This article is provided by ChurchTechArts.

 
I was talking with a TD friend of mine recently, and the topic turned to repeatability.

It struck me that one of the most important things we can do as TDs is create processes that are repeatable.

This doesn’t mean that every service or event we do is going to be exactly the same, but the process by which we get there should be pretty consistent.

I’ve been struck by the fact that working with volunteers requires repeatable processes.

People that don’t do live production every day really want to know, “How do I do this?”

I suggest there are several ways to achieve this goal, and depending on the process in question, you may use one or more of these ways.

Build Repeatable Processes
If you “wing it” every weekend, it’s going to be tough to get consistently good results.

Almost every church I’ve come in to was making up the input patch every week, depending on how they felt.

Anytime someone new would join the team, it would take them forever to figure out where stuff was routed because, A) everyone did it differently and B) sometimes it didn’t work.

Isaiah and I have spent a ton of time refining our processes so they are as clean, efficient and repeatable as possible. We plug things into the same inputs every single weekend.

For example, the acoustic is always in channel 18. If we don’t have an acoustic, the input is blank. For our new guys, they don’t have to guess where to plug something in; it’s on the input list, the stage box is labeled, and it’s really plug and play.

Their learning curve is shortened tremendously.

Documentation
One of the greatest tools for repeatability is documentation. Quite simply, taking the time to write out what you’re doing.

For example, we’ve put together (and when I say “we” I mean Isaiah) a pretty comprehensive document that details how to use the A/V system in our student/community room.

It’s broken down into sections that answer the question, “How do I?” If we have a ministry group in there and they need to use a wireless mic, they can turn to the section on wireless mics, read and follow along with the pictures and produce acceptable sound.

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