mike willingham

Mike Willingham — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 04:44:39 +0000

VOLUNTEERS

Mike Willingham — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 20:15:01 +0000

If you have volunteers, here are a couple of points that might help you and your volunteers.

RECRUITING

Your best volunteers most likely will not offer their services. The won’t visit a booth, kiosk or table. The best people rarely raise their hands. Not because they don’t want to volunteer, contribute or get involved, but because these people are usually being asked by so many people outside of your ministry for their time, the advice and their money. People are just waiting to be asked.

COMMUNICATION

Vision – Keep the vision clear. Whatever it is you’re asking your volunteers to do, make sure they understand the vision.

- Make sure your volunteers know who your team is (staff, as well as current volunteers) and what are the responsibilities of your team.

- What roles are available – what they might be doing and if there are any special requirements or skills they might need to posses in order to be successful.

- A list of guidelines and functions for the area/position: Guest Services (Information, Parking, etc), Creative, Production, etc.

The church I attend and volunteer (newlifechurch.tv) recently had a “Vision Night” for volunteers involved in Creative. It was awesome! This gave staff (including the Senior Pastor) the opportunity to clearly communicate the vision but, more importantly, it was a time of worship for volunteers – many who are there working each weekend.

They’re not crazy - I can’t stress this point enough. The occasional reminder by leadership that what they are doing really matters. Most volunteers needs someone to tell them their not crazy for giving their resources (whether time, money, etc). That they’re not crazy for putting in the 10, 15, or 20 hours a week – beyond the 50 or 60 hours they’re probably working.

Sometimes, people suck! - Feedback & Evaluations. Provide this to your volunteers. This is a critical part of accomplishing your vision. Just as people want praise when they’re doing a good job, most people want to be stretched – to be better at what they do. It doesn’t need to be anything formal. Be creative! If you have ideas on this or have done this – please share.

REMEMBER…..

Your volunteers are just like the individuals who are walking through the doors of your church each weekend. They are looking to connect, have burdens that need to be lifted, prayers that are needed, and they want to experience moments of God visiting – seeing life-change in others and, themselves.

The Essence of Grace

Mike Willingham — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:23:23 +0000

Real Life. Real People.

Mike Willingham — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 02:38:42 +0000

Chik-Fil-A produced the video below for their associates to remind them that everyone they interact with is a chance to create a remarkable experience – to look beyond the transaction.

Chik-Fil-A, even without the video, definitely has service and food worth making a remark about. For me…I always want it on Sunday, but then think about it and am glad they are one of the few corporations that hasn’t compromised.

Take some time and watch this video. After, think about everyone you came in contact with today.

EVERYONE HAS A STORY. EVERYONE’S STORY MATTERS.

Everyone also has a desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Many times organizations have difficulty getting individuals involved in an initiative. Are you giving your audience (employees, customers, members, prospects, etc.) a compelling reason to become engaged? To give their time? To give their money? To go the extra step to be remarkable? People need to know they are having a positive impact. They need to see it.

Most likely, there is “life-change” happening in your organization. Many times those stories can be used to illustrate people can get involved and be a part of this life-change. In most cases, if you’ll take some time to listen to someone’s story you’ll be motivated and inspired.

People are telling you their story everyday. Are you listening?

“The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour’s glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken…It is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit…” -C.S. Lewis

There’s a lot to be learned from Nordstrom

Mike Willingham — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:33:56 +0000

Nordstrom Department Stores wants you to enjoy Thanksgiving, before you enjoy Christmas! This means the department store will not be decorating their stores for Christmas until the Friday after Thanksgiving. For years, Nordstrom has placed a sign like this one in their stores to let customers know about their policy. They probably could have not had signage printed and few customers would have noticed, much less said anything. But, Nordstrom always does a great job at connecting with their customers – this is just another one of their brilliant ways…and with minimal cost.

Take a look at the Nordstrom sign in the window and see if you don’t feel warm and fuzzy – even if you’ve never shopped at a Nordstrom, you probably want to now.

Are you babbling?

Mike Willingham — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 20:02:14 +0000

Long-winded letters, never ending emails, status updates on every event…ever wonder how someone can send so many tweets? I don’t know about you, but many times in conversations, letters and emails I often want to just fast-forward to the bottom line. Add this to everything else that happens on a daily basis and you can quickly get into information overload – much of which is unnecessary.

Okay, I’ll admit it. There are times when I over communicate. Recently, I was giving some advice and direction to a friend of mine. Before our discussion he said something that surprised me and caused me to do some reflection – he asked me to not lecture him. Basically, he told me he was interested in receiving advice, he just didn’t want to hear a speech. His statement made me realize there are times when I spend a lot of time persuading and underscoring my point(s) and doing all the talking. This is just as bad as those never ending emails, blog posts, etc!

BOTTOM LINE: Don’t make people work hard and have to sort through the clutter to find what’s important.

White Noise

Mike Willingham — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:15:19 +0000

Think about everything we put our mind through every moment of the day – the plethora of emails we receive, phone calls placed and received, text messages, the commute to and from work, instantaneous news alerts…the list is endless. To enhance this daily stress, our brain turns the volume up, on the most pressing matters. There are times it’s difficult to break through all the noise and determine what’s really important. This is the challenge we face on a daily basis.

Many organizations pay little attention to this as they market to you. Take a minute and think about the things you’ve already accomplished so far today! Getting the kids to school, lunches prepared, bills paid, animals fed…you get the picture. Whether you’re a large corporation, a non-profit, small business or church – before you send that mass mailing (snail mail or email), hold that seminar, pass out that flyer or brochure, ask – Is this information going to just add to the noise? There is little doubt the information is meant to be helpful but, could you break down even further and make it more simple?

If you’re goal is to effectively communicate, don’t make your audience work so hard.