Volunteers - Some Advice?

[Pastor Ryan]

sit with the individual(s) for a couple of services and make sure they do it right.

[ChurchWebSherpa]

Hmmm.. while it seems like this is a heart discussion, I will throw a technical response back at you that may just save everyone's feelings. Have you thought about giving the pastor his own clicker? He forwards himself, so it saves time. I really like this one. It's got a SUPER bright green laser, which is easier to view than red by 10x, 150 foot range. Wow.

[johnboy]

I would agree with the attentiveness.
Maybe someone needs to sit with him and shadow during the service.
If he is dealing with confidence issues, more training, or other placement in a non critical position may be in order.

[Paris MkVI]

I second spending some time with the person, investing in them. It's always better to do that first. Investing in others and pouring what God gave us into them is one of the big reasons we are here.

[ppr7997]

I second the idea for a schedule. A regular rotation of trained, gifted folks is where you need to be. You say the guy is there doing tech just about every Sunday. I don't care how passionate you are, that is not healthy either. Perhaps you could use that as a lead in to your conversation?

[Steven]

A few very good ways to minimize potential distractions would be to have an obvious "Do not disturb" sign near the work location (or lock the door if it is a separate room);
to have someone else act as a sort of "bouncer" to keep people from becoming a distraction (after a week or two, they usually get the hint);
or to have the operator wear headphones, even if they aren't hooked up to anything (they the service audio would be great). People tend to be more shy about talking to someone who is wearing headphones.

Also, having the current operator train someone is a good way to solve the problem. You gain a new operator, and have the opportunity to provide your own input ("Now, you don't want the slides to be distracting, so only put them up when the speaker calls for them. Joe here is pretty good about that, but it takes practice"). The danger, though, is that you may end up with two operators who do a less-than-satisfactory job.

[churchtech007]

My pastor tells me every time I have to "talk" to someone.
"You can tell people things over lunch you can't tell them at church."
Take him out to lunch, show a little interest in him and then lay it out.
It will go a long way toward making a difficult situation smooth.

Jonathan

[tedanderson]

have an obvious "Do not disturb" sign near the work location

As silly as this might sound, the sign will only attract more people and encourage them to disturb the operator. A church that I was consulting tried to assist me this way (because I needed help with crowd control) but it seemed like everyone who felt that they were exempt from the DND rule came over to bother me. Every 5 minutes someone came over and said, "Sorry to disturb you, Ted, and I know what the sign says but blah-blah-blah--blabba-blah..."

have someone else act as a sort of "bouncer" to keep people from becoming a distraction

That's about the only thing that works better than wearing headphones. And your bouncer has to be direct, firm yet tactful. "Sir/ma'am, can I help you? Well I am sorry but Bob is working right now and cannot be disturbed. Oh, you have a quick question? Well give it to me and I will be sure to ask him for you when the time is right."

And not to be overly critical of the situation because I am sure there is more to this than we really know but I would have to ask why the people are not seated and listening to the sermon. Just like nobody is allowed to walk up to the front and disturb the pastor while he is preaching, the guy working the presentation should be afforded the same level of importance and resepct.

[Jay Craft]

Originally Posted by tomoairwav

• The Issue: During the Sunday Celebrations, the PPT operator has the slides jumping back and forth, looking very disorganized and very distracting. Advancing before they should, going back, causing animations to get lost, etc. A real train wreck.
• The Question: How to deal with a very intelligent and technical person, a loving heart, a willing volunteer and a friend? He is there 51 out of 52 weeks a year.

Brief background: We are a 3 year old church plant, very contemporary, lots of good, up to date tech stuff. Pastor prepares in advance with a well documented outline. PPT team puts 10 - 14 hours each week into a very well done presentation. PPT team reviews it with pastor before the Celebration and then reviews it with the PPT operator. The pastor's notes have been highlighted and has bold arrows in the margins where an advance needs to happen. We use presenter's view, so before and after slides are on the operator's screen, easy to see.

The PPT team occasionally runs it and it works flawlessly - but of course they are intimate with it. On the other hand, there is so much prep, I think a totally untrained person could come in at the last minute and do it. This operator knows without anyone telling him he blew it and sincerely apologizes.

I am frustrated, the pastor is frustrated and we want to "make it better". I would appreciate any thoughts, advice, etc. Again, this is a loving friend and a charter member of this church.

Thanks for your help!

Do you have rehearsal times? maybe putting policy in place that whoever is the tech for the main service(s) is the one who runs rehearsal. We use this method, it makes for a very organized and orderly service, and cuts down on the number of oops's to a minimum.

[D.R.HADDOCK]

Originally Posted by churchtech007

My pastor tells me every time I have to "talk" to someone.
"You can tell people things over lunch you can't tell them at church."
Take him out to lunch, show a little interest in him and then lay it out.
It will go a long way toward making a difficult situation smooth.

Jonathan

As a technical person myself, I can see your difficulty.
But I also understand the need for minimum standards,
So find the right time, the right place and sit down and talk with him,
dont beat around the bush, be open and honest with him,
If the senior staff are not happy with his performance tell him that,
most people value honesty from colleges.

[hubbytait]

Cool work..!!