Faith and Web

We’re back from 12 glorious days in Britain. It’s been years since I’ve been abroad and I wasn’t sure what to expect on returning. Would I be overjoyed to see my trusty computers again? Or sad to return to the grind?

Like many geeks, I’m an introvert. My ideal day consists of puttering with code, punctuated by reading and a solitary walk. To my amazement, however, my main reaction to the end of this lovely holiday is delight in reuniting with friends, particularly church friends – be it via email, web, phone or (best of all) in person.

The Nerd Herd Dines

As luck would have it, my first day back ended with a meeting over dinner of the church’s Technology Committee (AKA the Nerd Herd). Granted, I’m a bit dewy-eyed at the moment, but for some time I’ve considered this august body to be a major asset to our church. Today I decided to analyze precisely why.

As you might have guessed, the Nerd Herd came into being to address a crisis. About two years ago, the staff computers were in shambles. The Board was willing to use some of our then scarce funds to replace of all the equipment. But a few of us stomped our feet and said (more or less): “Don’t you dare. It’s not the equipment that’s the problem. That’s a symptom. It’s a lack of infrastructure.”

Fortunately, the Board listened to us. And then a very dedicated, as well as talented, geek stepped up to the plate, saying he’d be happy to chair a technology group.

When we first met, we identified what the problems really were, and then we set out to fix them. We recommended replacing much of the hardware, and while this might look like we were back to Plan A, really we weren’t. We made sure systems were much more secure, we were organized, and we set up ways to keep track of licenses, etc. – gathering documentation in a couple of central places (including a wiki).

There are now eight of us, with a strong presence of large males and beer drinkers. But really it wouldn’t matter if we were twelve drummers drumming, as long as it works. And it does. Here’s why.

Key Ingredients for Successful Church Tech Support

1. An excellent leader. Our chair (shepherd?) is supportive of all members, and very hands on with the staff. We know we’re very lucky, and we’re grateful for his able leadership.
2. Gratitude and respect. The appreciation of our chair extends in other directions. He sets the tone, and we are respectful of each other – laced with a boatload of crazy jokes and laughter. Respect doesn’t have to equate with fear.
3. A clear understanding of our mission. We are there to support the technology needs of leadership, particularly staff. We are reactive, not proactive. When there’s a need, we listen and take care of it.
4. An easy procedure for staff-in-need. Early on, we set up an email address that forwards to all members of the committee. When staff members have a tech problem, they simply email this one address. If email is down, then there’s a prioritized list of phone numbers. To get this going, we sent a marvelously succinct (7 lines, to be precise) memo to staff. It went: “FUUN Tech Help. If your church computer doesn’t work, the church’s Internet access is lost, etc., here is what to do – in priority order….” The remaining lines listed the tech committee email address, followed by phone numbers.
5. Infrequent meetings. We don’t often gather physically – just once or twice a year. Initially we had to meet more to get things sorted out, but that was then. We get it that just because we’re a committee doesn’t mean we have to meet a lot. Some committees (e.g. Nominating) do, but not us. On the other hand, it’s good we meet occasionally. Several people noted over dinner that our meeting is an important part of their church experience. It’s one of the best ways to be in community – breaking bread (and more) with those who share a similar worldview – in our case, a perspective shaped by zeros and ones.
6. Clear and easy procedures, particularly around documentation. The procedures are informal, but they work. Specifically, we have a notebook to gather all of those rabbit-like software CDs and a wiki where any of us can add or update general documentation.
7. Recognition of differing areas of expertise. One of the realities of church life is that once you are perceived as a geek, the average congregant and staff member assumes you can do anything with a computer. Of course this is nuts. But that doesn’t mean people get it. They may in a hazy kind of way, but that’s it. From their perspective, something is wrong and you’re more likely to be able to fix it than them. In fact, that’s true, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay. It’s a classic set-up for burnout. Keep asking people to fix things they don’t know that much about, and guess what. Not only will they stop doing it, they’ll probably stop coming to church. We have overlapping but diverse areas of expertise and respect that. We’re very fortunate to have a network/security expert on our team. Other areas of expertise include email, desktop support, hardware setup, hardware maintenance, programming and web.
8. Great boundaries. We actually keep a very low profile. We don’t want church members to get the idea that we are there to help them individually. Thus, for example, you won’t find us listed in the church directory with the other committees. Also we don’t initiate work. We simply respond when appropriate people ask us to.

If technology at your church is a mess like ours was, I’d heartily recommend looking at the infrastructure and setting up a team like ours. Just be sure to find a great shepherd.

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About six weeks ago I received our church’s Virginia Grantham Service Award. I was deeply touched, particularly by the incredible generosity with which it was given. I forget what our wonderful Board President, Ginger Brown, said, but I know it involved my web work and some other more difficult tasks I’ve had to do at church over the years.

Then consider the person the award is named after. Virginia is one of my heroines – a long-time (50 year?) member of the church, who has served steadfastly with kindness and humility. A minister once said Virginia is an angel. It makes sense to me. I think everybody loves her, probably because she loves everybody. She’s our church’s equivalent of a national treasure, so to have an award with her name on it? I shake my head in wonder.

And yet…. I have such reservations about awards at church. While it means the earth to me, still I question the wisdom of this practice. I know that people are hurt when their work is overlooked. It’s not that they are jealous of the people receiving the award. To the contrary — they’re happy for them. (At least that’s the case for those I talk with.) It’s more that it can affirm in one more way what they already were guessing – that their contribution is not valued. From what I know, our most valuable behind-the-scenes workers are particularly at risk when awards are being given.

I hear there are other faith traditions where volunteers aren’t even told thank you and that’s okay. I’m not sure how this works, but I think it has to do with an understanding that God sees, and your work is done for God. I love this approach, although I’m certain it wouldn’t work in Unitarian Universalist congregations.

Would that there were some way appreciation could be given in just the right amount – not too little as is so often the case, but not too much either. I don’t know what that would look like, and I don’t know how a church can extricate itself gracefully from giving awards. Do you?

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Have you ever had a web project you volunteered for turn bad? I certainly have. It can even happen after I’ve done all the right groundwork. Actually it’s inevitable for those of us who volunteer frequently. But I don’t think that should discourage you. It doesn’t happen that frequently and when it does, it’s a classic opportunity for growth.

Often the issue is scope creep. Those in control want more than they originally said they did. Or they might not like a design you’ve created and rather than working with you, they start telling you what you should do. Yet another type of rogue client will insist that you put absolutely everything willy-nilly on the home page. They won’t listen to reason, much less consider usability tests.

Whatever the specifics, you’ll know, because suddenly your enthusiasm will evaporate. You might even start to dread working on it, even though it’s just a volunteer job.

So what do you do? I’d say it’s time to (in the immortal words of a dear friend) “fire the client.”

Of course, you could confront the issue head-on. That sounds like the honorable thing to do. But it never, ever works in my experience when the issue is volunteering your web expertise. There are many people who don’t understand web work, but won’t admit it. They might be embarrassed, afraid or even ashamed that they know less than you. Of course, that’s silly. Alternatively they could be arrogant or one fruit loop shy of a full bowl. The particulars vary, but the end result is that they underestimate what’s required. Oddly enough they can simultaneously overestimate the difficulty of the whole project, no matter what you say to them. But both of those suggest they aren’t listening.

If they aren’t listening, then saying more won’t work. That’s why a direct confrontation isn’t a great strategy. Instead, I’ve discovered two techniques that are relatively easy and painless. While they won’t fix the website, they get you out.

Politely suggest that they find someone else. I learned this technique from a first-rate contract programmer. When clients go sour on him, first he’ll call someone like me and vent. Then he calls the client and tells them that clearly they need someone more talented than him. He says he’s sorry he wasn’t able to provide what they wanted. One time when he did this, the employer tried to find someone else, and quickly realized he wasn’t going to find anyone better. He returned with a greatly improved attitude.

Focus on the reality that you have limited time – again, politely. You’re a volunteer, so you have more say over your hours. In my most recent less-than-stellar experience, I told them that, due to circumstances, I could only give them eight more hours. That elicited a much-needed thank you. The person suddenly realized how much time I’d put in. She was typical in that she meant well. She just wasn’t the right person to be coordinating this work. I exited stage right, without burning bridges.

There are plenty of other places that can successfully use what you have to offer, so a graceful retreat rather than trying to fix the problem is best. And believe it or not, even though it’s only volunteer work, your reputation is at stake.

So those are my best strategies for when web volunteering gets rough. Do you have others? I’d love to hear.

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Lately I’ve been doing volunteer webmaster work beyond the four walls of my church. It’s still church-work – sometimes obviously so and sometimes not – but it’s for other good causes. After one less-than-stellar experience, I truly love doing this work.

What makes this possible? I’d say it comes down to two things: understanding why I do this work and then setting great boundaries.

Why Volunteer

Over and over I read that the key to happiness is helping others. That jives with my experience, but then there’s the question of whom do you help and how? At my church, a lot of emphasis is put on “justice work” – what other faiths might call charity or compassion. Some run soup kitchens, some do prison ministry, some work at under-served schools, and so on.

If you, like me, love many aspects of web work, then doing websites for such people is a natural way to help. There are so many wonderful organizations that have poor or non-existent sites. And you get to do what you love for a good cause. What could be better?

How to Volunteer

So that’s the theory. The reality, however, can be mixed. Working with people is messy. They’re not like computers. Computers may get frustrating, but they don’t have hidden agendas, negative emotions, etc., etc.

The key in my experience is to set up great boundaries. For example, at my church, Communications people are constantly telling others that the web staff just does the plumbing. We don’t provide the water, i.e. the content; we just channel it.

What this means is, in the earliest stages of volunteering on a website, get as much clarity as you can on exactly who will provide the content (including photos) and who will maintain it. Similarly, make sure that the people you will be working with have a good sense of your area of responsibility and expertise.

I’m constantly amazed at non-webmasters who will tell me what a good website needs. They typically fall into the classic trap of assuming what they like works for everyone. While I don’t pretend to know everything about websites, chances are I know a good deal more than they do about whatever the particular topic-at-hand is.

PDFs are a great example. I have lots of experience with when and how best to use PDFs. PDF is not (as some think) the devil’s handmaiden. Nor is it a format you can use for most of a website — though I’ve had people try to order me to do just that. (Typically they are caught in the print paradigm.)

A certain amount of explaining your position is fine, but if they can’t listen to you, then you need to get out. Fast. I don’t know what it is with such people, but sometimes they’ll go so far as to say that you’re being arrogant, stubborn and the like. Yikes. Of course, you want to avoid getting to that stage if you can. Volunteering is all well-and-good, but it doesn’t mean you have to tolerate such behavior.

Fortunately, in my experience, such people are increasingly in the minority. They used to be more common when the web was less understood. My rough estimate is that it’s now down to about one in three. Just be on your toes early on and don’t commit until you’re fairly certain you can work well together.

The last key boundary is to be clear on time. Figure out if and how your schedules can work together. Find out when they will provide you key content. And be realistic and forthright about your own time. I only volunteer to do small sites (say 30 or fewer pages). At the front end I say that I usually do volunteer work on weekends, so it will take a while. If my pace works for them, that’s great. If not, then they can look for someone else, and no harm is done.

Once you have your work lined up and boundaries delineated, then the fun starts. You get to tap into some amazing work, find out what’s really going on, discover what they love on the web, and stretch your skills to meet their needs. You’ll not only be creative, you’ll make friends and get to laugh together — and I bet you’ll make a difference in the world.

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