Archives For Measurements

Creating Alignment in Your Small Group Ministry Model

October 31, 2011 — Leave a comment

The small group movement in local churches continues to grow rapidly in the U.S. and around the world. The number of small group books, curriculums, blogs, and resources seems to be growing just as fast. With the ever increasing focus on small groups, it’s easy to lose sight of your small group model.  And if you’re new to small group ministry, the number of group models is greater than ever.

With so many small group models to choose from, how do you pick what’s right for your church…and, just as important, how do you create alignment with your model to ensure everything is working together to take you to your desired destination. I believe a good model includes three things:

1. Mission - Begin with a clearly defined purpose for your small groups.

2. Methods - Create methods (strategies) that will help you achieve your purpose.

3. Measurements - Develop a dashboard that helps you gauge and measure success.

In another post, I wrote about Developing Your Ministry or Organizational Model where I more thoroughly explained these three ingredients. In this post, I’d like to give you a personal example of their application and help you create alignment with your model.

Our Model: Our small group ministry has a clear MISSION: To foster authentic relationships by connecting people with people, God, and ministry. Our METHODS to accomplish this mission include four practices: Eat together, learn together, pray together, and help together. We pulled these practices from Acts 2:42-47 as we studied the ingredients that contributed to Biblical community in the early church. Finally, our MEASUREMENTS include a series of questions that help us determine if we are accomplishing our mission through our methods.

Alignment: Our model isn’t perfect and we certainly don’t view it as the “right” model. It’s simply the model we’ve chosen based on who we are and what we believe God has called us to do. The key is that our model includes the three ingredients: Mission, Methods, and Measurements and each of these ingredients is carefully aligned. You can view a chart that shows this alignment here: Connection Groups Model.

The questions in our model are not the only things we measure, but they do show the connections in the overall model.

There is no perfect small group model. But I do believe that whatever model you choose needs to clearly define these three elements. When you understand your mission, adopt methods that will help you achieve your mission, and define measurements to help you gauge mission success, everything you do will be in alignment.

Question: What is your small group model?

 

In Church, Leadership Church, Measurements, Methods, Mission, Models, Small Groups, Strategy
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Four Strategic Thinking Strategies to Shape Your Church’s Future

June 9, 2011 — 2 Comments

For several months I’ve been meeting with a team of leaders to evaluate and innovate our discipleship strategies at Christ Church. These planning times are essential to clarify direction for the future. Unfortunately, strategic thinking at many churches too often looks like a rehashing of last year’s ideas or a carbon copy of the church’s strategy from down the street. However, the best way to innovate for the future is not to rip off someone else’ strategic plan. Leaders must cultivate strategic thinking practices that will shape the future of the church. Here are four strategic thinking approaches I recommend:

1.  Scan, Measure, & Analyze the Present - Before you can decide where you want to go, you need to understand your current reality. Here are four ways to get your head around your church’s “here and now”:

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In Church, Leadership, Organizations Assumptions, Church, Future, Innovation, Measurements, Organizations, Planning, Strategic Thinking, Strategies
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5 Signs that Your Success is Leading You to Complacency

February 3, 2011 — Leave a comment
Herb Kelleher, Co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of Southwest Airlines, once observed, “A company is never more vulnerable to complacency than when it’s at the height of its success.” So how do you know if your success is leading you to complacency? Here are five signs to consider: 

1.  You’re Enamored by the Scoreboard - When a leader is enamored by his organization’s #1 ranking, he forgets to man the cockpit. Accolades, statistics, and requests for interviews cloud his vision and fill his heart with pride. As Jim Collins observes, Hubris Born of Success is where organizational decline begins.

2.  The Organization and Its Leaders Have an Aversion to Risk - The higher you go the farther you have to fall. That reality breeds fear because leaders recognize what’s at stake if they risk too much. The problem is, they forget what’s at stake if they don’t risk at all. Pretty soon innovative adventures on the open sea are docked at the harbor of safety.

3.  A Culture of Discipline Wains - I’m not talking about disciplining employees, but rather disciplined action. It’s amazing how quickly organizations act without discipline in the areas of time, talent, and resources. When times are good, organizations tend to put on “fat.” That loss of discipline embeds itself in the culture and simultaneously blurs vision and drains passion.

4.  The Organization’s Learning Posture is Relaxed - If you’re successful, people look to you as the expert. That reality is a wet blanket on an organization’s fire for innovation and learning. Success makes leaders think, “I can relax my learning posture…after all, I’m the teacher now.” The problem is, if you’re always the teacher and never the student, one day what you teach will no longer matter…and your organization just might be out of business.

5.  Organizational Measurements are Ignored or Misinterpreted - When an organization experiences success, especially for a decent length of time, it’s easy to assume you’ll always be successful. The pressure also increases (internally and externally) to remain at the top. That’s when organizational measurements are conveniently ignored, misinterpreted or even manipulated. When this happens, mediocrity strangely resembles success. 

Questions: Which of these five signs have you observed in organizations? What other signs would you add to the list? Which is your greatest temptation?

In Leadership, Organizations Discipline, Learning, Measurements, Organizations, Personal Growth, Risk
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Measuring the Future of Your Church

April 20, 2010 — Leave a comment

In the church world, pastors typically measure the ABCs–Attendance, Buildings, and Cash.  There’s nothing wrong with measuring attendance, financial position, program enrollment, and space.  In fact, these measurements can help you better identify areas that are gaining traction and uncover important growth patterns.  If you’re not already, I would encourage you to adopt some of these measurements in your church.  However, leaders must understand a very crucial point:  These are measurements of the PAST.  They only tell you where you’ve been–they don’t tell you where you’re going.  Not only that, these measurements don’t give you a complete picture of health.

As a leader, you’ve got to do more than measure the past; you must measure the future too.  In other words, you’ve got to measure those areas that best predIct where you will be 6 months, 12 months, 18 months and longer from now.  So how exactly do you measure the future?  Begin by measuring:

1.  Leadership Development - The development of leaders gives you the ability to expand your structure to facilitate ministry to more people. When you develop leaders, you’re investing in your church’s future as well as the future of your community. Today’s leadership development is a predictor of future growth. A church will only grow to the level of its leadership.

2.  Systems Development - Every organization has systems and processes.  For example, a church might have a system for assimilating visitors, connecting people in small groups, training volunteers, or hiring staff.  These systems help a church run smoother, more efficiently, and deliver greater outcomes. Systems development is a predictor of future behaviors.  Because systems dictate the behaviors of your team, it is essential that you evaluate which systems are in place and measure how effectively these systems are fulfilling their intended purpose.

3.  People Development - Churches tend to prioritize program development over people development.  While the initial goal of a program may be to develop people, meet a specific need, or solve a particular problem, programs  easily move off mission.  Too often the purpose of a program becomes the existence of the program.  In other words, a program exists to exist.  When this happens, as long as the attendance is good, we assume the program is delivering life change.  Deep down we know this isn’t true.  Just because people show up doesn’t equal life change.  If you want to measure the future, measure people development over program development.  People development is about helping people grow to their full God-given potential in key areas of life. People development is a predictor of future health.  Several resources have recently emerged to gauge individual spiritual health and growth such as Reveal and Monvee.  You might check out these tools as a way to focus more on developing people.

Here’s a few questions you can ask yourself to help you determine if you’re measuring the future:

  • How many potential leaders are you personally mentoring?
  • How many of your current leaders have an apprentice they are developing?
  • Is leadership development a high-priority measurement in every department with every staff member?
  • Do you hire staff to “do ministry” or to “equip people to do ministry?”  Be honest!  How would the behaviors of your staff make you answer this question (are they doing or equipping)?
  • How effective are your current systems at producing the behaviors you desire among your team?
  • Which systems have you identified as a priority to develop in the next six months?
  • How well are your current leaders employing your current systems?
  • Are each of your team members on a personal growth plan?
  • How often do you evaluate personal growth with your team?
  • Is your team growing together–that is, jointly engaged in learning and growth experiences that are stretching the team?

Question:  How else can leaders measure the future?

In Church, Leadership, Personal Growth Future, Growth, leadership development, Measurements, Personal Growth
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How Church Leaders Deny Reality in Turbulent Times

July 2, 2009 — 1 Comment

The great management legend, Peter Drucker, once wrote, “A time of turbulence is a dangerous time, but its greatest danger is a temptation to deny reality.” Consider that quote carefully. I find it particularly disturbing as it relates to the local church. What would cause a leader to deny reality in turbulent times. Although the reasons could be endless, let me share two ways I’ve seen the denial of reality play out in the church world:

1. A Church Denies Reality Until They Encounter Financial Turbulence – Have you ever noticed that churches can be completely content not reaching people far from God, not seeing life-change, and not seeing growth? But the moment the money starts to run out, everybody becomes very discontent. What does this say about us? Is the turbulence of money more important than the turbulence of mission? Why was the reality of mission turbulence ignored for so long? For some churches, a financially turbulent season could actually be the best thing that could ever happen to them. It might actually wake them up, and bring the church back to a mission-centered focus.

2. A Leader Denies Reality When External Opportunities Overshadow Internal Turbulence – How many times have you seen a leader become so preoccupied with the outside speaking invitations, networking opportunities, and external ego boosts that they conveniently lose the pulse on the church’s health? As a result, internal turbulence goes unchecked until its ugly head surfaces in such undeniable force that the leader has no option but to hit the brakes and look under the hood. Does the turbulence have to turn into a full-blown crisis before it gets our attention? How long can a leader deny reality as he travels the country sharing his success? Jim Collins calls this, “Hubris born of success.”

In both cases, turbulence and denial of reality peacefully co-existed until one of two things happened: either the turbulence gave the ADD leader whip lash or the turbulence touched a raw nerve in the church that could no longer be ignored. So how do you ensure the denial of reality won’t infiltrate your church or organization? Consider five things:

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In Church, Leadership change, Evaluations, Leadership, Measurements, Personal Growth
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Evaluations: Moving Beyond Beautiful Strategies

June 8, 2009 — Leave a comment

Evaluation is an important, yet often neglected, part of organizational life.  When an infatuation with strategy blinds a leader’s ability to evaluate outcomes, the organization drifts to the edge of irrelevance.  British prime minister, Winston Churchill once said, “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” For leaders who thrive on activity, the time it takes to evaluate existing programs, products, systems, and strategies can feel like an emotional beating.  But without evaluation, how well can you steward the time, resources, and mission God has entrusted to you?  It’s during the evaluation gaps that our organizational results are less than stellar.

What type of evaluations should you conduct to move beyond beautiful strategies?  I would encourage you to practice three organizational evaluations.

1.  Mission Evaluations – If your mission defines the reason your church or company exists, it would be missional suicide to never evaluate your progress.  When mission fulfillment isn’t evaluated, the mission begins to creep toward muddied complexity.  The company’s abundance of activity dilutes the potency of its mission.  Mission evaluations serve as a tool to drive constant organizational focus.  What measurable progress has been made in the fulfillment of your mission?

2.  Program Evaluations Based on Original Intent – Why we create programs and why we continue programs are often not the same. Consequently, organizations find themselves misaligned.  If the original intent for the program is no longer being fulfilled by the program, why does the program still exist?  Are your programs accomplishing the purpose for which they were created in the first place?  What evidence would support your answer? How effectively and efficiently is the purpose being achieved?  When programs depart their original intent, the organization’s purpose becomes the protection of its programs rather than the fulfillment of its mission.

3.  Systematic Staff Evaluations – Staff should be evaluated on a systematic basis.  In other words, staff reviews should be built into the organizational calendar as a normal expectation for all team members.  We conduct quarterly reviews with our staff to measure personal growth, organizational goal performance, and to measure key leadership competencies.  In addition, we conduct annual reviews to evaluate overall performance, job satisfaction, work environment, and to conduct 360 degree evaluations.

Question:  What do you evaluate?  How?  How often?

In Church, Leadership, Organizations Evaluations, Leadership, Measurements, Organizations
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Developing Your Ministry or Organizational Model

June 3, 2009 — 1 Comment
Many leaders today are working hard to identify and create a ministry or organizational model that will produce meaningful impact.  Bookshelves are loaded with the latest strategies, ideas, and models for building a thriving church or business.  Books like Simple Church by Thom Rainer, 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, and Lane Jones, and Missional Renaissance by Reggie McNeal are great tools for helping you think about your model.  Every model on the planet is unique and each model has its strengths, as well as its weaknesses.  So how do you create a model that’s right for you?  Do you simply replicate the model that’s most in step with your values and organizational culture?  While there’s nothing wrong with studying the models of other churches and organizations (which I encourage you to do), ultimately your model needs to address three key components–Mission, Methods, and Measurements (as illustrated below):

Mission – The development of a model must begin with the organization’s mission.  Failure to do so results in the tail wagging the dog.  The mission is the organizational trump card to all strategies, ideas, and opportunities.  Without mission, the core of organizational identity does not exist.  What is your mission (why do you exist)?

Methods – Once the mission is clear, appropriate methods should be developed that will drive progress toward the mission.  When methods are adopted that do not align themselves with the mission, organizational drift occurs.  The tendency of many churches and organizations is to create methods (programs, strategies, etc.) without considering the mission.  It tends to happen most in two scenarios:  First, when an organization views itself as invincible (because of current and former success) and therefore engages in the mindless pursuit of “more.”  Or, second, when the organization has stopped growing, and out of a sense of panic, irrationally pursues “the next big thing.”  This “organizational attention deficit disorder” embraces opportunity without any sort of filter.  However, great leaders understand that methods detached from mission are nothing more than black holes for time, money, and resources. What are your methods and do they fulfill your mission?

Measurements – This is the real test–the one that gets overlooked too often.  You must ask, “How do we measure the effectiveness of our methods to fulfill our mission?”  This is not easy.  In church world we tend to measure the ABCs (Attendance, Buildings, and Cash).  While it’s okay to measure these, they reveal very little about your effectiveness in fulfilling your mission–unless your mission is to attract large crowds, build lots of buildings, and make a bunch of money.  Our mission is more about life-change, which is not as easy to measure.  And just because people are showing up does not mean they are growing.  Willowcreek is making some progress in this area through their “Reveal” research (www.willowcreek.com) and Reggie McNeal’s book, Missional Renaissance provides some good insight on developing a new scorecard for the church.  The key is to determine what to measure and how to measure it (which will likely look different for each church and organization) and then turn your measurements into specific questions.  The questions you ask reveal what’s most important to you, and, ultimately, what you’re measuring.  What are you measuring?  Are there gaps in your measurements?  What questions have you developed that are tied to your measurements?

Mission, methods, and measurements are essential to identifying and developing a ministry or organizational model. Once that model becomes clear, work carefully to find a creative yet simple way to communicate it.  
In Church, Leadership, Organizations Measurements, Methods, Mission, Models, Strategy
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