Skype, iTunes, and Blackberry Desktop are three programs critical to my daily productivity. Yep, I would be lost (professionally and personally) without my three amigos. Why these three? Well Skype allows me to quickly and easily reach out to my team members, colleagues and family members for one-on-ones or group meetings. My iTunes library gives me easy access to my favorite inspirational songs (a must-have to start each day) and should I need to “whip my head back in forth” I can get the party started with a click of my mouse. Lastly, my blackberry desktop software keeps everything in line for me –who knows where I’d be without the “sync all”?
Earlier this week we began the “Reboot. Restart. Recalibrate.” series. We discussed rather than restoring (to take back to the riginal state) our ministry marketing systems, we may need to just simply reboot things (start again from where we are) in order to achieve optimal performance. By pressing CTRL+ ALT+ DELETE on our computers we are able to stop all systems that are currently running, allow them to quickly refresh, and manually start only the ones that we need now again. Have you noticed that when you pressed CTRL + ALT+ DELETE that not all the programs remain hidden? Some of them pop up like magic! You don’t have to double-click, drag and drop, or touch anything and whoop there it is! It just starts running all by itself.
Ok, I will level with you, it’s not magic J you nor do you need a “super” machine. Rather these programs are set to “launch upon start-up”. Someone you, the manufacturer, or your teenager indicated upon installation of the software that these programs should simultaneously start when your computer starts. How efficient, huh? Similarly, your ministry or organization should have a few processes that automatically launch upon start-up (or some other action…but we will get to that in a sec). For example, when a new person visits your church (online or off-line) what happens? Is there a set pattern/sequence of events that take place EVERY time? Is this process implemented automatically or it is an after-thought? Take some time this month and evaluate your current systems:
1. Is there anything in your current mode of operation that flows automatically?
2. What triggers this process? (in the above example it was the indication that a person is a “visitor”)
3. Is this sequence documented?
4. When performed correctly, what results do you expect to receive?
5. *BONUS* If you currently have no systems which start automatically, look for ways to begin implementing at least ONE by January 31st. I am eager to hear of your progress. Post your results below or email with your questions at info@moruwa.com.