Case Studies
| Joan Husdon
St. Mark's United Methodist "MSP encourages a culture where people feel part of a team and cover for each other. It's all about enlisting people and building teams... It's been a huge paradigm shift for us." |
| United Methodist |
| Lincoln, NE |
| 386 |
| Ushers, Greeters, Welcome Center Hosts, Tour Guides, Communion Servers, Set Up Teams and Coffee Servers, Leadership Teams |
| www.stmarks.org |
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Text highlighted in yellow only appears in this longer version of the case study.
| Max: |
How was the scheduling done before you found MSP?
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| Joan: |
Emails were sent out and phone calls were made. Our volunteers saw participating in ministry more as a convenience than as a commitment. Multiple callers would get on the phone and contact people – often two or three days before a given weekend. Volunteers said it was sometimes frustrating because two people would be contacting them after they were already booked.
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| Max: |
What prompted you to seek out a scheduling program?
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| Joan: |
I have a background working in the spa and cruise industry so experience has taught me that you need to structure and create commitment and be very proactive in how you get people where they need to be. I wanted to find something to help me pass the baton to our volunteers and get away from making hundreds of phone calls.
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| Max: |
How often do you use MSP and for what purpose do you use it most often?
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| Joan: |
I use it 24/7. [Laughter.] No, I'm serious. The online portion [where volunteers can see when they're scheduled and request substitutes] is constantly being used. I have to be flexible and go online different times of the day. Most of our people access their accounts in the evenings between 8:00 and 10:00 PM at night.
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| Max: |
What would you say are the three greatest benefits of MSP?
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| Joan: |
The number 1 benefit is that MSP encourages a culture where people feel part of a team and cover for each other. Number 2 is it requires a much higher level of commitment. In order to set the program up, you've got to ask people "Are you on board for the next 16 weeks? Yes or no?" The third benefit is that the program saves me hundreds of hours in getting assignments out, and then passes the baton to them. They can say, "Yes I can be there." or "No I cannot". It's all about enlisting people, building teams and helping each member understand it's a collaborative effort to provide a total guest experience. MSP is also sophisticated enough to carry large churches and numerous programs. We are building a new sanctuary and anticipate the need to double the number of people this fall. This has been a huge paradigm shift for us.
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| Max: |
For someone new starting with MSP, what tips would you give them?
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| Joan: |
Well, the first thing I would do is tell them to go back and take a look at your demo. It's important to clearly understand how the program will benefit everyone and conceptualize how it works. Then I did a flow chart and built a plan for my pastors and my Leadership Team and said "Guys, this is how we are going to initiate this tool to help us grow. Here is how MSP will benefit us and how it works." Your video demo about how people can go online for assignments and request subs was very well received.
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| Max: |
Do you use the MSP Emailer?
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| Joan: |
A lot — yes. I use it every Monday to send out reminders and when I want to send out a special message to one particular team. We use it constantly.
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| Max: |
What has been your volunteers' reaction to receiving those personalized emails?
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| Joan: |
The majority say "Joan, we are so glad you are getting this organized, we needed to do this." I get a lot of "thank you's". I have a small minority who do not like it because they were used to being called on a Friday night or waiting until the last minute to sign up for an assignment. I try to solve this by encouraging them to come to stop by the Ministry Scheduler Pro Table to sign up for vacancies periodically right there on the spot.
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| Max: |
Those people that liked to get the call, or don't have emails, does someone follow up with them? Or do they not receive anything, as far as reminders go?
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| Joan: |
Yes, they do. I call people without email to make sure they are included. I make it a point to call people without computers when sub requests or vacancies occur. Postcards with reminders go out every Monday morning to people who cannot go online. People are encouraged to stop by our Ministry Scheduler Pro Table to receive training or request substitutes and sign up for vacancies on Sunday mornings. Some ministers actually look at the vacancies and ask me to book right there on the spot.
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| Max: |
How did you get the volunteers accustomed to going online to view and update their schedule?
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| Joan: |
I had to send out emails initially to introduce it, and then persevere and persevere. It was important to sense people's needs and be sensitive to their fears and be patient and encouraging at the same time. People learn differently and you need to provide training in a way they understand. A great help was putting a link to the MSP Web Terminal on our Web site and including the MSP Web Terminal link in every email correspondence. Then the next thing we did was putting my laptop upstairs so when people could come in to worship they can sit down right next to me and access their accounts. You have to make yourself available and coach and view training as a process. I get about 10 to 15 people every weekend who walk up to our Ministry Scheduler Pro Table and ask me to help them. Usually after only one or two times they master it.
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| Max: |
When volunteers request changes to the schedule, do have MSP set to automatically process those changes or do you have it set to hold them until you can review them?
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| Joan: |
I hold them. Sometimes we get more people to fill subs than we need so that enables me to choose volunteers who haven't served as frequently as others and to contact people without computers. I'm kind of scared of your automatic processing because I'm not yet skilled enough to feel comfortable. I am doing a lot of manual assignments due to special allowances I need to make &mdash for example we have nurses who can only serve the 3rd Sunday of the month. I would say about 50% [of my positions] I am manually arranging, and the rest I am opening up to your automated scheduler so it can designate shared responsibilities.
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| Max: |
What feedback have you received from your volunteers regarding the Web Terminal?
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| Joan: |
They like it a lot because they can go online 24/7. It enables them to be able to view their commitments. The initial hurdle was "Oh gosh, I don't think I can do this. I'm not good with computers." But once they master it, they're on it all the time. I even have some people who study the number of assignments on the full calendars and call me to let me know a friend didn't get as many opportunities as they did. We are also having other ministries outside of hospitality, prayer, etc, asking if they can go online.
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| Max: |
Looking at the big picture, what do you think is the biggest obstacle stopping people from participating in ministry?
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| Joan: |
That's a really good question, I wish I knew that answer. People need to feel like they're valued. If they feel used, or if the amount of hoops they have to go through is too cumbersome, they're not going to get involved. If people feel like they're part of a community with a greater cause that will make difference they will participate. We are already witnessing changes. We're a big church – we have 250 ministries and about 3000 people. One of the things we have to keep focused on is making things so simple that any one walking through our doors knows where to go to get help. If people come in and it takes them six weeks to find out how to sign up, they going to leave. You've got to make it simple.
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