Kem Meyer on Less Clutter & Noise

Three most important skills for technology stewards…

This summer I answered a couple of questions for a Worship Leader magazine article.

Name two or three skills or areas of expertise most critical for a worship tech steward or team of stewards?

We serve people, not technology. So the first, second and third most important skill would be the ability to see the human touch at every decision intersection. Too many professionals involved with technology have mad tech intelligence but sad social intelligence. It’s less common to find someone who leads technology action plans through the human touch filter. The best steward of tech or tech teams doesn’t necessarily have all the answers, but knows the right questions (and the right people) to ask:

• How will this decision affect the people involved?
• Are we complicating the problem?
• Are we falling victim to geek and gadget lust or empowering people to release the best out of them?
• What at risk if we don’t do this?
• What will have to change if we do?
• Is it worth the return on investment?

When we ask the right people the right questions, we are able to not only see a picture of today's reality, but are also able to prepare for course changes and growth without breaking or starting from scratch. 

Wrapped up in all of this is the ability to communicate tech benefits (or liabilities) from different perspectives. That’s the key to translating ideas and objectives into functional specifications and designs. The result? People to say “thank you!” instead of “why do I have to do this?”

Who are the people (by skill, function, title) currently involved in stewarding technology (e.g. audio, video, web, social media, mobile) in your church so that they all work well together?" Is there one point person, or many leaders in different areas...(team over various areas vs. single head)?

We’re organized into three main tech areas between communications and creative arts—each one with a unique vocabulary, distinct personality traits and specialized skills. There’s a lot of overlap between the teams, but we’re all protecting the same mission, vision and values so it works well.

• The Tech Arts Team is responsible for supporting a multi-dimensional experience in the auditorium (or any physical facility platform) by strategically and creatively using all audio and visual systems.
• The Tech Ops Team is responsible for empowering people with transparent hardware, software and support and protecting people from technology infrastructure and security pitfalls.
• The Digital Media Team is responsible for using communication technologies (web, social and mobile) to resource people, enable community and encourage spiritual growth.

Even though there are three specific areas for tech responsibilities and deliverables, the culture here is all about shared ownership as one team. There is constant contact between key stakeholders who are intentional about collaboration and cross-training. Although it might be easier if everyone stayed in their own area, it just wouldn’t be as effective.

(Full article.)

Slides, notes & audio about social media & communication…

I thought I’d share some slides, notes and audio from a few of the workshops I’ve had the privilege to lead over the past few months. Hope it’s helpful to you (whether or not you were able to join us at Exponential or ECHO). It just might be the booster shot you were looking for today.

Social Media & Ministry

• Slides (PDF)
• Audio (58:08)

Less Clutter. Less Noise.

• Slides (PDF)
• Audio (1:01:15)
• Notes from Sara Corman
• Notes from Neil Ayers

Church Panel with Charles Lee, Carlos Whittaker and yours truly

• Notes from Tim Schraeder (Behind the scenes… here’s how he does it.)
• Video snippet (4:06)

Imperfect is the new perfect. Transparency builds trust.

When I read about Jet Blue poking fun at themselves over the flight attendant incident, I remembered a place in Making Ideas Happen where Scott Belsky references two stories about the topic of transparency.

• Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, has spoken extensively about how Twitter has helped his company build stronger relationships both externally (with customers) and internally (among employees). He explained in a post on his company blog: ’Because radical transparency was part of the culture of tweeting, I decided to give it a try and be as transparent as possible, both for myself personally and for Zappos. What I found was that people really appreciated the openness and honesty, and that led people to feel more of a personal connection with Zappos and me.’
  
• Andrew Zolli, leader of Pop!Tech, spoke about how transparency has made him more organized. ‘I give up privacy. I’ve learned that no problem I might find embarrassing is unusual. If you’re willing to let people access your life, they’ll find what they need. I’ve open-sourced my life. My calendar, email and contacts are all shared with the organization. I’m highly transparent. You can see what I’m doing as a partner.’

I wholeheartedly agree and advocate that, using a mature filter, transparency in social media can be a powerful source of accountability for individuals and organizations. Over the past couple of years, I’ve talked about the benefits over and over.

• It simplifies my life.
• I share my life.
• There’s good Samaritans out there.
• Our parking lot is getting bigger.
• Charm school (testimonials).

Then, this morning on my walk, it came to me that—sometimes—it just might even be a spiritual practice.

• Rather than struggling to disguise or deny your weakness, allow Me to bless you richly through it. (via Jesus Calling.) ‘Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.’ 2 Corinthians 12:9

Communication as a vehicle not a destination…

Effective communication should move people.

Too often, we spend our energy and creativity focusing on deliverables as if they are the communicator. The best projects, pieces, technology and art we create function as a support tool for a macro message. Tools are deliverables crafted for a purpose. They simplify complexity, inspire people to action and empower people in community.

Tools don’t try to tell the whole story. They are a piece of a story. When we try to tell the whole story with a micro piece (Web page, design, technology, etc.) we horde control and fall in love with our own creation. This is a communication dead end.

I think the folks at SoChurch are illustrating some great examples of what it looks like to weight the purpose over the deliverable. Church communications…simplified. Details are still unfolding, but keep your eye on their blog. They’re releasing new screen shots on a regular basis and posting questions about what SoChurch is and what it isn’t. I’m getting more and more eager to get my hands on this tool.

Learning about love of God thru 320 lb lineman & 13 yr old…

So impressed with Braden Burget… he’s a 13 year old member of the Granger Drama Team & he went TO TOWN! Quick rundown of the Blindside…well done!

The Braden Side from Granger Community on Vimeo.

I think this series is making a connection with people. Online viewers are 3x higher than last week and the highest since May 2009. Next week? Avatar. Can’t wait.

     

Web site liposuction…

Last summer I met some fine folks in North Carolina who told me they’re taking this “Less Clutter. Less Noise.” challenge to heart.

I said “prove it.”

They said “game on!”

This morning, crew member Kristi Johnsen sent me news—they just went live with their new site. The before and after speaks for itself.

      

Congratulations Denver United Methodist Church. You are improving the quality of life and church with less clutter!

Online socials meetup offline for Mashable Social Media Day…

Mashable is hosting the first-ever Social Media Day on June 30 (this Wednesday) and the whole world is invited.

Why? They think a global celebration of socialnomics is in order. Apparently, the world agrees and has responded by organizing more than 340 meetups in 74 different countries.

We’ve even got one scheduled here in Michiana. I’m going to be there “getting social” with other enthusiasts in my own community including:

• Don Schindler (Notre Dame)
• Elizabeth Cecconi (South Bend Airport)
• Edward Koczan (South Bend Police)
• Tim O’Connor (Agency ND)
• Steve Smith (Ordered List)
• Dave Woodson (Entrepreneur)
• & more (#mashSBM)

Thanks to Pinnacle of Indiana & LaSalle Grill for making this happen. Will I see you Wednesday at Club LaSalle from 5:30-8:00 PM? Hope so.

Related link: The Oblivious Boycott—Ignore the Social.

8 lessons for creating social impact…

An excerpt from 8 Lessons For Creating Social Impact (Fast Company). What a great article. (Thanks for the link, Brian!)

“Unfortunately, designers tend to fall prey to ideas that are too attractive and we don't generally have the patience for the lengthy process to see initiatives through to the point of meaningful results (particularly if those results run counter to our attractive ideas).

1. Undervalue Your Own Ideas. They may seem pretty clever to you, but chances are that they won't work the way that you are imagining. Trust me on this one.

2. Don't Pursue Perfection. Keep close to the messy realities on the ground. And test your ideas while they are rough (they will likely stay that way for a long time).

3. You Are Not the Only Creative in the Room. Social entrepreneurs are not only creative, they are fearless. You may find yourself struggling to keep up.

4. Your Perspective Is Not Automatically Unique. Research and empathy are critical to inform and inspire the design process. But it takes time to develop a viable perspective. You won't walk in with one.

5. Learn From Your Elders. There are a number of creative professions, such as urban planning, that have been engaged with social issues for some time. Yet they are rarely represented in current discussions. You would think that this generation of designers are the first to take on social impact.

6. The Web Will Not Save You. While the Internet and mobile technologies are important points of leverage, you need to resist the temptation to assume that communities will miraculously adopt and value these tools just because we thought them up.

7. You Better Be In It for the Long Haul. Ideation is just the beginning. Ideas are cheap. The determination and stubbornness to see them through is critical. Don't underestimate the time it will take.

8. Don't Celebrate Too Early. The design world has hurt its credibility with many social impact organizations by celebrating the wrong thing: Clever ideas that capture our imagination (like the Lifestraw or the Hippo Roller) but have major challenges in the field.”

Three things to consider before your next roll-out...

"If you believe that people hate change and that it is your job to change them, they will hate it.  If you believe that people thrive on change and that your job is to unleash it, you will tap into  a limitless source of ingenuity, energy and drive that will allow you to take your big ideas into big results."

- Michael T. Kanazawa

A centralized system routes information and functions through a main hub to free up resources in other areas. Whether it's for communications, data entry, support ticket-tracking, or something else, the goal of a centralized system is to increase:

• accuracy; bad content leads to poor service
• accessibility; easy-to find resources and easy-to-run reports
• seamless flow; no conflicts or dead ends, start-to-finish distribution
• continuity; a consistent experience across multiple touch points
• cost savings; eliminate manual legwork and duplicate efforts

All of this should be a good thing, right? Right. Except...

Many times anyone outside the central "hub" perceives the system as a bottleneck for their work and a loss of control over their job. The average person doesn't associate "systems" with "good times". And, you won't motivate anybody to replace "what they're used to" with a new policy or rule.

If you're looking for buy-in to generate momentum for a new system across your organization, you've got to figure how how to communicate what people "get out of it" as well as "here's what's at stake if we don't."

• DON'T say: "Everybody has to start doing it this way from now on."
• DO say: "Hey...you've got a job to do, hopefully this will make that job easier."
• DON'T say: "Things are getting out of hand so we're implementing a new policy"
• DO say: "We've reached a size where our old methods are hurting us instead of helping us and here's what we need to adjust."

"It's not that people hate change...they just hate how you're trying to change them."

Jason has implemented quite a few new Tech Ops systems over the years and I've appreciated how he communicates changes along the way. Here's some examples...

1. Why do we need new technology guidelines? To maximize empowerment and minimize liability. These guidelines allow you to do what you want to do without blowing yourself (or the church) up in the process.
2. Why do I have to run my technology purchases through you when I'm paying for it out of my budget anyway? Dude, that's a great question. We don't need to approve your every move, but face it...we're always a stakeholder. Even if you buy that phone or laptop with money out of your own piggy bank, you'll end up using it at work and that affects all of us. Go through IT and it will increase the church's buying power and support capacity. Cut us out of the conversation, and it will ending up hurting you and the rest of the team. Remember "call before you dig"?  It's like that. 
3. Why do we all have the same computers? Equipment standardization across an organization of our size is like a secret weapon. Yes, you may lose your ability to express your individuality through the computer on your desk, but you'll also lose a mountain of technical barriers. Because we're standardized, our machines are compatible with each other; we can swap pieces and parts on the spot with low to no cost. Plus, our support responsiveness is like BAM! because our depth of knowledge makes us experts on one main platform. What does this mean to you? Less downtime and more productivity (believe me, you'll appreciate this when--not if--your computer goes down).

Before you roll-out your next new system, here's three things you want to be sure you can communicate.

1. Current Reality: Use practical examples and stories to describe the situation.
2. Solution: Introduce one thing that's changing and a couple of next steps. Keep it simple. Allow room for questions. There's a chance you may have missed something.
3. Benefits: Don't take anything away without giving something back. Either identify a tangible pain point that will be eliminated or a value gained as a result of the new system.

[This is an edit to a post I originally published in October 2008.]

I just hired an assistant for $30 a month…

Thanks to a tweet I caught last week by Tony Morgan, I discovered Fancy Hands. Although I can’t say I’m crazy about the name (just a little goofy), I can say I’m crazy about what they do.

Why it’s awesome…

Every day there are things you need to get done, but they're not necessarily things that you need to do. What tasks have you been putting off for weeks? They’ll do the legwork, while you work on other things.

How it works…

1. Identify something you need to get done
2. Send an email and tell them to do it
3. A real person will complete your task & get back to you

Here’s a few tasks they’ve completed for me so far…

• Find my old 6th grade teacher. They found her. After 30 years, I spoke to her last week and thanked her for believing in me.
• Find $200 used self-propelled push-mower that sells new for $550. They found new one for $215.
• Find best flights/car rental packages for two trips I’m taking this summer.
• Research inspiring samples of staff structure and team development.
• Find shopping list and step by step plan for beginner gardener. They even researched my climate zone and checked the weather to determine optimum plant time.

The time I’ve saved on these few things alone is well worth the $30 investment and I haven’t even used up my 15 task allotment for the month. You can read more about the Fancy Hands story in Fast Company and ReadWriteWeb.