Archive for the 'Communicating' Category

Summer Club Giveaway

Published
by
Jim Wideman
on June 1, 2008
in Blog Updates, Blogroll, Communicating, Conflict, Culture, Encouragement, Families, Leadership, News, Random, Technology and Volunteers
. 0 Comments

Same action brings same results… I’ve found out these past 53 years on the earth you can’t keep doing things the same way you have always done them and get different results. For the last 12+ years I have been teaching a monthly audio leadership lesson that I call the children’s ministers leadership club or theClub for short. Every workshop, book chapter, magazine article and blog post I do has come from a club lesson. TheClub has been a blessing to me and the lifeblood of income and support for JWM. They have also blessed a lot of leaders. In January I made the Young Guns Program available to CM Leaders under 30 so they could get theClub lessons free. I’ve had a great response. But I feel led to do something crazy over the next 3 months I’m going to give my June, July, and August club lessons away free to anyone of any age who signs up for my newsletter on jimwideman.com. Call me crazy, call me generous, call me a nice middle age gentleman who looks a little like the guy on the chicken bucket. Hurry and sign up before June 15th so you won’t miss a single lesson. I’m excited to see the growth that will happen when you dare to expand how you think about leadership.

Now…”that’s the way I see it!”

Finding your happy place

Published
by
Evan Doyle
on March 5, 2008
in Communicating, Conflict, Leadership and Volunteers
. 1 Comment

You. You know who you are. The person who sits in coach class and puts your seat allllllll the way back. Hence, the person behind you sits cramped and uncomfortable while you lay in comfort. Yep, you’re a layer-backer.

No one likes the person who puts their seat back like that. Unfortunately, I spent three hours on a plane from Dallas to San Diego this week with a person like that in front of me. That person was more concerned with his comfort than the comfort of those around him.

If, in all your days of reading this blog you haven’t noticed that I like to use random things to make ministry analogies, this is going to be one of those posts. So what does it have to do with children’s ministry? Simple. Many times we, as humans, choose to ignore the comfort of others in favor of what makes us feel better. We come up with this “cool” idea that we are totally sold out to, but our volunteers aren’t. We just insist on pushing through with it, because we’re convinced it’s what we need to do. In the process, we totally alienate all of those around us and end up trying to run our ministries all by ourselves.

Sometimes you just need to take a step back. Let go of your emotional attachment to something and simply look at it through the eyes of another person. There may be this sudden realization that what you are convinced is good, is not really that good.

That’s not to say that you should ignore God’s will for the favor of man. That’s also a dangerous place to be. If you are sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt that what you are doing is right, do it. God will help you with that.

Let people know you really care about what they have to say. Accept input from others. It’ll really help for you to communicate with those you serve and that help you to serve.

What Starbucks has figured out and children’s ministries haven’t, part 3

Published
by
Evan Doyle
on February 22, 2008
in Communicating, Culture and Leadership
. 2 Comments

This is part three of a three-part series.  Read parts one and two first.

What Starbucks has figured out #3: Follow them home.

Part of the Starbucks experience we mentioned last time is something very important: follow-up.  Starbucks doesn’t want your experience to end at the door, they want you to take it home with you.

Think about the last time you visited Starbucks.  You probably left with a refreshed, warm mood.  Just a pretty happy place to visit, right?  Their stores are designed to give you a feeling of being welcome.  Partners are trained to help make you feel like you belong.  When you have a bad experience, you get a card good for a free drink next time you visit.  When they make a decision that may not have been best, apologies abound and they insure that they make it right.  Good customers get recognized, and when you walk in they start making “the usual”.  All of it is done to give you an experience that you take home, and they follow up when they do something.

So what do you do for follow-up?  What do people have that “follows them home”?  When you do something wrong, do you apologize and fix it, or do you deny it and try to avoid it?  Follow-up is so extremely important.  Letting people know that you care and wanting to know if they have any questions after an event is important.  In it’s most basic form, it’s a postcard or letter saying, “We’ve been thinking about you.  Are you interested in any of these things we offer?”  You could go up to having a team of visitors who go to visit those who attend to check up on them.

I know, follow-up has been pounded into your head as a children’s ministry worker time after time after time.  That’s because it’s so important!  Following up on the experience someone had allows you to stay connected to them and share the love of God with them continually.

So as we wrap up our series on Starbucks, just remember these things: training, experience, and follow-up.  Make sure you do those three things, and you’ll be well on your way to improving your ministry.  They’re not everything though, so insure that you continue to improve in every area.  Make your ministry so remarkable, people can’t help but talk about it.  And while you’re at it, go grab a Grande Nonfat No Whip Peppermint Mocha. (Evan’s favorite!)

What Starbucks has figured out and children’s ministries haven’t, part 2

Published
by
Evan Doyle
on February 20, 2008
in Communicating, Culture and Leadership
. 0 Comments

This is part 2 of a three-part series.  To read part one, click here.

What they’ve figured out #2: Experience is central.

Think about the last time you walked into a Starbucks.  The aroma of the coffee, the feel of the store, the laid-back atmosphere.  What you walked into was more than a restaurant: it was an experience.

From the beginning, that’s what Starbucks was about: the experience.  Everything they did focused on what it did to the experience.  Why the craziness over experience?  Because Howard Schultz, once again serving as CEO of Starbucks, feels that their stores should be the third place.  The third place is the place that isn’t home (first place) and isn’t work (second place) that you can go to hang out, enjoy a good coffee or two, and just unwind.  They desire that their stores feel accessible, fun, and a place where you could sit down and have a meeting.  When you walk in, Starbucks wants you to feel as comfortable there as you would at your own home.

But even as CEO Howard Schultz himself will admit, somewhere along the line the experience got lost in the business.  They moved to flavor-lock packaging, destroying the full coffee smell that they had when coffee arrived in large bins.  A tendency towards a “cookie cutter” store design led to what some called “sterility”.  And perhaps most famously, they introduced breakfast sandwiches.  Longtime patrons hated that the toasting sandwiched ruined the coffee smell so much, that one of Howard Schultz’ first acts when he returned as CEO a few months ago was to begin the demise of the breakfast sandwich at Starbucks.

Think about your ministry: do the parents at your church feel welcome and accepted when they bring their kids in, or do they feel guilty until proven innocent by a full cavity search and metal detector?  OK, maybe that’s a bit extreme, but you know what I mean.  Security is important, but you do have to strike a balance between security and welcoming both current and new parents to your ministry.

How do your kids feel in services?  Do they feel like they’re taking part, or like they’re watching a show?  Are they comfortable, feeling like they’re at home?  That experience is key to getting kids to feel like they fit in.  You know you’ve all had this kind of kid at one point or another: the first-timer who’s extremely attached to his parents.  Won’t let go of his mother’s leg.  Absolutely resists coming.  That sort of child is the child you should focus on that day.  Have a special worker sit right by him and comfort him and involve him.  Include him in games or prize giveaways.  The experience you create is critical.

Experience is hard to keep up.  It’ll take work.  It is so worth it, though.  Experiences that people have as children at church will continue to shape their image of the church into their adult and teen years.  You may think that that Sunday School teacher that teaches an OK class is fine to leave in place.  That’s dangerous thinking.  That class is, whether you or the child realize it or not, shaping their image of the church and will impact whether they or their future children will come to church in the future.  You can’t settle for mediocrity.  Ministry needs to be best.   Remarkable, you might say.  Go above and beyond.  Now that’s the way I see it.

What Starbucks has figured out and children’s ministries haven’t, part 1

Published
by
Evan Doyle
on February 17, 2008
in Communicating, Culture and Leadership
. 13 Comments

Over the next few days, I’m going to use my favorite topic (Starbucks!) to discuss some things that Starbucks has figured out that most children’s ministries haven’t.  I’m dividing it up into three parts, this post right here being part 1.

What they’ve figured out #1: Train, train, train.  Then keep training.  Train until you’re blue in the face.

Starbucks obsesses over employee training.  Partners (not employees, it’s a way they make employees feel more dedicated to the company) learn intricate details about coffee, equipment, experience, customer service, product quality, and company history.   Massive regional training centers ingrain the “Starbucks gospel” into their managers.  Periodical checkups are done on every corporate shop.    They’re even closing their stores on February 26 from 5:30 to 8:30 PM to do product quality re-training.  Training is so key, they sometimes spend up to $3000 per employee just on training.

Continue reading ‘What Starbucks has figured out and children’s ministries haven’t, part 1′

12 ways to make your Children’s Ministry better!

Published
by
Jim Wideman
on February 14, 2008
in Communicating, Culture, Encouragement and Leadership
. 7 Comments

Twelve ways I found that can make your Children’s Ministry better:

1. Give your Children’s Church or Children’s Ministry a name & develop a logo

2. Have a goal or vision for every class. (Make a list of everything you want kids to do as an adult. - If you aim at nothing you’ll hit it every time.)

3. Develop a plan to see your goals met. People follow people with a plan

4. Put your plan in writing

5. Build a structure around you. Identify everywhere you can use a worker

6. Master Time Management

7. Teach the word visually always (Don’t get in a rut)

8. Make time for ministry time, & prayer for needs.

9. Involve Kids in Ministry (Allow the to serve)

10. Update your music

11. Plan socials and activities to get to know kids

12. Keep developing your leadership skills. Choose to be a lifetime learner.

An explosion needed

Published
by
Ryan Frank
on December 23, 2007
in Communicating and Leadership
. 0 Comments

My friend Dave Wakerly wrote a great post on his blog this afternoon about the need for more children’s pastors to blog! Man, you’ve got to read this and if you’re not blogging, get busy!

WARNING: The easy part is starting a blog. After all, there’s a blog born every half a second. The hard part is maintaining it and keeping people interested.

Read Dave’s blog post by clicking here.

The. Best. Popcorn. EVER.

Published
by
Evan Doyle
on December 17, 2007
in Communicating, Leadership and Remarkable
. 2 Comments

Last night I experienced the most amazing thing I think has ever graced my taste buds.  Better than a nice home-cooked cheeseburger.  Better than any gourmet meal.  It was popcorn.  But not just any popcorn.  This was Cinnamon Creme DrizzleCorn from Dale and Thomas Popcorn.  The second it hits your mouth, you’re engulfed in an ocean of sumptuous cinnamon-white chocolately goodness.  This is popcorn so good, you just have to share some, but desperately don’t want to do so.  And what do you know, Dale and Thomas’s tagline is even “Share Some”.

But let’s back up a bit.  Let’s hop into our handy-dandy time machine, and go back about two months.  Dale and Thomas (hereafter D&T) was giving away free $20 gift cards.  Little bells were going off somewhere in my head that I had heard D&T was good popcorn, so I signed up and got my code in a matter of seconds in my email inbox.  So it sat there until two weeks ago I got a genius idea.  Wouldn’t popcorn make a great Christmas gift?  I proceeded to buy the 12-pack sampler, with all twelve of D&T’s current flavors.  I then divvied them up and made gifts out of them, while keeping four bags for my family.

Now, back to last night.  I was craving a snack, so I pulled out the case (yes, case) of popcorn.  One bag of D&T is 12-inches long, and serves 2-4 people.  We decided on the Cinnamon Creme.  I do not know that I could ever go back to regular movie theatre-style popcorn again.  It almost seems like a sin.

D&T has not spread by multi-million dollar TV ads, magazine ads, full-page ads in the New York Times, or all-out web blitzes.  No, they’ve spread simply by word of mouth.  It just so happens, their popcorn happened to hit some very famous mouths.  They’ve included Oprah (as one of her “Favorite Things”), People Magazine, the Today Show, CNN, and many others.  D&T has a product so spectacular, so awesome, you can’t help but “Share Some”, just like I’m doing right now.

What do you do or what can you do in your ministry that will simply make it so that people can’t help but sharing it with their friends?  What game can you play, element can you add, media component can you slip in to make your ministry so totally remarkable that no one can stop telling others?  Do your kids tell their friends?  Do your parents tell their friends?

As Ryan has mentioned here before, the power of a personal invitation is paramount to any number of mail flyers, door hangers, or take-home sheets.  What is really effective in spreading the message of hope we have to offer is someone saying, “My church has this really awesome thing we do in Kids’ Church.  You should ask if you can come this Sunday.”  Getting kids (and even adults) to a point at which they can’t help but sharing it is simply remarkable.  And that’s the way I see it.

Learning to fly

Published
by
Ryan Frank
on October 30, 2007
in Communicating
. 0 Comments

The past year I have reconnected with one of my best friend’s from elementary school. I’m planning to speak at his camp this summer. Today on the phone he told me that he is within a week of getting his pilot’s license. We had a good talk about what flying lessons have been like.

He told me that the hardest part has not been learning to fly a plane. He thinks he could teach me to fly (and land) a plane in one day. The hardest part of flying for him has been learning the communication required to fly. I guess the learning curve for aviation communication is steep.

My friend Brad could write a book, “Everything I Know About Children’s Ministry I Learned From Flight School”. The success of your ministry hinges on your ability to communicate. Good communication is critical but can be hard to learn. Your volunteers aren’t mind readers. If they don’t know what’s on your mind, your leadership will be hindered.

Where’s Marv?

Published
by
Ryan Frank
on October 29, 2007
in Communicating and Leadership
. 2 Comments

I’ve used the same graphic shop in town for probably ten years. The owners name is Marv. He’s always hooked me up with screening and embroidery for our ministry. When I began going to Marv ten years ago, he worked out of his garage by himself. Then he built a small pole barn on his property and hired a few employees. A few months ago he opened a beautiful new location with about 15 employees.

Good for Marv? Maybe. Maybe not. I went in the new store to order some vests for our check-in volunteers. The lady behind the counter looked at me like I had asked for the impossible. “Vests? We don’t do vests.” When I convinced her to rummage through the catalogs, she found what I was looking for. When I told her that I wanted our logo screened in full color, she tried to convince me that I didn’t because of the extra screening charges. Again, I had to press her to give me full color. A few weeks later I went into the store to ask them about some signs we needed at the church. After all, they advertise that they do signs. The guy behind the counter (some guy I had never met before) didn’t even try to come up with a solution, he said, “We don’t do that.”

Meanwhile, where’s Marv? He’s not behind the counter like he once was. He’s not even within eye view. I haven’t actually seen Marv in over a year, although he is working every time I visit the store.

What’s my point?

1. Be visible. When Marv grew to the point that no one sees him anymore, his company lost something. Do the parents and kids in your church see you before and after services? Are you accessible?

2. Know what you are doing. Don’t let the customer force you to look in the catalog for a vest. Keep in touch with leadership, with trends, with the Scripture, etc.

3. Go out of your way. The biggest way to create negative conversations about your company is to tell a customer, “We don’t do that.” Instead, find a creative solution. Go the extra mile to help the parents and people in your church, even if it means learning something new yourself.