Having served in multiple bishoprics and now as a bishop I am constantly frustrated by loss of or forgotten information on members we are trying to fellowship. For example, a less active in the ward has had several contact attempts over many years by multiple ward members and leadership. But because leadership and home & visiting teachers constantly change, there is no knowledge of past visit results (successes, failures, etc.), member next of kin contact information, other people living in the home, etc. In my opinion, this kind of information should be noted in a record much like the full-time missionary area book so that continuing contact attempts can be proceeded by a visit history review.
Ideally, it would be nice to have this internet based so that leadership could access and update the database record with the latest notes as they happen. At any time, bishopric and ward council members could access the information for planning reactivation efforts, etc.
Has anyone successfully implemented such a system of any sort? I would love to know your thoughts on this and how something like this could developed.
Thank you.
Member contact information tracking
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mprusse
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jdcr256
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This may not be an actual violation of privacy laws here in the U.S. (although it may be, and in many other jurisdictions, it probably is), but I'd be pretty creeped out to find that any organization had a file like this about me without my explicit consent. Even as an active member of the church I'd be disturbed to find that a leader was tracking this type of information without my consent.
Perhaps a simple schedule of who knocked on the door and when would be ok (like a check box on a home teaching report...), but as soon as you start sharing information about my household, what was discussed, etc., that is not already part of my membership record or that I have specifically given you permission to share with others, you have crossed a line.
If it was internet based, there would be a lot of liability/security issues around the exposure of contact information, information about minors, or other personal information if the system were compromised.
Perhaps a simple schedule of who knocked on the door and when would be ok (like a check box on a home teaching report...), but as soon as you start sharing information about my household, what was discussed, etc., that is not already part of my membership record or that I have specifically given you permission to share with others, you have crossed a line.
If it was internet based, there would be a lot of liability/security issues around the exposure of contact information, information about minors, or other personal information if the system were compromised.
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mprusse
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Full-time missionaries keep records on people they contact (including comments) in the Progress Record and Potential Investigators sheet. I understand that this could border on privacy issues. I'm just trying to find some happy medium so that a new home teacher has something to go on when they try to make contact again.
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sbradshaw
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jdcr256 wrote:This may not be an actual violation of privacy laws here in the U.S. (although it may be, and in many other jurisdictions, it probably is), but I'd be pretty creeped out to find that any organization had a file like this about me without my explicit consent. Even as an active member of the church I'd be disturbed to find that a leader was tracking this type of information without my consent.
I'd imagine this is one of the reasons why an electronic area book for missionarywork is taking time. I'll bet investigators, especially less-committed ones, wouldn't like to find out that their information and reactions to lessons are being stored online and shared so easily with ward and full-time missionaries... The papers we have now at least limit somewhat the flow of information, and paper isn't an "eternal" format.
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quandmeme
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I think that there are two issues here that are distinct: (1) privacy standards and (2) creepiness.
In the private sector this is a CRM/lead tracking platform where they track prospective or past customers. This has been going on for centuries and recording information gathered by the organization rather than entered by the "lead" is much less fraught in my view. My take away is that we shouldn't throw up our hands because of the cloud of "privacy rules." That said, the creepiness factor shouldn't be confused with the rules in that just because there isn't a rule against it there are things that shouldn't be recorded and there are insensitive ways to use and share the information.
In the private sector this is a CRM/lead tracking platform where they track prospective or past customers. This has been going on for centuries and recording information gathered by the organization rather than entered by the "lead" is much less fraught in my view. My take away is that we shouldn't throw up our hands because of the cloud of "privacy rules." That said, the creepiness factor shouldn't be confused with the rules in that just because there isn't a rule against it there are things that shouldn't be recorded and there are insensitive ways to use and share the information.
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johnshaw
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The privacy concerns lead us into liability issues, which is what I believe is the sticking point. Once you start tracking information about people, you start down a slippery slope. I see the value of the information, and the call to Rescue is a prophetic priority.
If we keep records about someone not interested, then nobody stops by, even if their hearts may have changed and would welcome the next contact.
If we don't keep records do we create animosity and potentially harden hearts contributing to a greater chance of someone staying away?
I don't know the answer, institutional knowledge?, Relying on firmly planted families in a community? Maybe what we need is a good Lawyer to detail what can be kept and what can't... anyone know any constitutional lawyers in the Church?
If we keep records about someone not interested, then nobody stops by, even if their hearts may have changed and would welcome the next contact.
If we don't keep records do we create animosity and potentially harden hearts contributing to a greater chance of someone staying away?
I don't know the answer, institutional knowledge?, Relying on firmly planted families in a community? Maybe what we need is a good Lawyer to detail what can be kept and what can't... anyone know any constitutional lawyers in the Church?
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chogan
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Re: Contact information tracking
As a professional, I architect CRM software for a market leader, and I have seen firsthand how electronic lead tracking, opportunity management, and customer maintenance has positively changed many organizations. As a long-time ward council member, I also see a stark contrast, where a large part of our time is spent tracking names, numbers, addresses, interactions, and status information - with manual administration taking precious time from inspired collaboration. This is especially true for missionary prospects, for which we have no centralized record.
Using the proper balance of technology and training, the Church can meet privacy requirements, just as health care companies do for HIPPA, retailers do for PCI, we do with MLS, etc. Privacy and information empowerment can co-exist, and often do.
Regarding security, if the CIA, FBI, large financial firms, and other extremely sensitive organizations can securely store data on the cloud, and they do, the Church can too. In fact, properly protected information in a high-security data center is far more secure than a missionary area book or local server.
The Church has done an amazing job adopting technologies in so many different ways. Does anyone know if we have evaluated electronic record keeping for missionary work? I am tired of seeing important investigators and less actives alike slip through the cracks as missionaries are transferred, councils are overwhelmed, appointments are forgotten, processes are neglected, correlation turned administration, and growth limited by not adopting what has long been available. I've long dreamed of seeing the Church improve here, and would be happy to volunteer my precious time to such a worthy project.
Using the proper balance of technology and training, the Church can meet privacy requirements, just as health care companies do for HIPPA, retailers do for PCI, we do with MLS, etc. Privacy and information empowerment can co-exist, and often do.
Regarding security, if the CIA, FBI, large financial firms, and other extremely sensitive organizations can securely store data on the cloud, and they do, the Church can too. In fact, properly protected information in a high-security data center is far more secure than a missionary area book or local server.
The Church has done an amazing job adopting technologies in so many different ways. Does anyone know if we have evaluated electronic record keeping for missionary work? I am tired of seeing important investigators and less actives alike slip through the cracks as missionaries are transferred, councils are overwhelmed, appointments are forgotten, processes are neglected, correlation turned administration, and growth limited by not adopting what has long been available. I've long dreamed of seeing the Church improve here, and would be happy to volunteer my precious time to such a worthy project.