Are you…Listening, Understanding, & Connecting?

So, you’re looking for ways of staying “plugged in” to the people within (and maybe outside of) your church. Good for you! Church Communication is a growing topic of consideration among many church leaders. At MyChurchSurvey.com, we believe that "people research" is at the heart of any good communication agenda, and that this research is comprised of 3 distinct actions: Listening, Understanding, & Connecting.

Listening
People are talking, and as church leaders it is important that we listen. It is one of the very first steps of becoming a healthy church. Jesus listened to people. He took the time to learn their fears, expectations, needs, and perceptions. Church surveys are a great way to quickly (and easily) hear what people are saying. It allows people to be truly honest about their hang-ups and desires, and lets leaders hear first-hand how to best understand and connect with the people their ministering to.

Understanding
So now you’ve listened, (good job!) but have you taken the time to understand? Good communication may begin with listening, but it can’t stop there. It must continue towards genuinely empathizing for others. Oftentimes, this is where communication begins to breakdown. It’s usually not that people haven’t sat down to “listen” to one another – but that they’re not taking the time to understand and respect the other person’s feelings. Even if changes can’t be made to satisfy a person’s desires, at least give them the benefit of truly understanding and acknowledging their perspective.

Connecting
This last step comes pretty easily if you’ve gone through the first two. That’s because it’s easy to reach and communicate with people that you’ve listened to and understand. You clearly know what they’re missing, what they enjoy, what they fear, and what the desire. At this stage, they’ve told you whether emails or postcards are a better way of providing them with news about church events. They’ve told you why they like or dislike the church website. And they’ve clued you in on ways to improve the communication within your church. This makes the role of church communication much easier and more effective.

To view a few sample surveys about church communication, visit our website today, or signup for a free trial at http://www.mychurchsurvey.com/.