YWAM Information Technology

I thought I should write up a few random thoughts in regard to using information technologies in our working practices. The reality is that the price of fuel is going up and our roads are becoming more congested. Further afield, the cost of air travel is also going up. Yet, we have access to relatively cheap bandwidth and tools.

There is also an environmental component to this as well. While I have never been part of the green brigade, I do believe in making our trips count. Especially as YWAM grows, I suspect at some point someone is going to raise a fuss at YWAM’s frequent flier record. It does beg a answer at times why we fly someone across the world to speak in our school when there is someone up the road who speaks on the same topic very effectively. This is another subject though.

For the sake of this document, I am writing this from an English centric point of view. The specifics of this document and our future conclusions regarding broadband providers, deals, etc. will be towards the UK context with the purpose of getting leaders here going. The principles however will be adaptable to an international audience, though we recognize that the digital divide in some parts will make some points irrelevant.

I have asked Mark Vening to start to think of how we in England can use particularly video conferencing to augment our activities with a view of developing a leadership white paper on this, but there are a number of areas that I am thinking about…

VIDEO CONFERENCING:

This is still extremely under utilised in YWAM despite Skype “high quality video” now being freely available. I know of no one who currently is taking advantage of this. This is reflective of the fact that there are only a handful of users who regularly use Skype “regular quality video” in the course of their work week. The barriers to using it are around two main themes: equipment and ethos.

In regard to equipment, most people go out and spend a lot of money on a computer and then spend a very few pounds on a microphone/headset and camera. We have also come to realise that the really cheap broadband connections do not have sufficient quality to support video. Between these factors and even simple things like improper lighting for video in your computer work area, the video conference experience is usually very poor.

In regard to ethos, to make video conferencing work particularly through Skype, a change must occur so that it can be seen as a medium to facilitate normal types of interaction. In many cases it is currently seen as interruption, resulting leaving Skype off or leaving it in “invisible mode”. Somehow, we need to develop etiquette similar to knocking on someone’s office door with technology. If it is short and sweet, accommodating a question on video conference should be as if someone poked their head in through your office door. Both the caller and the one being called need to have mutual sensitivity. The etiquette should also include a healthy understanding that a substantial topic that requires a chunk of time needs to probably be booked in the calendar, much as we would do for a fixed appointment at someone’s office. With proper etiquette training and the use of the Skype status feature in place of an office door, this free technology could easily bridge the gap between leaders working together in a sensitive manner.

Video conferencing is not exclusive to Skype though. Genesis technology is also an option and has its strengths. Mark’s investigations will include this as this will enable to us do multi-participant video sessions and connect with the rest of YWAM around the world currently using this technology. The paper may result in a nationwide effort to establish Genesis at our larger locations and even see small teams include this as one of their earliest faith projects when starting up.

VOICE CONFERENCING

Very similarly related to video conferencing is voice conferencing. The English Executive already uses this medium to work up to several times a month. Primarily this has been facilitated through powwownow and Skype. There is more that can be used to take advantage of this medium. Hardware, albeit not as critical as with Skype video, is still a factor. Good microphones/headsets, bandwidth and reasonably quiet environments dramatically affect the usability of this medium.

What is really needed to use voice conferencing more is an ethos alignment. The reality is that YWAM is a largely an oral culture. Not to let anyone off of the hook from not answering emails, we tend to be many times more effective in a voice conference as opposed to an email forum. If leadership teams and working groups realise this, they will schedule regular times for voice conferencing over mail forums.

Though a voice conference is not as nice as a group video conference, the technical requirements are much lower.

There are also variations that can be used. For example, perhaps a leadership team is meeting face to face, but would like to include a leader who is travelling. Having him/her join via voice or video conference breaks down the distance barrier. Other things like speakers speaking at a YWAM meeting remotely, or having a staff gathering, etc. The possibilities are endless and in many occasions save a few hundred emails or miles.

COLLABORATION

We have seen some successes with using Sharepoint with the GLT, but my general feeling is that we are not using it to its fullest potential. We need to examine further what parts of our “written” communications could be facilitated through this means. We also have new tools like Groove which we can use with Sharepoint. I am also of the belief that we are not fully using yet the capabilities available to us in Exchange as well.

The barriers to these are learning and training… learning what we can do with these and then training. Without training, these tools will never get used to their potential.

This said, because of our strong orientation to Oral communication, I am not certain how good on a wide scale we will get at this. What we have in our favour is that younger YWAMers have less difficulty in using online collaboration. Particularly in the next 15 years I think we will potentially begin to see some big shifts in YWAM culture in this area due to this younger generation taking up middle and upper level leadership posts.

In the meantime, I am thinking we need to take what we have learned so far and begin to collaborate more effectively with some of the awesome tools that we have.

OTHER TECHNOLOGIES: WEB CONFERENCING - VOIP

To augment video/voice conferencing, it is logical that we will move towards using web conferencing solutions like Web-Ex or online application sharing tools like Gobby. Currently, I know of no one who consistently uses Web Conferencing in YWAM. We experimented with success in using WebEx in developing last year’s GLT agenda with Maureen in Africa. I believe that we are in our infancy in understanding how powerful visuals and sharing the same information in real live time is with voice/video conferencing is.

There are a couple of barriers to using web conferencing. First, we tend often to not have anything written or developed prior to many of our meetings. This is a reflection of our oral culture. Second, at this stage I am not aware of a reasonably priced web conferencing solution, but that said there has been little research done by anyone (that I am aware of at this stage). Ideally, it would be cool to go for Microsoft Live Meeting as I suspect it would integrate into our existing tools, but it may be cost prohibitive.

Another area that we have not touched is VoIP. It would for example be completely possible for you to have your office extension ring both at your desk and anywhere in the world where you are travelling (when you have internet access). For example, I could be working in Colorado with my laptop and VoIP phone, receiving calls as if I were at my desk. This results in a virtual office and would move us towards hot desking.

CONCLUSIONS

Aside from the economic and environmental aspects, our efforts in these areas also reflect the overall goal to heal the nervous system. It does not do any good to put in great tools and facilities unless people see their importance and integrate them into their normative modes of operation. Those who wouldn’t answer a fax 20 years ago, most usually won’t answer an email now.

Technology has not changed the value of communications. More than once, I have heard of YWAM leaders who have bragged about not answering or paying attention to their voicemails. It is not uncommon to talk to leaders who have over 1,000 unread messages in their mail box. We have to see modern day comms in the same way that we would see older forms of face to face communications if we are going to really use IT effectively. These communications mean relationships. Healing the nervous system means healing us in any poor communications values as leaders.

On a localized level, from an organizational point of view increasing the use of IT in our working practices will impact at least two things:

Team Life – IT would probably encourage a growing trend to work at distance. Already a lot of YWAMers retreat to bedrooms, makeshift home offices, kitchen tables and coffee shops to work electronically. This sounds exciting and freeing, but its growth is potentially having a significant impact on team building, and if technologies aren’t appropriately used, independence. So much information and understanding is conveyed informally during the coffee break, hanging out around the water cooler, etc. If these technologies above aren’t used creatively and a “clubhouse” for the team created somewhere, the fabric of teams will be very hard to maintain.

Aside from the challenges of team dynamics and cohesion, it could possibly make it harder and harder to recruit staff for dwindling offices that need to be manned full time for operational reasons (i.e. reception, accounting, etc.) This is a whole other topic, which I am not aware that anyone has tried to tackle.

Office Space – Because of itinerant schedules and the growing trend to work outside the office, office space is under utilized. I would guess a six month study of YWAM office space use would be startling actually. There is a potential benefit to this though, it could be that all but a very few full time offices could be closed and hot desking could be introduced. This might result in YWAM office spaces being reduced by 50% or their capacity through hot desking increased by 50%. Again, these measures would have to be applied with a clear understanding of how team life and cohesion can exist, because it has been argued that even at distance teams need a “club house” somewhere. There is also another set of issues about work being done from the home, but there are a number of studies out in regard to the impact on family life and marriages which is another topic!

All these factors taken into consideration, I believe we need to press ahead. Our economic and environmental pressures, along with trends that are already in existence, make it imperative that we explore this subject with fresh vigor.

Mark Vening is going to conduct a study on Video Conferencing which will result in a leadership white paper. Our objective is to put into the hands of leaders information that they can use to spec out broadband, cameras and equipment to utilise video conference. It is also so very important as I have mentioned that we deal with the barriers, which often are the result of ethos and working practices, otherwise these become expensive solutions which gather dust.

If you have any input or ideas on this, please do jump in. One thing to consider is the impact on security and particularly at larger sites, impact on bandwidth.

Thanks for your time and attention.