders know this is used as the primary means of communication? Make sure they know what’s expected.
4. Written Documentation of Policies. Written documentation protects you from being accused of favoritism. There’s temptation to make one person sit through an hour-long training session, while you let another person slide because you know he or she is a computer genius and has a PhD in Computer Science. Don’t do it. Develop a set of standards. Write them down. Everyone should follow policy.
5. Revoke Privileges. This is my least favorite thing to do. If you break a traffic law, your license could get suspended or revoked. If someone is using the software in a way that is causing you to consistently go in behind them and “fix” or “undo” what they’ve done, revoke their privileges and have a private conversation with them. Chances are very good they simply forgot to do something or this topic was overlooked in the original training. In most cases, privileges can be reinstated after they’ve had a ‘software refresher course.’
The good news is that most of the current ChMS programs on the market today, have ways to fix, or undo, any data entry errors. Also remember that this is just a software program – a tool in the process – and that any relationship with a co-worker, fellow church member, and friend is to be treasured far more than the systems, processes, and tools we use.
Let’s face it. There isn’t a lone single Church Management Software that will fit every church. If there were, there would be no marketplace competition. There would be no comparison charts. There would be one software that offered all of the features that every church needs.
It doesn’t exist.
It’s why churches spend months, sometimes years, making a decision on which software to use. It’s why people play with demo versions in their free time and offer suggestions to churches on which software they should use. It’s why churches sometimes switch to different companies based on their growing and changing needs.
Even some software companies themselves will tell you when their software doesn’t meet your church’s needs. Sometimes, they’ll even help migrate your data for free.
But, at the end of the day, sometimes we have features we just don’t care for, we find it difficult to navigate, or what we want isn’t offered within that software.
This can be particularly frustrating for those ministry leaders who aren’t tasked with using the software on a daily basis. Perhaps you’re a small group leader and you’ve been told you need to use the software for small group messaging and attendance. What’s wrong with the way you’ve been doing it? Perhaps you’re a ministry team leader who has recently been told you need to use the software for volunteer scheduling? What’s wrong with our old calendar-grid spreadsheets?
While nothing is ‘wrong’ with the way you’ve been doing things, sometimes church leaders need data that can only come from using a church management software.
Typically areas of the software are linked, or fields are auto-updated This means the church leaders don’t need to assimilate data from different spreadsheets and emails. The software takes care of that for them, which saves them valuable time.
Here’s some suggestions if you find yourself in a position of ‘just not liking it’:
Do:
Don’t:
Remember, there’s no perfect software and sometimes, even when we think we’ve found the best one, there are aspects that just don’t work the way want them to.
Trust your church leaders and know we’re all on the same team!
Recently God called our family to make a change. It many ways it wasn’t an easy decision. It meant taking a new look at things we’d always felt were right or wrong. It meant going someplace we said we’d never go.
But in other ways it was easy. Because after a lot of prayer, counsel, and discernment, we knew it was where God was calling us.
This change also meant a new routine and thus, I find myself not regularly seeing the friends I had been seeing regularly.
Yet, I haven’t really connected with a new group of friends.
The old group of friends can’t understand why we’d make this decision.
The new group people seem like they already have their circles.
And I feel like this:
Alone.
And I remember, that with God, I’m never truly alone. He’s got a plan, a purpose and a reason for this season.
Does this happen in our churches?
What about our church guests?
When I run a report of first time guests who didn’t return for a second visit, I want to hear their voices.
I want to ask:
Did you feel welcome or unwanted?
Was there confusion and chaos or did you feel calmness and clarity?
Did you feel alone or did you feel like you were among family?
Every Sunday we have first time guests who are doing something they’ve never done before: coming to our church. Which means, they aren’t doing whatever it was they did any previous Sunday.
Any change has the potential to cause someone to feel alone.
I pray this is never the case in our churches.
This morning I posted about giving support to. You can read the entire post here.
It started like this:
This week I had some issues with the web site and the database.
I had confidence in my own abilities.
I can do this.
Fail.
I read through support documentation. I watched videos.
Another fail.
In the end I had to call tech support.
What did I get?
After-hours, personal, customer service and tech support.
Above and beyond the call of duty.
The best.
First class.
(And somehow, in each case, they were able to maintain the integrity of their own brand, and let me know the boundaries.)
Can I change the colors? Yes.
Can I change the fonts? No.
Can I upload media on a Saturday night at 8pm when the site editor seems to be locked up?
Absolutely. Yes. You can. We are here to help!
It’s still Saturday night at 8pm, what happened to my menu colors?
We’re working on it.
Can I change the fonts?
No. (Still.)
And then – at the end of each call – I had the support rep. ask if they could pray for me, for our church, and for our business (the mission) we are working on together.
Think about this cycle: I called with a degree of frustration in my voice (and in my heart), I had people who set aside whatever they were doing to help me – to listen to my frustrations and walk with me through the problem-solving process, and at the end of it, we were praying together.
And I thought…
I summed up all of the thoughts I had about how I serve people.
But I also thought…
About how we receive support. And from whom.
How often do I try to do it all alone? And then, when I do need help, is my first thought to pray? To ask God for His help? To ask God what He wants?
While I was trying to make things happen in my time – and before I called support – I called friends. One friend knew a lot about databases, processes, and web sites, but knew very little about the church. Another friend knows a lot about church structures, but very little about database applications. So when I finally called proper support, I was thoroughly confused (and frustrated).
I think this has a broader application. When you’re going through a challenging time or trying to solve a problem, where is the first place you turn? Do you turn to friends who may not know about the situation? Are they giving you biblically-based and sound advice or do they tell you what you want to hear? Does acting on their advice create more confusion?
God wants us to come to Him first. Believe and trust His answers. Believe and trust He will make a way.
This week I had some issues with the web site and the database.
I had confidence in my own abilities.
I can do this.
Fail.
I read through support documentation. I watched videos.
Another fail.
In the end I had to call tech support.
What did I get?
After-hours, personal, customer service and tech support.
Above and beyond the call of duty.
The best.
First class.
(And somehow, in each case, they were able to maintain the integrity of their own brand, and let me know the boundaries.)
Can I change the colors? Yes.
Can I change the fonts? No.
Can I upload media on a Saturday night at 8pm when the site editor seems to be locked up?
Absolutely. Yes. You can. We are here to help!
It’s still Saturday night at 8pm, what happened to my menu colors?
We’re working on it.
Can I change the fonts?
No. (Still.)
And then – at the end of each call – I had the support rep. ask if they could pray for me, for our church, and for our business (the mission) we are working on together.
Think about this cycle: I called with a degree of frustration in my voice (and in my heart), I had people who set aside whatever they were doing to help me – to listen to my frustrations and walk with me through the problem-solving process, and at the end of it, we were praying together.
And I thought…
Am I passing this same level of personal customer service on TO the church? Am I setting a standard with the software or the web site that puts the church as a whole first? Do the church leaders feel like they are important, while we are still maintaining the integrity of the brand?
I hope so.
Have I communicated to the church (as a whole) that I love her? Have I communicated that nothing I do is out of selfishness or vain conceit, but that every communication, administration, or ‘church connections’ decision is based on how we, as a church, are connecting people to Christ and assisting in their walk with Christ?
I hope so.
Does the church know I pray for her?
I hope so.
Do the ministry leaders know I pray for them each individually by name?
I hope so.
And have I listened to the needs of the ministry leaders to try to provide individual, personalized (and even after-hours) support?
I hope so.
I have the benefit of working with a lot of Christian-owned companies whose leaders understand that end of the day, we’re all on the same team, trying to accomplish a bigger and greater mission. And I get work with people at those companies who will make sacrifices for the mission. Even when it means after-hours, personalized, service.
Jesus displayed servant and sacrificial leadership. This week, I had a few support people who displayed Jesus.
And my goal/challenge this week: to do the same.
There’s been a lot of talk among my peer group this week about settings and access.
Today I was looking at my key ring.
There are 6 keys. Four are to my office. 1 for my car. 1 for my house.
But the potential.
Our family owns six vehicles. There’s four cars (one for each driver), an old truck that we use for hauling, and a motorcycle. There’s a key for each one. Two of the vehicles are older models and have two keys (one for the doors, one for the ignition). That alone is eight keys just for vehicles.
I have a key to my mother’s house, a key to a storage shed, a key to our riding lawn-mower, and a key to our camper.
For a grand total of twelve.
If I combined those twelve with the keys to my office, I’d be carrying sixteen keys on my key ring.
Sixteen!
That doesn’t include those small, little, pesky keys – luggage, padlocks, desk drawers, filing cabinets, etc.
Here’s why I don’t carry them all with me every day:
So I don’t carry all sixteen. Each person in our family carries what they need.
But… (because isn’t there always)
We keep duplicate copies of our keys in a safe place that we can all access.
If my husband or one of my children locks themselves out of their car in another part of town, I can stop what I’m doing, go home, get their key, and come help them. None of us ever intends to lock ourselves out of our car (or the house), but we know who we can call if we do. And only the four of us know where those copies are kept and how to access them.
How this relates to our Church Management Software and data settings and security:
In my experience, it’s been very helpful to make sure the keys are distributed. Each person should have the keys they need to access their ministry vehicle. Each person should have the keys they need to unlock the doors they need to do their jobs.
We shouldn’t give one person too many keys to carry on one key ring all of the time – that’ll lead to tiredness, other job aspects not getting done, and jobs – in general – taking too much time (because that’s a lot of keys to sort through).
But, it’s good to know that there are other people who can access the keys to my job on those rare occasions that I get locked out.
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