Did you hear about the Leaning Tower of Pisa finally falling down? Or how about the Space Shuttle landing in San Diego? Or how about the Cell Phone ban in New Zealand? All of these were hoaxes played on April Fools day; and they attracted a lot of attention. Perhaps you’ve got a staff member who likes to play pranks and sends out eMails like those to everyone on the staff. It can be good for a staff to find time to laugh a little, but it is also easy to go overboard. Anyone can send an eMail to everyone on the staff with just a few clicks. Maybe that isn’t such a good thing.

The trouble is volume. As your staff grows, so does the natural volume of eMail. At some point, the time spent reading all of the internally generated eMails becomes a concern. How much time should your staff really spend reading eMail, Twits, and/or Facebook walls? Who should really be able to send out a message to everyone? Here are some ideas to consider:

• The Senior Pastor – High Priority issue comes up
• Human Resource person – Something affecting everyone’s paycheck
• Security Personnel – Emergency situations that affect everyone’s safety
• Operations Personnel – Alerts about a System Malfunction

Obviously, the importance of the message needs to be a part of the criteria to consider. Ask yourself the question, “Does this really need to be sent to everyone?” Or should it be more focused on the few who are directly affected? This is a judgment call, and your staff are expected to use good judgment. In a small organization, where everyone knows everyone, this should not be a problem.

We have Geoffrey Chaucer to thank for April Fools day – i.e. from his reference to the 32nd of March (April 1st). Perhaps appropriately, this is mentioned in the story about the fox and the rooster in the Nun’s Priest’s Tale. So let’s all find time to laugh today; just don’t overdo it.