Are our people adequately informed of our church’s activity, schedule, and decisions?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR TEAM-BASED EVALUATION & PLANNING:

• We are appropriately utilizing every communication tool at our disposal (online, email, text messaging, property signage, snail mail, etc.) to effectively communicate with our people:
  • • 1—2—3—4—5
• We are communicating with clarity, concision, and consistency across all communication platforms:
  • • 1—2—3—4—5
• Multiple people are reviewing communications before sent to make sure it is clear, concise, and consistent:
  • • 1—2—3—4—5
• We believe our people feel appropriately informed on primary church decisions right now:
  • • 1—2—3—4—5
• Our staff and leaders are communicating on a regular basis, daily or frequently:
  • • 1—2—3—4—5

Review your answers to determine key areas of strength as well as those areas that need additional growth. Your responses may change week to week as you ramp up your regather phases, so it would be wise to revisit these questions often. Be sure to check out some of the resources linked below as well as on the sbtexas.com/covid19 site. In addition, email the SBTC staff who stands ready to assist any church that needs help or encouragement.

What tools of communication are proving most effective in getting the word out to our people with clarity, concision, and consistency?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR TEAM-BASED EVALUATION & PLANNING:

• How are our people responding to digital graphic communications? Text messaging? Email? Videos? Snail mail? Website? Social media?
• Do our digital communications have a synergistic feel? Are we using the same color scheme, font package, bumpers, etc. to effectively and consistently represent our brand?
• Which church members are actively sharing social media posts and seem to have a handle on how to effectively get the word out?
• Are we getting better or worse at being clear, concise, and consistent in our communication?
• What seem to be our major challenges in effectively communicating with our people?

How can we develop an effective communication strategy for our church?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR TEAM-BASED EVALUATION & PLANNING:

• What effective new tools of communication might we need to incorporate into our church’s normal channels (text messaging, social media, graphic over video, etc.)? Which communication tools will we no longer use?
• Who might be a good fit, either staff or lay leader, to oversee the communication ministry of our church?
• How can we effectively communicate clear next steps for our digital audience who may be interested in knowing more about or being more involved with our church?
• In the future, who will put eyes on church communications before they are made public? (Who develops, who double checks, and who disseminates?)
• How can we become even more synergistic in our digital communications (the color scheme, font package, bumpers, etc.) to consistently represent our brand?

Strategize the Path Forward:

• Start by listing all communication tools at your disposal, ranked in the order of their effectiveness for your people.
• Decide which communication tools you will keep in the future and which you will drop — make a plan.
• Who is responsible for overseeing communication through each tool? Who develops, who double checks, and who disseminates?
• List date(s) for expected completion of the revised communication strategy.
• Set a specific date for a follow up discussion with your team in the next 3 months to discuss and reevaluate.