Good communication is vital for the well-being and development of any Christian Workplace Group. If this is maintained, then many pitfalls and problems can be avoided. Six areas need to be highlighted.
Within the Group.
Make sure that you know what each other is doing. If there appears to be disagreement or confusion within the Christian Workplace Group, then this will seriously affect the credibility of the group with managers and other work colleagues. As a leadership team, have regular meetings and review what you are doing and plan for the future.
With Managers.
It is important to engage with managers, to have their support for what you are doing. When you have decided what you want to do and what you want to ask from managers, then set up a meeting, probably with someone from the HR department. Make sure, as you move forward, that you have regular meetings with a manager to report on progress of the group. Periodically, perhaps annually, present a brief review of what the group has done and what it has achieved.
Work Colleagues.
It is important to let other work colleagues know what you are doing and invite them to be involved. There are a number of ways to do this, depending upon the facilities available within your workplace: production of newsletters; good use of notice boards advertising meetings; use of the organisation’s intranet; posters; word of mouth; open days; e-mail; articles on popular work web-sites. Remember to make sure that managers have agreed your use of these facilities.
Other Workplace Staff Networks.
It is most important that CWGs see themselves as part of the overall diversity framework and act in a corporate way. Talk to other diversity groups and whenever possible work together. This strengthens diversity groups as a whole and helps to bring a positive influence into the workplace. Identify both common ground and areas of potential differences with other networks. Where there are differences, seek to find a resolution. When common ground cannot be found, accept that there are differences. Establish a regular timetable of meetings.
With Transform Work.
Remember Transform Work is there to help you. We can give you advice based on the experiences of many CWGs that are already well established. It is also possible for a member of our team to come and visit you and advise you on how to move forward. When things are moving forward, stay in touch so that we can continue to pray for you and learn from your experience.
With Churches.
Christian Workplace Groups, Staff Networks or Employee Resource Groups are not meant to be churches and it is important to maintain links with local churches. Our experience is that the presence of a Workplace Group does bring people along the path to faith, so it is important that if colleagues are seeking to know the Lord Jesus, that we are able to put them in touch with a local church.
Please don't hesitate to make contact and let us know how your group is developing. We would love to support your through our ambassador team.
office@transformwork.net or use our
contact us form.