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Stop, Start, Continue?

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Stop, Start, Continue?

What do you need to stop, start or continue?

Visualize the idea of making ministry adjustments as a traffic light:

  • Red = Stop
  • Green = Start
  • Yellow = Continue

Stop. At the top sits a red light, signaling the question: What do you need to STOP doing? If a ministry plan isn’t working or measuring up, then it’s something you need to stop doing. Recognize that doing something new can’t happen until you stop doing something else.

Start. At the bottom sits a green light, representing the question: What do you need to START doing? This is the question to ask when needs aren’t being met, when people can’t find a place or can’t get connected or when current ministry falls short with your church or community.

Continue. The middle light is yellow, asking the question: What do you need to CONTINUE doing? As you review your action plans, look for ministry that’s doing what it’s supposed to do and reaching the people it’s supposed to reach.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Evaluate ministry methods, strategies and plans with the stop, start or continue exercise:

  • What do you need to STOP doing?
  • What do you need to START doing?
  • What do you need to CONTINUE doing?

Resources

6 Steps to Better Staff Meetings

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6 Steps to Better Staff Meetings

A few of my favorite demotivators from Despair, Inc. are the ones describing the pointlessness of meetings, committees and teamwork:

Meetings. None of us is as dumb as all of us.
Teamwork. A few harmless flakes working together can unleash an avalanche of destruction.
Committees. Just like teamwork. Only without the work.

All sarcasm aside, the laughter in those statements belies an underlying truth about meetings. You’ve probably been a part of meetings that obscured the solution and created more, not less, confusion. If your meetings resemble those statements, then you’re not alone.

I have a confession to make. I’ve been a bad meeting leader. Whether it was meeting too long or too frequently, ending without a next step or attempting to do too much, a share of my meetings have been ineffective. But while I’ve made every mistake in the list below, I’m learning to make the right adjustments to become a good meeting leader.

Consider a few lessons that I’m learning:

  1. Make it fun. Praying for personal needs, recognizing important life moments and celebrating team wins are all part of healthy staff culture. Make staff meetings as much about motivating and encouraging people as about the meeting’s agenda.
  2. Be prepared. Set a clear agenda and focus the meeting. It can be frustrating to attempt to do too much in a meeting. Limit the scope of the discussion and save “rabbit holes” for sidebars or e-mail.
  3. Be efficient. Everyone should know what’s expected of them before they set foot in the meeting. Communicate a meeting’s purpose in advance so the team can be prepared. And don’t be afraid to cancel a scheduled meeting when it isn’t needed or when the team just needs to take a break.
  4. Keep it moving. Meetings should be brief, lasting only as long as needed to accomplish their purpose. Manage the length of meetings and consider ways to maintain forward momentum. Scott Dobroski, community expert at Glassdoor, advises: “If you’re going to meet in person, determine how much time you need and then challenge yourself to slice it by 50%.”
  5. Detail the action plan. Making assignments to team members (and the team leader) reduces the length of meetings and provides accountability for next steps. Identify items and ideas that require follow up and clarify who’s responsible for making it happen.
  6. Encourage your team. Did everyone leave with a sense of accomplishment? You may not have all the answers you were looking for, but you should have a takeaway. Summarize what was accomplished so everyone leaves the meeting encouraged, motivated and satisfied.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Make the right adjustments to become a good meeting leader. Make staff meetings as much about motivating and encouraging people as about the meeting’s agenda. Be prepared and efficient, maintaining forward momentum. Encourage the team with a summary of what your meeting accomplished.

Resources


Sources

“Demotivators,” Accessed May 4, 2015, http://www.despair.com/demotivators.html.

“Say No to Meetings” by Andrea Murad, Fox Business (April 29, 2015), http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2015/04/29/say-no-to-meetings/.

Create a Culture of Accountability

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Create a Culture of Accountability

People and churches respond to accountability in one of two ways. Either they pull back from the prospect of increased attention or they embrace the opportunity to reach their potential and achieve better outcomes.

Many of us don’t have effective mechanisms for accountability in our personal and ministry lives. For one thing, accountability is difficult. We would rather not push people and staff—paid or volunteer—to go further, do more and be more strategic. Most people don’t naturally seek to do more than standard operating procedure requires.

It’s also true that accountability requires hard decisions and choices that many church leaders don’t want to make. It’s easier to kick the can down the road and hope for the best. But it usually doesn’t work out for the best.

A real culture of accountability can’t skip over any of the truly important things. It has to be practiced regularly and cover vital parts of Christian life and witness. Churches need staff ministers who are accountable for:

  1. Personal Spiritual Growth & Family Time
  2. Professional Growth & Development
  3. Organizational & Ministry Objectives

Consider whether ministry leaders in your church are held accountable for those things. If not, it may be time to consider a few adjustments.

How can you build traction for a culture of accountability? Start with:

  • Clear Vision and Values – Each staff member knows who you are and who you want to be. There’s no substitute for being on the same page. Accountability begins with clear vision.
  • Global Objectives – Each team member knows what you’re trying to accomplish and how you plan to get it done. With clear global objectives, the team is rowing in the same direction.
  • Ministry Objectives – Proper accountability can’t happen unless departments harmonize their plans with “big picture” vision, values and strategy.
  • Realistic Goals – Ministry goals should be achievable with available resources. It’s futile to expect outsized outcomes from insufficient resources.
  • Regular Interface – Ministry staff and volunteers need honest feedback and coaching. A coaching discussion with accountability should happen at regular intervals.
  • The Freedom to Make Adjustments – Ministry plans are written in pencil not pen. Because plans are adjustable, fear and anxiety about accountability is reduced.
  • The Freedom to Fail (and Succeed) – New initiatives and ideas are encouraged, even when they might not succeed. Expect that a certain percentage of new plans won’t go as planned.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Church leaders should be accountable for personal spiritual growth, family time and professional development, as well as church and ministry objectives. Build a culture of accountability in each of these areas with clear vision, realistic goals and regular interface.

Resources

4 Q&A Evaluation Strategies

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4 Q&A Evaluation Strategies

Evaluation doesn’t have to be one-sided. Consider the give and take of a coaching dialogue to evaluate progress on important organizational goals and objectives.

Evaluation should be personal and relational, so begin any coaching conversation with a demonstration of authentic concern for your team member:

  • Check on family.
  • Discuss personal needs and growth.
  • Pray together.

Then ask thoughtful questions and listen for honest answers with these Q&A evaluation strategies:

1. Gaps and Goals – Identify important, vision-aligned gaps and focus on the next 30 days.

  • What business, customer or ministry GAPS exist? What’s missing and what’s a vision-aligned solution?
  • What 3 GOALS do you have for the next 30 days?
  • What 1 THING is the most important thing right now?

2. Stop, Start or Continue Method – Consider what you should stop, start or continue doing.

  • What do you need to STOP doing? What’s not working?
  • What do you need to START doing? What new ideas should you try? Why do you need to do this?
  • What do you need to CONTINUE doing? What’s working well?

3. Eisenhower Decision Matrix – Realize that what is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.

  • What IMPORTANT/URGENT things should be done immediately and personally?
  • What IMPORTANT/NOT URGENT things should be scheduled?
  • What UNIMPORTANT/URGENT things should be delegated?
  • What UNIMPORTANT/NOT URGENT things should be dropped?

4. SWOT Analysis – Evaluate internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats.

  • What are organizational and ministry STRENGTHS?
  • What are organizational and ministry WEAKNESSES?
  • Where are the external OPPORTUNITIES? Where is God working and how can you go there?
  • What are the THREATS to continued growth or ministry?

So what’s the Big Idea?

Ask careful questions to evaluate progress on important organizational goals and objectives. Thoughtful questions with honest answers are the coaching way to achieve the best evaluation outcomes.

Resources

More Questions

  • What are your top 3-5 objectives?
  • How well do department objectives line up with organizational objectives?
  • Why should you do that?
  • How will you do that?
  • How will you measure success?
  • What has to happen to have success with that?
  • What’s your follow-up or follow-on plan?

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