YWAM Communication Teams

What are YWAM Communication Teams?
The YWAM Communication Teams(also called Com Teams) are teams of people passionate about communication within YWAM, on a local, regional or field level. Communication Teams seek to further God's purposes for YWAM by facilitating healthy communication at every level of the mission worldwide. As one of YWAM's global ministries, these Communication Teams serve both YWAM's leaders and YWAM's International Communications Network Projects.

The Need for Communication In YWAM
Developing a communications network across a YWAM field/region is vital for a number of reasons:
 * It enables us to build healthy relationships between nations, local ministry sites, ministry teams and individual staff members. YWAM is a relationally oriented organization and these connections are vital to accomplish the kind of synergy that enables us to be most effective.
 * Building a communications network enables us to share information more effectively, facilitating a connectedness between global leadership and what is going on at the grassroots. This is vital to ensure that corporately we are in line with global policies, aware of how God is speaking to us as a body and remain true to our foundational values. Similarly, such communication enables global leaders to have a true picture of how things are on the ground and remain more closely in touch with that reality, something that is otherwise simply not possible with their many commitments.
 * A good communication network will enable us to promote YWAM, in all its expressions/forms, more effectively. We will be more capable of fostering partnerships with supporters, churches and other organizations. This is not just a question of promoting ourselves, recruiting workers and raising money, but of recognizing that we cannot accomplish the task alone.

What Communicators Bring to the Field

 * They initiate a flow of communication between leaders and staff:
 * Communication of vision.
 * Understanding of principles and guidelines.
 * Teaching and modeling of foundational values.
 * They initiate flow of communication between staff and leaders:
 * Feedback loops.
 * Evaluations.
 * They increase healthy communication, which:
 * Brings understanding, changes paradigms.
 * Connects, builds relationships (breaks isolation).
 * Provides staff and resources.
 * Empowers and affirms people.
 * Is not entirely dependent on technology.

Good communications big organis.

What are Communication Teams?

 * 1) They serve locally within fields and regions.
 * 2) Serving the Field and Regional Directors.
 * 3) Doing regional communication projects.
 * 4) Training communication staff.
 * 5) Providing research.
 * 6) Arranging translations.
 * 7) They serve internationally, linking regions to:
 * 8) Christian media.
 * 9) International YWAM web sites.
 * 10) International YWAM publications.
 * 11) Other YWAM ministries and publications.

How Can Communications Teams Help?
Communication Teams can help:
 * 1) Accomplish YWAM's goals for the Field or Region.
 * 2) Recruit more workers.
 * 3) Raise more finances and prayer.
 * 4) Keep leaders informed.
 * 5) Equip and encourage staff.

Where Do Communication Teams Work?
Communication Teams are located within the field or region they serve, but not necessarily in the same city as the Field or Regional Director. They sometimes work as ministries located at a local YWAM ministry site, but sometimes they form a separate location. They stay in relationship both to the Field or Regional Director and to YWAM's International Communications Network.

Leaders-to-Staff Example
YWAM's Global Leadership Team (GLT) approves a foundational document for YWAM. That news goes out in international publications. In each Field Communication Team, they discuss how to get the document translated and distributed. Then each Regional Communication Team coordinates specific translations and contacts YWAM ministry sites to make sure they've got the documents.

YWAM Communication Teams: How To Get Started...

Staff-to-Leaders Example
A YWAM location in Sweden starts a radical new ministry. At the local level, this gets communicated in a newsletter. At the regional level, the Regional Communication Team writes this up as a news item to be discussed/ shared at Regional Leadership Meetings. At the field level, the Field Communication Team posts the story on the YWAM Europe web site and recommends it for the International YWAMer or www.ywam.org web site. At the international level, it gets published and posted on the web, and also gets the attention of YWAM's International Chairman, who suggests the GLT discuss this new ministry because it raises awareness and questions.

Job Description for a Regional Communication Team Coordinator
Title: Regional Communication Coordinator

Supervision: The Regional Communication Coordinator would relate both to the Regional Director and to the Field Communication Coordinator.

Tasks: He or she would:
 * Provide stories and news from the region for YWAM's use internationally (in YWAM publications such as the Go Manual and International YWAMer as well as in web sites such as www.ywam.org)
 * Help maintain current contact information and other statistics for YWAM locations in the region.
 * Assist the Regional Director with communications tasks and projects for the region.
 * Assist the Field Director with communications projects that relate to the region.
 * Provide communications training, coaching and resources as needed within the region.
 * Actively participate in the Field Communication Team that his or her region fits into.