Your digital platforms are not the only things that can serve missions. A team of web professionals bring years of experience and a wealth of ideas to the table. Your team of paid staff and volunteers can aid missions in ways they might not have thought of. Here are a few ideas to get your team involved in mission work for your church.
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Category: Digital Teams
A successful digital ministry does not build itself. Teams of staff and volunteers make the impossible, possible. This is a collection of project management, leadership, and general tips in effectively managing teams.
Growing the Best Digital Team
How do you most effectively grow your church’s digital team? Through great experiences and learning opportunities. It would be easy to hire the world’s premiere web specialists. It would also be expensive. If you do not have the resources to make that happen, the next best thing is to create them yourself. This article discusses how we can best grow and nurture our digital teams.
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Adding Diversity to your Web Team
Diversity for your web team can lead to great results. While it is not a formula for success, diversity can lead to diversity in thought. Diverse thought can lead to better solutions and faster innovation. I am not saying that success is dependent upon diversity. Yet it can increase your odds. If this is so great, how can you do it more easily? That is exactly what I will discuss in this article.
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Integrating Digital Communications Teams
A web team is not a secluded bunch of techno-geeks that should not communicate with the rest of your church. Digital communications are becoming one of the most essential functions of the modern church. Your leadership needs to realize that their inclusion in many facets of the church is what will help you flourish. Meetings and discussions should rarely occur without their knowledge or input.
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Tackling Web Projects One Bite at a Time
How do you eat something the size of an elephant? One bite at a time. This is simple but powerful advice for a church web team facing large projects. So many tools and activities I mention on this blog need a lot of time to put in place. One thing I am sure you do not have is the time to work on them. Yet if done in smaller chunks, these larger problems become easier to swallow.
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Website Development Methodologies
How do you make your church’s website? I am not talking about tools, but rather processes. There are several website development methodologies you can use. In this article I am explaining the three most popular methods. This includes discussing their characteristics as well as their pros, and cons. Hopefully this will educate you on what exists and what will best work at your church.
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Cautiously Cultivating a Personal Brand
Have you ever heard of Billy Graham? Does the name Rick Warren ring any bells? These men and many others have contributed greatly to the kingdom. They also invested in creating a personal brand as well. If done properly, it is not a narcissistic or prideful thing to do. It gives you focus as well as a bit of fame. That fame, when stewarded well, can be a powerful force for change. This is a quick guide to creating an online personal brand while remembering that it is not all about us.
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Preventing Burnouts
If you are reading this article, I imagine you diligently work to make the best church website possible. You know the site will only be as good as you (and your team) make it. Yet if you are tired or frustrated, you will not perform well. I will admit that some of these tips do not seem like fun at first glance. I purposely avoided the obvious ideas of spending time with friends and/or family. This list is to re-energize your enthusiasm for promoting your church’s digital mission.
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The Dangers of Scope Change
Often the only constant on your web team is change. Unfortunately those changes have the possibility of completely derailing a project. Changes to a website project’s scope cause adjustments in timeframes, effort, cost, and research. Most companies utilize project managers to mitigate these risks. However, small church web teams often do not have this luxury. This article will explore what scope changes are, how they occur, and how you can mitigate the impacts to your timelines and quality.
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Prepare for Emergencies Today
Emergencies and problems tend to sneak up on us at the worst possible moments. Annoying things like losing your keys when running late happen on a regular basis, but real disasters can set us back a lot. Similarly, digital disasters can set a church back weeks or months; slowing progress and momentum they were gathering. Yet by preparing today you can help mitigate the possibility of your online ministries grinding to a halt. This article will cover four areas you should prepare for, and the steps you need to take.
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Web Teams: Skills and Credentials
You may have read my previous article on starting an in-house team and wondered what those “specialized roles” might mean. Perhaps you are considering hiring someone to help you with your church’s website, and their resume reads like a Latin church service. More importantly, aside from a business card, you are unsure what skills they truly possess, and the credentials that this person their so-called expert status. Instead of focusing on job titles I will discuss some common skill and credentials those potential employees and volunteers should possess.
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Web Teams: Starting An In-House Team
How do you go about creating an in-house web team for your church? What skill sets do you hire, and in what order do you bring them on board? Whether you are starting a website from scratch, or are taking it over after an external company developed it, there are several key roles you must fill on your new team. These roles are in a purposeful order, which is not to say that one is more important than the other. It is just a logical progression of needs and skills that will get your website running quickly and in the right direction.
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