Why Do Useful Tools Fail to Work in the Local Church?
I get at least a dozen emails a day advertising and promoting the latest software tool or app that will “change your life!” I bet you do too if not more. And I regularly see tools and apps that are aimed at the local church. And now, many of these tools use Artificial Intelligence (AI) or are a product of AI that are designed to increase efficiency of staff, proficiency of communication, and even sufficiency of discerning data and trends.
But unfortunately, the trend I have witnessed most frequently over the past 25 years has been that the vast majority of these tools and applications lay underutilized and even unused as the monthly subscription clicks on. Being totally transparent, I see it with many other types of small businesses as well. Applications that are designed to make our work more productive and efficient become digital paper weights displacing value storage bytes on our computers, phones, and tablets.
Why then are these churches and organizations unable to leverage the designed effectiveness and productivity of these software tools?
Some would argue that there is an inherent fear of new technology, particularly when it comes to the rapid advancements of AI applications. Others would say that there is a level of tech illiteracy that comes into play. But I think the issues are less psychological and more organizational.
I believe there are three reasons why useful technology can fail in the local church:
First, no one has or takes ownership of the application in the organization. Someone has to “be in charge” of the application or software. Usually this is the leader of the department or team that will use the application the most. Ownership implies that this person or team understands the capabilities of the application and actively uses and maintains the software. An identified owner also becomes the point person internally for the rest of the organization to get access, training, and assistance in using the tool in their area of work.
Second, there isn’t a defined process for the application to support. I think this is one of the main reasons applications fail to work for churches. Software tools are designed to be the catalyst for or in support of a particular work process. If a system or a plan doesn’t exist for the tool to operate in, then in most cases the results are the opposite of those intended. Primarily, it becomes ineffective and unproductive because it may create more manual work from its user because it is not part of a designed system or process. It is critical to understand how to support an existing process with software automation rather than try to make a cool application work in a process it is not compatible with or designed.
The third reason I see needed tools failing in the church is that the user can’t get any help. Now this final reason is really related to the previous two but the underlying issues really point to organizational deficiencies or problems. For example, the original, internal “owner” of the application leaves the organization and a new owner is not assigned this responsibility. In this case there is no go-to person for help using the tool or even worse, no one knew that this tool supported a process and now the system has crashed. Another example is that one department or team may use a particular tool but let’s say they don’t play well with other teams. This is a problem far deeper than simply lack of internal collaboration. Or quite simply the original developer or vendor of the software has horrible technical support and you can get the intended results that were promised in the slick webinar.
I am decidedly convinced that if you find a software application that can help your church become more productive and efficient, then you must assure that someone takes ownership of the tool, ensure that it supports a designed process or system, and affirm that there is a useful means of internal and external help for using the software, then you can successfully implement these tools at least somewhat proficiently.
If you are not sure if a new application can work successfully for your church or organization then just ask the sales rep for their advice. JUST KIDDING, seeing if you are paying attention!!! Feel free to reach out to ChurchCMO with an email or schedule a call. I would be happy to work though whether a tool or application can really benefit your team.
Mark Wilson
