We said a bit of something on Twitter in the past week which may have come across as prideful and arrogant:
Am at the point of instituting a policy: we don’t train you on items located in your user manual/user guide for your mobile… If you want to know how to use your mobile for specific roles, we got you. That’s *using* your mobile.
This came after a semi-heated exchange with one of our clients where we declined taking on a training opportunity for a product where the persons asking for training were asking for items that were clearly stated (a) in the user manual and (b) in the help section of specific applications. Our position was if you cannot be bothered to do your part on knowing the basics of a product you’ve purchased/been tasked to work on, why should we be bothered with taking the time to develop training/workshop materials on the items that are right there in the box?
I’ll speak to the reciprocal of this with a conversation we had with an educational facility in the same week where our focus wasn’t on “training the tool” but on “training the role.” In that conversation, we were again adamant about not teaching the tool. In a context such as that educational facility, it doesn’t help people to simply learn a tool, especially when its software and constantly changing. On the other hand, if they know how that and similar tools function towards specific roles of work, then you can not only speak towards the tool, but also give a wider and deeper grounding towards the activity.
And so that brings us towards mobile devices used in ministry settings: are you trying to utilize mobile (in any form) in a ministry setting, but you have little to know knowledge of mobile? What are you doing to get “up-skilled” in mobile to alleviate that weakness? Are you even interested in increasing your knowledge and understanding of mobile and the facilities that spoke from it (software, psychology, history, etc.) so that when you do utilize mobile that you aren’t teaching the tool, but are teaching towards a sustainable activity?
We prefer to do role-based teaching. For example, the upcoming iPad Session for Digital Disciples Charlotte and iPad for Minister’s Workshop speak specifically towards using tools in a specific context, grounded not in preferred applications, but behaviors that can usually translate across applications (and even devices). Yes, the name of the class prefers a single device, but this could qualify for any tablet or connected computer, and as such the lessons speak towards behaviors which ask that the attendees need to know may of the basic functions of their devices.
Is it true that some people don’t like, can’t read/understand, or don’t have time for the manuals that come with devices or the help features? Yes. Is it also true that in such a position that we are demanding a point of base accountability? Yes. To have a tool and not take the time to get associated with it before requesting specialized help demonstrates a kind of wisdom and understanding that makes for a more fertile ground to build sustainable behaviors from.
We write this to encourage you to consider carefully your approach to mobile. You can’t minister with something you don’t know. Take the time to purchase the device, use the application, and then investigate the resources already produced for it when you come to those harder-to-understand moments. That way, built yourself up towards the knowledge of what you are trying to do. And then when you do ask for assistance, time can be taken in shaping the point of what you’ve got already, not putting into the fire a point that’s not existing (starting from scratch). It takes longer, and you don’t always get the desired result, but you end up with a body of knowledge that’s more ready to turn into the work of the ministry, rather than be mired in a series of behaviors that don’t efficiently move you forward.
These two innovative approaches to mobile learning have come across the screens lately. Both would be useful for increasing your skills and abilities to peruse mobile ministry endeavors:
Cybermissions has 
In a recent meeting with some people about the 
How Much Is This Worth
Friday, October 7th, 2011While I totally understand that some groups just don’t have a budget to bring out a speaker/trainer/consultant/subject matter expert (that’s another issue of organizational management, but I digress), the very unique nature of the few folks in digital/internet/mobile ministry can’t be freely given away if folks aren’t just asking for that knowledge/wisdom, but also travel and any other expenses.
I am finding it very hard – as a person doing this as a primary endeavor – to say yes to engagements when there is literally only ego compensation (am not the only person who thinks that economy is backwards, re: Jaron Lainer). I run a site which is free, it feels very much like a slap in the face to ask for me to also put up lodging, registration, travel, setup, and (the inevitable) post-speaking activities when there’s nothing coming back this way. This puts me in a very hard position. I’ve got to spend hours looking for work/clients, as well as working current projects, and then spending the time to develop that specialized knowledge. Even if this was a multi-person operation, that would be hard (we won’t talk about folks that don’t pay in a timely manner and the 8-ball that presents).
Simply: if you would consider MMM or any uniquely gifted person or organziation is worth asking for their time, they are also worthy of being compensated for those labors. A laborer is worthy of their wages, and digital is where we labor. Yes, there needs to be some meeting halfway for many of you whom are also financially constrained. That’s one of the reasons why *everything* you see on this site is freely available. There’s too much data out there for commentary and analysis of this degree not to be. But, when you want something specialized, then you move into that space where you can’t rely on free, and have to be considerate of the time and resources that it takes to make specialized work for you.
Services like MinuteBox (see profile) I’ve started using to help faster convert some of those conversations into compensated events. I’m not sure that it is any longer (or if it ever was) fair to ask any of us in this space to give place to speaking/demonstrating our knowledge in this space without some form of compensation. There aren’t a lot of people in this space – check the list. If this is worth its value to up-skill your organization to meet their goals, then demonstrate that in your approach. Don’t let the perception of “Christian online/mobile” be that of “undervalued and under-appreciated.”
IE Day pointed to similar questions of value and our approaches in ministry in this post.
Disclaimer: Our hosting (incl. domain registration and WordPress administration) had been taken off my (Antoine’s) hands for sometime now. LW (name withheld) has managed that for us freely for years. And for as appreciated as I am that he has done so, I would love to be at the point where I could compensate him for the few times a year that there’s a request for domain/WP items. Or, remove the site completely and let MMM live completely on mobile and self-hosted servers…
Tags: compensation, consulting, innovation, knowledge, knowledge management, labor, services, speaking, training
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