Emergency Preparedness Basics for Churches

Recently we offered written recommendations to a team responsible to make funding decisions for the next year.

For churches to serve the community following a disaster, they must have a disaster plan, decide what role they will play in a disaster, get free training to understand basic concepts and work with other groups. When disasters happen, once life safety, vital records and property are safe, churches may choose to participate as a one of many stakeholders to serve the community. This reduces duplication of services and helps with cost containment. Churches must be able to remain open or relocate in order to serve effectively.

Form a team and develop a plan. Decide who has authority to activate the plan. Have successors in the event that person can’t serve. A successor amounts to plan B and plan C and does not require a meeting to implement.  There are ready made tip sheets that can guide leaders through developing a plan, but it needs to be unique to your church, parishioners, and community setting.

Identify your churches vulnerabilities.. Begin to address vulnerabilities by prioritizing and funding them in order of importance. Some solutions are free or low cost. Start with nursery through 3^rd grade security, and building access control. Train ushers and greeters to recognize problems and have a policy outlining what to do. We may be able to link this group with a free resource if they need help with that process.

Life safety is most critical. Get your people trained in first aid and take a skills inventory and an equipment inventory-items owned by the church or that individuals are willing to loan to the church to aid in a disaster. Find out what skills equipment you have.

Develop a plan to reunify children with their family following a disaster. There is an excellent free online course through FEMA which results in a pdf certificate. It is an excellent course for youth pastors, Christian education coordinators, or anyone with responsibility for the care of youth or leaders of other programs in the building.

Communication is essential. Many disaster plans fail due to poor communication or a lack of understanding how to coordinate your response with other community groups. Everyone needs to be educated on the plan. They need to know which plan to switch to if plan A fails. For instance, if cell phones don’t work, how will church members communicate? Two good tools are text or twitter. These messages get out when others fail. If the infrastructure is down, only HAM radio will work reliably. All fire stations and emergency management offices have HAM support during disasters.

Research: Behind the Scenes

We have been doing some research.

First, we reviewed a new FEMA course and links to the Interfaith Disaster Network which has links to tip sheets. We shared this information with two groups.

Second, in keeping with our interests in sustainability, green practices and food security we researched several grants through the USDA, and read about the farm and pasture educational opportunities through Clackamas Community College.

Third, we conducted some basic research on an Oregon company and made an informal business offer.


 

Ingenuity: The Path to Growth

If the goal of college is to earn a degree, the price is much too high. A degree is not required, but often helps adults acquire an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Corporations recognize, value and reward employees who are able to teach themselves new skills.  Small businesses have fewer resources, however that does not have to limit ingenuity. With the advent of free or low cost corporate training, and the ability to design and publish online courses to provide standardized training, and share resources, new talent can propel a small business into the big league.

Hiring a big wig might work in a corporate setting. Small businesses are more inclined to grow talent. Aptitude and vision are necessary, but not sufficient. Employees with the ingenuity and willingness to marry operations and identify and motivate new talent are good candidates for succession.

Be Ready: Is Your Church Safe?

Our conversation today was about church security plans. Our caller has a background in corporate security and offered his expertise FREE to a local church. His concern was that there were 400 attacks on churches in the US last year. Remember our theme. Be Ready!

His plan is to present his offer to the Board. He has trained other church groups and tested their abilities to respond. They were able to use their new skills to handle unexpected situations on a moments notice. Testing is an important part of preparedness.

If an intruder walked in through an unsecured door, would your staff or church members know how to handle the situation safely?

Above All...Be Ready!

Above All...Be Ready!

Churches are called to serve. How can the serve if they are vulnerable? Today we received a heads us that a man with a passion to serve was becoming discouraged. His message? Be ready. I'll show you how. The Board heard his plea, but did not know how to help. Our role? Listen and serve as a liaison so he can serve as a valuable resource.

I Peter 3:15 says to be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about your hope in Christ.

How can you rise, serve and give an answer for the hope you have?

• Model responsible social behavior.
• Allow people to serve using ALL of their talents and resources, not just those that fit into tidy pre-approved packages.
• Assess and remedy vulnerabilities.

Key areas of concern:
All churches need a reunification plan to help families find each other following a disaster.
A business continuity plan is necessary to protect vital documents, meet payroll, and continue serving during adverse conditions.
Disaster plans should clarify roles and processes before, during and after a disaster.
This includes who has authority to activate the disaster plan.
Work with community partners and within existing structures to facilitate recovery.

Questions? We can help.

Motivating Introverted Employees

Not everyone is a team player. Team incentives will not appeal to introverts. They are likely to bristle at the suggestion. So how does an employer motivate a valued introverted employee.

First, it is important to understand what motivates an individual. A lot can be learned by observation. Many introverts have difficulty with oral conversations. In fact, they find them painful. Some also find formulating answers in writing difficult. They do better with predictable tasks or working on machines. A simple survey of interests may be helpful. The survey should have categories with selections that can be circled. After each category there should be one line for an introverted employee to write in an alternative.

Introverted employees are not be wired the same way. Offering them season football tickets would not be suitable. While a monetary reward may motivate some employees, others would be happy with their own office or with sharing a spacious office with one compatible person. Introverts often need solitude to do well. If providing a separate office is impossible, at least be attuned to environmental needs such as not having a work space in a high traffic area or where there is loud noise. 

Next, observe obvious interests. Many introverts value a highly aesthetic environment. An appropriate incentive may come in the form of improved aesthetics such as framed art, a water feature, a bamboo partition, or a potted palm tree.

Third, rewards might be a gift card to a favorite book store, or being granted time in an on-site reading or mediation room during work hours.

Lastly, respect an introverted employees need to perform the work in their own unique style as long as the work is completed successfully and on time. Standing over an introverted employee's shoulder diminishes concentration and cooperation. Working with the introverted employees' natural characteristics will ultimately lead to a better outcome.

Four Team Incentives

Teams thrive on incentives. What motivates teams?

Create a baseline to measure the impact of incentives on employee performance. Involve employees in creating the targets for each respective team. Divide those targets into manageable milestones. Divide rewards increasing the value as they move closer to the targets.

Four team incentives include money, a promotion, tangibles and intangibles.

Bonuses rule. Cut teams in on a cost-share bases. Short term targets lead to long term gains. Buy-in leads to ownership. Teams will drive their own success and hold each other accountable to obtain a coveted bonus.

Promotions come in a lot of packages. A prestigious job title coupled new skills help leverage talented teams. Upward mobility usually leads to higher pay and sometimes better benefits. A clear trajectory into management motivates teams to excel.

Tangibles include trips, season sports or concert tickets or a team retreat. Not every team is management material, but any team can improve performance with the right incentives.

Intangibles include recognition, awards, team of the month which should be coupled with special privileges.
This can be a special luncheon or barbeque on company time.

Incentives should be a part of any team approach and available at all levels of the organization.
Conduct an evaluation and make improvements to the incentive program. Change incentives periodically to achieve maximum performance.