Have you or a fellow media team member gone to the church finance committee and told them that you needed to purchase a new device with the idea that it is the end-all for the media ministry? Then, six months later, you discover that you need to go back again and ask for more money for another vital piece of equipment? And, by this time the finance committee wonders what you did with the money they gave you six months ago? Don’t feel bad. It is a common tale.
The root of the problem comes from the myth that technical purchases are a onetime expense. The truth is that once you commit to technology, it is a lifetime commitment. Therefore, you have to come up with a way to manage the technology. This is where a technology plan comes in.
A technology plan is a road map that assists an organization in determining where they are, and where they need to be to keep the technology current with the needs of the entire ministry at large. It includes not only the hardware and software required, but should also include the people and skills that are necessary to meet these needs. It is a plan that has no real completion date because a technical plan is a journey – and a journey that never ends.
A solid technology plan should start with the organization’s mission and vision statements. Every aspect of the technology plan should be weighed against these statements to make sure it meets the overall mission and vision it is designed to support. This is where many media ministries get off track; they work to meet individual needs instead of contributing to the overall mission of the organization. Once the mission and vision statements are firmly in place, it is time to start the process of creating the initial technology plan. It is best to involve a consultant that is a specialized generalist. I know it seems like an oxymoron but it really isn’t. A consultant of this type knows about multiple systems and how they interact with one another, and how the various systems are used, but they are focused on a given application or market segment.
The best place to start is with a brainstorming session involving all of the church leaders to determine what the future would look like. The focus should not be on the equipment but the needs and requirements of each ministry. For example, if you are doing one of these sessions with the youth ministry, what do they define as their needs? What does their worship look like? What teaching and training material are required? How are you going to communicate with the youth? By asking broad questions, you get to the heart of what the ministries need and not what equipment you need to purchase.
At this point a consultant would compile all of the requirements and gather the ministries together for another brainstorming session. This would start with a presentation of the vision that the church and ministry leaders have for the organization. After the presentation, the consultant or facilitator would open the floor to discuss ways media could meet the vision. Again, this isn’t a place to discuss equipment; the purpose of this step is to address current concerns and requirements. It is more important to work on the “what and why” than the “how.” The “how” comes after you have addressed the requirements of today and the future.
Once the brainstorming session is completed, the members of the media ministry need to determine the current situation from a technical and “people” point of view. What equipment, processes, and personnel are currently in place, and what is missing? Without a consultant involved in this phase, most churches focus on the equipment they need. A consultant keeps the group on track when it comes to identifying the issues or problems instead of trying to solve them (with equipment) at this point.
Now, with the information you have gathered about your current status and the direction that the church at large wants to go, you can start to create a technology map, which, at first, is nothing more than starting with a statement declaring: “Here is where we are today and where we need to be some time in the future.” I suggest planning for five years but focusing on the next three. The life cycles of technology are getting shorter, so planning much more than that is counter productive. At the end of this process you will have a technology road map outlining the path that you will take in introducing new technology and phasing out the old.
Next, you need to evaluate the roadmap to determine whether you have the talent and skills required to support it. Do you need to increase the number of creative folks? Do you need more technical or production people? What skills are required for people to make slides for worship or the new e-newsletter? Do you have those people in the church? How are you going to develop and train the people in your organization to be proficient at using the technology? After all, your organization is going to be judged on the worship experience it provides. If it doesn’t stand up to the quality of what these people experience in the commercial world, you will not be taken seriously. Therefore, your media team – whether it’s comprised of a full-time staff or volunteers – must be properly trained. (It is this author’s opinion that the church should be proactive in training and supporting their people in the their given area of ministry.)
By this time, all the elements for the technology plan have been gathered and created. Now it is time to work out the details. This includes a visual map of the plan, budgets for working through the plan, and the talent and skills required. In addition, it should determine how you are going to implement a recruitment and training program for those interested in the various areas of technical and media ministry.
From this plan, everyone throughout the entire organization will know what the needs and requirements are to support the mission and vision of the church. The financial committee will know what they need to do to support the plan financially. The pastor and other leaders will know what is available to them and what is coming in the future. The plan keeps everyone on track by increasing communication between all the ministries, which in turn decreases tension and potential problems.
A word of warning: a technology plan is not written in stone. Over the course of the plan you will need to make adjustments. This should not be taken lightly. Start with the leaders of the church and discuss if the new idea meets the mission and vision of the ministry. Next you will need to figure out how to incorporate it into the current plan. Even if something is thought to be very simple – like the purchase of a new device – it can derail the overall plan. First, it takes money already needed for the plan at large, and second, the device may be incompatible with the needs of the long-term plan. It should also be noted that if there is a new emerging technology that arises two years into the plan, don’t ignore it because it isn’t in the plan or you could be left behind on a new but viable medium of the future. The bottom line is that it’s important to have a plan and work it, but always compare the plan to the church’s mission statement and to the progress of technology. Again, a good technology consultant can assist in guiding you in the proper direction, and more times than not, will save you much more than you would pay them.
Finally, a solid technology plan is a tool for increasing communication, and if it is implemented properly, provides for a higher quality presentation of the most important message there is.
Brent Harshbarger is the Founder of m3tools™ a company whose sole purpose
is to develop and support multimedia ministries. Brent can be reach via email
at brent@m3tools.com.
