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"She needs to sort out her priorities..."

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Archived series ("Inactive feed" status)

When? This feed was archived on January 07, 2018 16:36 (6y ago). Last successful fetch was on November 25, 2017 17:24 (6+ y ago)

Why? Inactive feed status. Our servers were unable to retrieve a valid podcast feed for a sustained period.

What now? You might be able to find a more up-to-date version using the search function. This series will no longer be checked for updates. If you believe this to be in error, please check if the publisher's feed link below is valid and contact support to request the feed be restored or if you have any other concerns about this.

Manage episode 167993359 series 1322492
Content provided by Justin LeBlanc. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Justin LeBlanc or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

AV techs need a wide range of skills. Technical knowledge, the dexterity to solder well (I'm convinced this is impossible to learn), good team/volunteer management, designing processes/procedures, troubleshooting, etc. Like most Millennials I grew up reading and watching Harry Potter and this line is one that defines Hermione and her poorly organized priorities, albeit, probably well thought out priorities. If we can't prioritize what's important we'll drown in the mundane while the big issues go unsolved.

I don't need to define prioritization to you. It's something you've been doing since middle school. Do I do homework or play street football? Do I clean my room or play Halo? We have the head-knowledge of what prioritization is, so why don't we do it?

Prioritization is difficult because we are immersed in so many issues we typically don't have time to stop and reflect on what is most important. What IS most important? If you have a mission statement that's what you go by. If you don't here are a few examples, we'll go into mission statements at another time.

Let me give you a couple examples. One Sunday one of our guitarists needed the little pick holder that clips to a boom mic stand. Something that's mildly important considering how distracting it could be if he drops his pick and has to stop and pick it up while leading from the stage. But while I was going to grab that, I got a call over the radio saying ProTools had failed. We use ProTools to record, mix for our in-house distribution (bathrooms, concourse, etc.), and broadcast to the web, therefore a pretty important cog in the machine on Sundays. Needless to say I forgot about the guitar pick clip thing at that moment. After I got ProTools back up and running, I got a guitar pick holder for him. That's an easy example of prioritization. Here's one that's a little more difficult.

My church burns CDs and DVDs of that week's message for people to pick up and take home if they want one. Sometimes we receive special requests for "off-Sunday" things that we record (e.g. funerals, banquets, special services, etc.). These requests take about 30s to fill out and between 1-4 hours to fulfill. Doing one special request is not so difficult. But in one week where you have two funerals, a wedding, a banquet, and some dinner all over the course of 3-4 days, it gets a little busy. Realistically this adds about 1-2 hours per special request. So do you focus on getting that media processed and out the door over the normal week to week prep for Sundays? Do you spend late nights at work away from your family? Do you drop them and say something happened to the requests and therefore treat the folks poorly? When extra things are asked of your time how do you handle it? Something has to give. My response in these situations is a combination of these three but they have to be handled appropriately. 1) Email my audio guys in each service asking them to come early on Sunday to do the final steps in setting the stages, therefore relieving some of the pressure in setting up for Sundays. 2) Tell my wife I may need to spend a couple more hours each night at the church to work through a large number of orders ONLY FOR A SEASON (i.e. don't make this a habit). To which she normally would respond, "okay, I can do longer yoga sessions after work then!" This way she knows about it and isn't waiting for me to come home and getting frustrated in the process. 3) Don't drop their orders and lie to clients/congregants, that's never acceptable. But what you can do is contact them and say "due to a large number of requests your order may be a little delayed." This way they know you haven't dropped the ball or lost the request. Most people are understanding in that way. There will always be those who aren't understanding, but at least you've let them know.

The point is to stop and think. If you just go and go and go without giving any pause to where you are going you'll likely end up in the woods somewhere and off that course you set out on with your mission statement. Find a way to force yourself to reflect even on just the last week or last couple days. Meditate, journal, take a walk, go for a jog (ha! definitely not my preferred choice), talk with a friend over coffee, whatever! HOW you reflect and prioritize is up to you, it's just important that you do it!

  continue reading

4 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 

Archived series ("Inactive feed" status)

When? This feed was archived on January 07, 2018 16:36 (6y ago). Last successful fetch was on November 25, 2017 17:24 (6+ y ago)

Why? Inactive feed status. Our servers were unable to retrieve a valid podcast feed for a sustained period.

What now? You might be able to find a more up-to-date version using the search function. This series will no longer be checked for updates. If you believe this to be in error, please check if the publisher's feed link below is valid and contact support to request the feed be restored or if you have any other concerns about this.

Manage episode 167993359 series 1322492
Content provided by Justin LeBlanc. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Justin LeBlanc or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

AV techs need a wide range of skills. Technical knowledge, the dexterity to solder well (I'm convinced this is impossible to learn), good team/volunteer management, designing processes/procedures, troubleshooting, etc. Like most Millennials I grew up reading and watching Harry Potter and this line is one that defines Hermione and her poorly organized priorities, albeit, probably well thought out priorities. If we can't prioritize what's important we'll drown in the mundane while the big issues go unsolved.

I don't need to define prioritization to you. It's something you've been doing since middle school. Do I do homework or play street football? Do I clean my room or play Halo? We have the head-knowledge of what prioritization is, so why don't we do it?

Prioritization is difficult because we are immersed in so many issues we typically don't have time to stop and reflect on what is most important. What IS most important? If you have a mission statement that's what you go by. If you don't here are a few examples, we'll go into mission statements at another time.

Let me give you a couple examples. One Sunday one of our guitarists needed the little pick holder that clips to a boom mic stand. Something that's mildly important considering how distracting it could be if he drops his pick and has to stop and pick it up while leading from the stage. But while I was going to grab that, I got a call over the radio saying ProTools had failed. We use ProTools to record, mix for our in-house distribution (bathrooms, concourse, etc.), and broadcast to the web, therefore a pretty important cog in the machine on Sundays. Needless to say I forgot about the guitar pick clip thing at that moment. After I got ProTools back up and running, I got a guitar pick holder for him. That's an easy example of prioritization. Here's one that's a little more difficult.

My church burns CDs and DVDs of that week's message for people to pick up and take home if they want one. Sometimes we receive special requests for "off-Sunday" things that we record (e.g. funerals, banquets, special services, etc.). These requests take about 30s to fill out and between 1-4 hours to fulfill. Doing one special request is not so difficult. But in one week where you have two funerals, a wedding, a banquet, and some dinner all over the course of 3-4 days, it gets a little busy. Realistically this adds about 1-2 hours per special request. So do you focus on getting that media processed and out the door over the normal week to week prep for Sundays? Do you spend late nights at work away from your family? Do you drop them and say something happened to the requests and therefore treat the folks poorly? When extra things are asked of your time how do you handle it? Something has to give. My response in these situations is a combination of these three but they have to be handled appropriately. 1) Email my audio guys in each service asking them to come early on Sunday to do the final steps in setting the stages, therefore relieving some of the pressure in setting up for Sundays. 2) Tell my wife I may need to spend a couple more hours each night at the church to work through a large number of orders ONLY FOR A SEASON (i.e. don't make this a habit). To which she normally would respond, "okay, I can do longer yoga sessions after work then!" This way she knows about it and isn't waiting for me to come home and getting frustrated in the process. 3) Don't drop their orders and lie to clients/congregants, that's never acceptable. But what you can do is contact them and say "due to a large number of requests your order may be a little delayed." This way they know you haven't dropped the ball or lost the request. Most people are understanding in that way. There will always be those who aren't understanding, but at least you've let them know.

The point is to stop and think. If you just go and go and go without giving any pause to where you are going you'll likely end up in the woods somewhere and off that course you set out on with your mission statement. Find a way to force yourself to reflect even on just the last week or last couple days. Meditate, journal, take a walk, go for a jog (ha! definitely not my preferred choice), talk with a friend over coffee, whatever! HOW you reflect and prioritize is up to you, it's just important that you do it!

  continue reading

4 episodes

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