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CREATING A TECHNOLOGY TEAM
And going on from there [Jesus] saw two other brothers, James . . . and John his brother, . . . mending their nets, and he called them.
—Matthew 4:22
Are you called to mend some nets? If so, you may find yourself a disciple of the disk. In our previous chapters we have looked at what technology can do in a congregation and what technological infrastructure is needed to enable that doing. Now we’re going to move from the “what” to the “who”—the technology team.
Through our work with Indianapolis-area congregations, we have come to believe in technology teams. What is a technology team (TechnoTeam)? Well, it is not a collection of techno-geeks. Rather, it is a group of people charged with determining what your congregation wants to do with technology; prioritizing and shaping these wants into needs; creating a specific plan and timeline; following through with the purchase, installation, and training needed to make the plan a reality; monitoring and evaluating the newly-acquired technology as it is put into use; and doing it all over again.
WHY A TECHNOTEAM?
Why should you create a TechnoTeam? Because of the above list! It is a lot to do. We have learned that the TechnoTeam process works. It enlists the ideas and support of all aspect of a congregation as it plans how to use new technology tools. A TechnoTeam also builds wide congregational support. It gets a lot of stakeholders involved. That way your plan is not just one person’s idea. We have seen congregations where one individual worked with consultants on creating a plan. They then presented it to their congregation’s board, session, elders, only to find out that individual had no support for implementation.
A side benefit to the TechnoTeam is that, when done right, it draws out congregation members’ undiscovered talents. That is a way that the TechnoTeam becomes a model for staff and lay leadership working together to achieve specific congregational goals. This team model can be used for other program areas in your congregation.
HOW MANY POWER RANGERS ARE THERE?
So how many people do you need on a TechnoTeam? The size of the team is not as important as making sure that all major program and administrative areas are represented. Those are the people we call stakeholders—they have a stake in what happens. The TechnoTeam should have members that represent both the staff and the central ministry areas. Examples of staff positions include clergy, office staff, youth ministers, and librarians. Examples of ministry areas are religious education, worship, and missions.
We cannot overemphasize that you need to have both the key people and the key ministry areas represented on the TechnoTeam. How you decide who and what is key depends on your congregation’s culture and method of operation. Begin by thinking about who in your congregation moves projects forward—or hinders them. Look at your committee structure—does it represent who does the work of ministry in your congregation? Or are some of the functions combined? You may not need every committee represented—such as the flower committee—but then again you might. You definitely want the people who are going to be using the technology to be represented on the TechnoTeam. In a small congregation, that may mean that all the staff members are on the team—all one of them. For a large congregation, it will probably be one person who can promote the staff’s needs. Like we said earlier, these folks do not have to be technologically savvy. Some technical or technology expertise is useful, but the most important thing about the team is that it represents all your ministry areas and includes key staff people.
It is essential to have a TechnoTeam member connected to the congregation’s chief governing body or committee. That is because you want someone who has the authority to get the TechnoTeam’s ideas and plans in front of the congregation’s official decision-making body. This is especially important as you look at paying for your plans.
Another thing that is important is that the TechnoTeam should be made up of permission givers, not permission withholders. What we mean is that folks on the team should be people with vision, who think creatively about possibilities. You do not want people who say things like, “Well, we bought a computer 20 years ago and it didn’t do what we wanted. Why should we buy one now?” You may have naysayers in your congregation—just make sure they aren’t on the TechnoTeam. Even—and maybe especially—if they volunteer.
TALK AMONGST YOURSELVES
You want a person with good group-leading skills heading the TechnoTeam. It is far less important that the TechnoTeam leader be a technology guru than one who knows how to facilitate group discussions and decision making. A common mistake congregations make is appointing a technology expert as head of the team without any thought about whether that person works well with others.
That is bad because there is one thing that sets our suggested TechnoTeam apart from the other expert-type committees many of us are familiar with. The TechnoTeam is not a committee of experts! It is a team of folks who represent the interests and needs of the entire work of the congregation. That makes the leader’s job one of facilitating the work of the TechnoTeam—not one of discovering or implementing technology independent of others.
So what does the TechnoTeam need to do? First, they should run out and buy a copy of this book for themselves and all their friends. Okay, that’s what we would like them to do because we want this book to appear on the New York Times bestseller list. But since that probably will not happen, instead we suggest that the TechnoTeam begin by following the process we have used with many congregations in helping them chart their own technology future. Here are the steps:
That’s a pretty overwhelming list. So how do you get started? Read on . . .
WHAT’VE WE GOT?
Begin by taking a technology inventory. This helps you identify how your congregation already uses technology. We have included a sample “Technology Assessment Form” in the appendices (see appendix A). Take it with you when you do your inventory. Feel free to adapt it to your needs. Look at what hardware, software, office equipment, audiovisual equipment, and so forth you already have and use. What do you have and do not use? Be specific—list brand names and dates purchased. Write down the processing speed and how much memory the computer on the pastor’s desk has. What version of Microsoft Office does the administrative assistant use? What are the terms of the office copier’s lease? Do you know what features and print speed your copier provides? In other words, do your homework about where you are now.
In addition to providing a good starting point, this step may prompt conversations about what the church staff or committees wish they had or are not able to do now.
WISHING AND HOPING AND PLANNING AND DREAMING
This is the fun stuff—the dreams and wishes. Make sure the TechnoTeam doesn’t try to do this part all by themselves.
Ask Around
The most important thing to do here is talk to all the right people while taking enough time to explore the needs. Interview folks about ways in which technology can be used in each major program or administrative area. Do not rush. Make sure that each major program and administrative area gets covered. Take lots of time thinking about the activities and processes that are already a part of your congregation’s programs, work areas, or administrative functions. Then begin thinking, as a TechnoTeam, about ways that technology could enhance these activities or make them easier. Only after you have completed that part do you want to think about new activities or programs.
Back to the Future
Next have each person or committee fill out appendix D: “Things You Can Do.” This gives you a chance to dream about what you would like to do that is not being done. Compile the information that the completed “Things You Can Do” forms give you. Then decide, based on your congregation’s mission, whether these are wants or needs.
In Search Of . . .
Here again, it is time to explore. There are many ways of exploring—talk to other congregations, do research on the Internet, read magazines such as Church Business and Christian Computing, look at periodicals from your movement or denomination, and buy more copies of this book. Then call Bill Gates and Steve Jobs to see what they are going to come up with next.
Seriously, though, after dreaming what you can do, have the TechnoTeam address one more issue. “Yes, we can [fill in the blank], but why should we? How does that fit with our mission as a congregation?” Only after you’ve spent a good amount of time thinking about that important question are you ready to move on to the next step.
A METHOD TO THIS TECHNOLOGICAL MADNESS
Now that you’ve completed the above steps—you have completed the above steps, haven’t you?—it is time to systematize what you have found on your exploring. Begin by creating inventories of technology wants from each area. Assign a rough cost estimate to each item. Organize these lists of wants by program area. Look for similarities—of software, hardware, and tasks. Talk about differences. Conversation among team members may help create more new ideas. This is where some technology knowledge can be helpful. If the TechnoTeam does not have this expertise, now is a good time to invite someone from a full-service technology company to visit with your group. Do not ask someone from Best Buy or Circuit City. He may be able to answer your questions—but then again he might be your next-door neighbor’s kid who picked up a part-time job after being turned down at Dairy Queen. You want someone who knows what he or she is doing.
When you get your list of needs, you want to spend some time doing better cost estimates for these dreams. Computer and multimedia professionals really help here. Do not forget to check with other congregations. A church or synagogue doing the same or similar thing that you want to do is one of your best information sources.
GET WHAT YOU NEED
“You can’t always get what you want” may or may not be true for your congregation. But it is highly likely that you will be able to “get what you need” with or without Mick Jagger. Especially if your TechnoTeam does a good job at this step in the process—refining the wants into realistic needs, with some sense of priorities.
Refining and prioritizing these wants into short-, medium-, and long-range needs—from 3 to 24 months—is sometimes the most difficult and conflict-prone step in the process. This is where the group skills of the team leader shine—or doom the process. If resources are limited—and in most congregations they are—then everyone cannot get what they want. At least right away. This is place for team communication, negotiation, and compromise. Take time to talk about congregational priorities. Encourage TechnoTeam members to look at the big picture—the congregation as a whole—and not just their area. Then, using those priorities and the rough cost estimates, work toward a consensus as to priority of needs. Then develop a simple timeline and put the needs in the appropriate time frame.
DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS!
Since this is a book about congregations, we are going to assume that it is God, and not the Devil, in the details. This is the step where details come into play. If you do not pay attention to them, you will find yourself bedeviled.
This is the time to be very specific about what, and how much, technology you need to buy to meet your prioritized needs. Determine what technology is required to meet the needs and what kind of infrastructure is needed to make the new technology successful. One way you can do this yourself is to use the tools at TechSoup (http://www.techsoup.org). It is an excellent online source of information on technology planning. They call themselves “The Technology Place for Nonprofits.” Their Web site is a wealth of information on everything from how to create a technology plan to writing grants for technology funding.
It is also important during this step to take a close look at the infrastructure that is required to make technology work successfully. Some of that has to do with things such as determining what kind of electrical wiring and circuits are needed. Other details are about software and hardware. For instance, you have to decide which CMS is best for you, whose computer you will install it on, and what the recommended hardware requirements are for that software. You also have to decide whether you need a network file server or not. How do you ensure that membership files are backed up and protected from computer viruses? How will the data in your old software make its way to the new software? There are also decisions about what kind of training is needed so the staff and volunteers can effectively use the new software. What are you going to do when you can not get something to work correctly? Where will you go for assistance?
SO WHAT’S THIS GOING TO COST?
Preparing a budget for the action plan is pretty straightforward. Take your detailed plan—sorted by short-, medium-, and long-range needs—and attach a cost to each item. Of course, it is easier if you just need one or two things. Even a longer list is not very difficult, though.
Gathering costs for computer hardware, software, and peripherals is pretty easy. You can get printed quotes from local vendors or glean prices at various Internet software and hardware sites. Prices for technical assistance are harder. There are a number of ways to calculate technical expertise costs for installation and support. One way is to ask a company to bid a firm cost per hour along with the estimated number of hours they think will be needed. Or you might decide to purchase a block of hours at a fixed rate. Or you can have a company bid for specific tasks such as the installation of a file server and workstations.
If you sort your budget into short-, medium-, and long-range needs, you will find it is easier to look at the cash flow needed to fund the project. See appendix F, “Creating a Technology Plan,” as an example for ideas.
HAVE I GOT A DEAL FOR YOU
This next step—selling the plan to the congregation, including securing adequate funding—is surprisingly important.
We know that congregational polity and culture vary widely. But it is common for every congregation to have a chief governing group or council that approves expenditures not contained in the current year’s budget. If your congregation has already set aside sufficient funds for this project, great. We have found that it is more usual for a congregation’s first technology plan and its accompanying costs to be considered a special project that needs approval by a governing group.
That is when the focus of the TechnoTeam changes slightly. Instead of evaluating, planning, and dreaming, the TechnoTeam’s job is communicating. Each TechnoTeam member needs to share excitement about the project, inform the congregation about the amount of work done by the team, and highlight benefits of the technology plan. The team also needs to come up with a reasonable funding solution or work with the congregational group in charge of funding. There may be some surprises. In one local church, for instance, the tech team leader was surprised by a visit from a curmudgeonly parishioner. He seemed particularly concerned about this technology project he had heard about, and he asked lots of questions. The leader tried to address them with grace—all the while imagining that she was giving him just enough information to lead his charge against the project. The man thanked her politely and left. He returned to the church office two days later with a check—for the entire amount of the project. He said that he wanted the earlier meeting as a way of assuring himself that the team had done its work. After hearing from their leader, he decided that it was time for his congregation to enter the computer age.
Most congregations embarking on a technology project will not have technology built into the annual budgets—or a sole benefactor. There are other ways that you can fund your project, though. Be creative. Pretend you are the youth group! No, we are not saying you have to hold car washes. But we have seen congregations fund technology through special appeals, golf outings, parish festivals, soliciting small groups of donors who have technology interests, endowments or other set-aside funds, grants from denominations or private foundations, or combinations of these various funding methods. Your TechnoTeam was creative when planning for technology—be creative in planning for funding.
DO THE PLAN
You have dreamed, planned, and now have the money. Ready . . . set . . . go for it! The blueprint you carefully prepared is now the map for all project activities and purchases. Implementation is both the most rewarding and most frustrating part of the process. It is a lot of fun to see new technology being installed and used for the first time. Do not be alarmed when not everything works exactly as you planned. Most will. Some will not. When it does not, remember that there is a team of folks who can help; that is, if you have put it in your plan like we said to.
During this phase of the project, the TechnoTeam needs to monitor the purchasing and installation. You may decide that TechnoTeam members can actually do some of the work. Or you may have decided that they cannot. Regardless, the TechnoTeam needs to stay involved, make adjustments as needed, keep the process on track, and communicate with the congregation about what is going on in their midst
CELEBRATE, EVALUATE—AND GET READY TO DO IT OVER AGAIN
Your project is complete. The TechnoTeam is tired but has a real sense of accomplishment. The new technology is humming along in your congregation. Now it is time to celebrate the work you have done together. This is a good time for your congregation to have a technology open house. Or you might take some time in worship to thank the TechnoTeam and dedicate the new resources to ministry, just like many congregations do when dedicating new Sunday school teachers or other ministries. At the very least, you will want to have a team party. Whatever your fashion, it is important to have a time to be thankful, look at where you’ve come from, and rejoice!
After a few months using all your newfound gadgets and gizmos, it’s time to evaluate the project and each of the new resources. Consider the following list of questions in your evaluation:
That last piece is the “do it all over again” part. We have learned that, if technology is used well, it becomes an integral piece of a congregation’s ongoing life. This means that some version of your TechnoTeam needs to become a longer-term committee or group. Things change fast in technology—and people and congregations often make greater use of computers in their ministry than they thought they would when they first began planning. That is why it is a good idea to revisit the technology process at least once every two years. And you need to make sure that technology expenditures become a part of each year’s budget. You do not want to become a St. James—remember them from chapter 2?
HINTS FOR SUCCESSFUL PLANNING
Being a part of a TechnoTeam is fun, challenging—and hard. So here are some tips for making it a little less hard.
Hint 1: Get Professional Help
No, not personal counseling! Professional technology help. This is not to replace the team, but rather to augment its work.
Using professionals is a sore subject for many congregations—especially in congregations that have technology experts who attend there. Our experience has shown that volunteers are not always the best technical resource for congregational technology products. We’ll talk more about this in chapter 11.
We have learned, and so have the congregations we have worked with, that professional help used wisely can actually save money. That is because you are working with qualified individuals and companies. They can make recommendations about implementation, suggest vendors for both hardware and software, and help to manage the project. This kind of assistance keeps your congregation from making mistakes—most often of omission (forgetting something!). Using professional help does not mean there is no place for volunteers. On the contrary, volunteer help—in conjunction with technology professionals—can be a very cost-effective way of handling a congregation’s technology needs. Volunteers, after all, know the congregation, its ministries, and needs. Professionals can help take that knowledge and translate it into specific technical requirements.
Hint 2: Whose Job Is It?
Another helpful hint is to assign the responsibility for completing each task or job to a specific person. If technology maintenance is everybody’s job, then it will soon be nobody’s job. It will not get done. Spread your technology responsibilities between professional resources, lay members, and staff.
Hint 3: Budget Big
Include money for more training than you think you will need. In our experience the most common mistake that congregations make is underestimating the amount of instruction needed. It is disheartening to spend a huge amount of time and effort in planning and implementation only to find that no one knows how to use the new technology. Make sure that staff and volunteers have adequate access to initial and ongoing training. Ongoing is especially important. That is because the group of people trained on hardware or software today may not be the same group of people using them two years from now. Staff and volunteers do change in congregations.
Hint 4: Ecumenical Conversation
Our fourth hint has to do with talking with other congregations. You will not find a better resource than the church or synagogue down the street that is doing what you are planning to do. Find out how successful they are at using particular hardware, software, consultants, training sites, and so on. Ask them what they wish they had known or considered in their planning process. And it’s helpful to talk with more than one person—often the pastor’s perspective is much different than the business administrator’s.
Hint 5: Unplanned Obsolescence
Do not spend time worrying about technology advancing past you. It will. Any hardware you buy should be fine and effective for three years. It is likely that your software will need at least one update in that same period. It may need more than one—especially for your CMS. But these updates can be built in to the anticipated software support costs. (Remember—budget!)
Hint 6: Don’t Rush to Grow Up
Our final hint to becoming effective disciples of the disk is to grow your technology with your needs. Do not buy things you do not need today or in the next six months. Plan now to buy later. Compatibility is not the issue it once was. Most hardware and software can easily be added to your system later.
Technology is here to stay. Wise use of a TechnoTeam can help you ensure that it stays a useful and valued place in your congregation. You are now an official “Disciple of the Disk.”