Over the course of working in the social service field and starting in on a hobby that I have found to very much still be a one to one personal relationship business, I have become more comfortable and effective on the phone. I do not however particularly enjoy handling logistics this way. I do not think it is a particularly effective use of time.

Web based and more personal communication styles such as phone calls or face to face meetings both have their place. The trick is balancing their usage, and choosing the correct communication style for the task. Most people become comfortable with one way of communicating and that is what they use. I will admit that I am guilty of this on occasion myself. If you have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail and all that.

The trick, as with most things, is finding an effective balance. What I have found is that the phone is best used for communications that require either a personal international, or a long explanation of information. Text based communications such as e-mail or txting is much more effective for arranging logistics, those short exchanges of dates, times, and places, where it is critical that everyone has accurate details but that a personal touch is not particularly needed.

My general rule of thumb is to pick up the phone if I need information not generally available, and to send an email if I am arranging for something to be done. I have found that there is no need to interrupt someone and take up their time when making arrangements. Besides, it is always best to have a written copy that can be referred to when it is time to act on the arrangements you made. At the same time, when it is time to confer with someone on details, or you need to exchange ideas that take time to communicate, the phone is the better option.

The final decision of which type of communication to use, for me usually comes down to the choice between positives of real time conversation or correct future action, and the negatives of taking up time or delayed response.

I am an individual who goes to an agencies website for information first before any other communication. Other people might go to a website to refresh their memory or for updated information. No matter the reason, people will easily be put off by what they see as incomplete or seemingly broken content. Even if that was not your intent, that is the presentation that many social service websites present. I have listed below some of the most common issues that lead to this perception.

• Broken / Missing Links
• Half-finished pages
• Empty “Events” calendars
• Mismatched design elements
• The dreaded “Under Construction”

These are some of the fundamental mistakes, which individuals in the helping professions tend to make when designing or maintaining a website. It is not necessary to have a perfect site, or to focus on form to the impairment of function. However, just as one would proof read and edit a print document to make the best presentation possible, the you should take same care with a website.

The reason that helping professionals in particular have a tendency to miss these issues is that we have become desensitized to projects in progress. There is nothing inherently wrong with that way of thinking. A website should continually in progress, regularly being updated. The issue is with the presentation of the website that is viewable to the public. The final version of the site that is available to the public should not be, and does not need to be, the same as the in progress version being worked on. This is where a good CMS (Content Management System) such as WordPress (www.wordpress.org) comes in handy for managing drafts of posts and pages. Using drafts within your websites control panel properly will allow you to manage the final version of your site.

How do you make sure that your website is as polished as possible? It is actually a simple concept. Rather than writing out a list of every possible website editing issue that may come up, I will leave you with a way of thinking about your social service website that should serve you well in most situations. A draft is a draft, until it is no longer a draft. If a page, a post, an article, a link, has not yet been finalized, do not publish it to the live version of the website.

I have been guilty of this on myself. I have gotten a great idea for some piece of content and begun the process of posting it, only for it to sit unfinished for all to see for any number of reasons. One of the great advantages of the web is that content is not static. Content is dynamic. Unlike print or hard copy media like CDs, content on the web can be changed as situations change. However, that does not give license to leave a document incomplete. Simply put what it comes down to, if any content on a website is not complete, it should be removed. That link which goes to an Under Construction page, that menu item to a blank page, that half complete page, or that event page from last year, please remove them from your live website. That task alone will get you 90% of the way to a professional looking website, and visitors to your site will be much more likely to make a more meaningful contact with you.

I hope these thoughts will help you finish that final clean up on your social services website, and ultimately help you provide your information to more people. Remember, if you have any comments, questions, or feedback, please feel free to reply to this post or contact me.