Recently I posted about the non-negotiables of an effective ministry. This is an expanded look at one of those non-negotiables.
With today’s technology, one might think that it is easier to get the word out about activities and events. Sadly, it has made it harder. Parents are inundated with papers and forms from school, sports and church. So much so that papers often get lost in the shuffle and are not read. E-mails must have a subject line to catch the eye in order to be read. In fact, you may do your best to communicate information and people will still not know. Several years ago I wrote a post called “Read the Signs” where I talked about how even with much notice, people still won’t take the time to receive your communication. None the less, we still must work to communicate.
It would be nice to be able to go back to the old telegraph machine. It was simple, you sent a message and the person on the other end received it. If needed, they delivered it to the individual that the message was intended. Telegraphs were read because the information was deemed to be important. So how do we get people to read our communications?
- Don’t over communicate – If you give information too frequently, then any communication loses its importance and becomes commonplace and unread.
- Discover what form of communication reaches them – not everyone texts, not everyone tweets, not everyone is on Facebook, not everyone checks e-mail as regularly as you do. You may need to use the telephone, or send a card, but find how people in your ministry receive communication and provide it to them in the format they understand and can relate.
- Meetings – have regularly meetings with a purpose, not just to meet, and be respectful of their time. If it is a regular meeting, they can put it on their schedule. Having a purpose and respecting their time shows them you care and that it is important.
Communication is important to share the vision of the ministry, what events and activities are approaching and to keep everyone on the same page. Without it, people take tangents and the ministry does not stay on the same path, it loses focus, and that is one reason it is a non-negotiable.
