Executive Pastor Online - August 2008

Infrastructure Development � A Simple Example

kevin@moviechurch.com — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

I've expended a lot of my blog energy, over my more than a year as a blogger, on the topic of Infrastructure Development. I've written about what it is, how to do it, and why it's important. Developing infrastructure boils down to deciding how to do something, committing it to writing (the Management System), and continuously improving the method through revising policies, procedures, work instructions, forms, etc. That's it.

But, why is this so critical to church growth and the accomplishment of the mission? In order to grow, the church must be very good at connecting people to ministry teams that "run the business." In all areas of the church people must easily get connected and deployed in one service area or another. If deploying a new volunteer takes a significant amount of effort, either by the staff member or key volunteer leader, the number of volunteers that are connected over time will be fewer. And, the lack of ability to rapidly grow the volunteer base will ultimately slow the growth of the church overall.

Last Sunday I had a real example of this that I thought I would share. In our operations area we have several teams that take care of everything from parking cars to changing light bulbs. One of those teams is responsible for putting directional signs out to help new comers find our site. Not that our site is hard to find necessarily; we have just found over the years that having signs out raises the awareness of people that we are having services and that new comers are always welcome.

Anyway, the guy scheduled to put the signs out that morning called me to let me know, due to some back trouble, he wouldn't be able to take care of it. I said, "No problem. We'll take care of it. You take care of your back." I'm thinking this isn't a problem because this is one "task" that has been documented in the form of a Work Instruction. All I need is to find someone that is willing, give them the procedure and keys to the church truck and off they go. It didn't turn out to be that simple, though.

The volunteer came back 5 minutes later and asked if he could borrow my cell phone. I said no problem ... why do you need it? He said that he needed to stay on the phone (his battery was dead) with the guy scheduled to get the job done that morning because the procedure was "nowhere near accurate."

Nice.

I loaned him my phone which allowed him to be verbally walked through the route and the placement of signs. I thought to myself, "Nice try man." How simple it could have been had our "documented procedure" just been accurate.

Service Design - To Plan or Not to Plan?

kevin@moviechurch.com — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

We recently hired a new Arts Director, which is a very good thing. During the more than 6 months it took to make the hiring decision, though, I had the privilege of directly leading the Arts organization including the development of a new Service Design process.

As the Executive Pastor I probably spend more face-to-face time with our Senior Pastor than anyone else on staff. This helped me to get a new process established, documented, and implemented. It also taught me a bunch about the constant "tug" between the lead speaker and creative design team.

The design team says, "We have to plan more in advance if we want to really do some good stuff." While the lead speaker says, "I need the freedom and flexibility to change my message at the last minute." Or, "I want to come up with the ideas and speak on them within a few weeks of each other when I'm still excited about the topic."

The problem is they are both right, and they are both wrong. (That reminds me of a line out of a movie. What movie?) The creative team does need significant lead time on song selection and many other creative elements. But if they had it their way, everything would be completely done and on paper for a year and there would be no flexibility to tweak anything as the world changes around the church. In other words, too much planning ahead can equal lack of flexibility. That's not good.

The lead speaker, on the other hand, does need to be excited about the topic in order to deliver the message with excellence. Depending on the person, getting and staying excited about a topic might mean not planning too much in advance. I've seen it before. "Six months ago during a brainstorming session I was really excited about this topic, but now (six months later) I wish I had never brought it up!"

The bottom line is that the lead speaker and creative team have to work together to establish the best process possible given the gifts of the people involved and the level of excellence desired. Depending on the service element, the creative team needs the lead time required to get the job done with excellence. For example, an all volunteer music ministry (made up of people with full-time jobs) needs more time to learn the music and practice than a paid band needs to perform with the required (and expected) excellence. If the required lead time is not provided, a lower level of excellence will be the result ... like it or not. If the creative element is a video or drama, obviously much more lead time is required.

The lead speaker needs to work on planning ahead and sticking to the plan once it's established. But, sometimes (for whatever reason) needs the flexibility to tweak or even completely change the plan. The creative team needs enough lead time to produce services that inspire attendees. But, they can't be so rigid that they can't tweak or even completely change the plan when needed.

So, I say establish a process (on paper) that works and that everyone understands. And then, work to continuously reduce the amount of lead time required to get the job done. The lead speaker continuously works to plan more ahead and the creative team works to be more flexible. As with every other area of the church (and just about any business), once the process is established revision B (an improved process) should never be far behind.

Check out CCV's Service Design process here.

Religiuous - The Movie

kevin@moviechurch.com — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

This looks like a movie worth the trip. Maybe a "staff outing" or something.

Check it out ...

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB8fPJ6zds8&eurl=http://www.thinkchristian.net/index.php/2008/08/20/religiuous/ 425x344]

Coffee Cart

kevin@moviechurch.com — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

When we first moved into our new building in July of 2006 we had an immediate problem with trying to run a Hospitality ministry. Due to budget cuts and having to radically reduce the size of our building to get the project done for the money available, we couldn't build any space to even support Hospitality outside of the building. The single "kitchen type" sink in the building is located in a children's classroom and is only for use during the week. It doesn't help much, though, on Sunday morning.

For the first year (spring through fall) we made coffee in a couple of locations around the building (storage rooms, etc.) that were out of site and waited until after our 3 services to clean everything up. We even used a water hose on the curb in front of the building to rinse out coffee pump pots and other utensils. Needless to say, our volunteers weren’t very happy with us. We lost a number of team members during that period.

A way had to be found to provide something for the team to brew coffee and otherwise support a Hospitality area on Sunday mornings. Again, due to lack of space Hospitality has to be outside the building. Thankfully we have a large patio area in front of our building that can be used (weather permitting).

Enter the coffee cart. Terri, the leader of our First Impressions ministry, suggested we find some kind of mobile or portable way to get the job done. Along the way, we found Carts of Colorado. They manufacture carts or kiosks that businesses such as Starbucks use in malls and other public spaces for coffee and snack service.

I’m happy to say that we have had our cart for this entire season and it has been a HUGE success. If you have a similar need, I would suggest you contact them. Check out their website by clicking here.

Perspective

kevin@moviechurch.com — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

I don't know about you, but I can sometimes get too focused on the task at hand and loose my perspective. You know ... what I'm here to accomplish. As CCV's Executive Pastor I'm "up to my eyeballs in alligators" all the time, usually focused on slaying one dragon or another.

Don't get me wrong. I love my job. And, I'm almost always having a good time doing it. Every now and then, though, I need to be reminded why I'm here. I need a little perspective.

A friend of mine sent me this link a few days ago. Check it out ...

http://www.greatdanepro.com/Blue%20Bueaty/index.htm

God's creation is truly amazing!

Dashboard - Measuring Results

kevin@moviechurch.com — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

I've blogged before on the topic of measuring results. In my article on the Performance Cycle I discuss it in the context of everything else when it comes to leading the church in the accomplishment of the mission.

I have been asked lately about how to actually capture results and put them into a format that is readily available to staff and easy to read and interpret.

We use what we refer to as the Stat Sheet. It is e-mailed to the staff each week on Monday or Tuesday and contains just about anything you could possibly want. We also publish and review KPMs (Key Performance Measures) each month that put the data in graphical form. I have found that looking at data in graphical form makes it easier to actually learn something from the information. The Stat Sheet might be considered more of a dashboard, but both are needed and very helpful.

If you would like a copy of either our Stat Sheet or KPMs, send me an e-mail and I'll hook you up.

Starting Construction

kevin@moviechurch.com — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

We've been engaged in our second building program (Leave A Legacy) for almost 2 years (since completing our first) and are only now actually almost ready to put a shovel in the ground.

It is amazing to me how much effort goes into a building program! From the early work on the plan in preparation for the vision casting piece of a capital campaign to the continuous negotiation with the municipality, it is almost a full-time job. The effort is worth it, but I continue to wonder how churches without Executive Pastors ever get it done.

Over the last couple of weeks we've had almost daily meetings on site with the general contractor and a host of sub-contractors to clarify bids and work out the logistics of building a new building on a site that has to continue to function as our Sunday morning service location and mid-week preschool facility. Let's just say that "it's going to get much worse before it gets better" around here. It will all be worth it, though, when the new space is complete and we host what we hope will be more than 3,000 for services on Easter Sunday of 2009!

As of today, we've received our grading permit approval; have our Financial Security Agreement (township escrow), signed by the church and the lender, on its way back to our attorney for township signature and recording; and are only a few days away from loan closing. The pre-construction meeting with the Soil Conservation District is scheduled for Monday at 1 p.m. From there the dirt will literally start moving.

We're on track for a blowout Grand Opening celebration on Easter Sunday 2009! There's a lot to do, though, between now and then!

League Night � Staying Connected

kevin@moviechurch.com — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

Since joining the staff at my church I’ve found it challenging to stay connected to people outside the church. As a corporate guy I obviously spent my whole day working with people outside of the church, many of whom very far from God. Now, I really have to work at it.

For more than 4 years now the guys in my neighborhood have gotten together every other week to shoot pool. It is organized league play (8-Ball) with a cash prize for the top 3 players and a catered event held at one of the participant’s homes at the end of the season. One of the things I really like about how the league is organized is that the purpose of the league is clearly understood. Being the winner and being all concerned about winning the game is not the focus. We do the league because we’re interested in spending time together and getting to know one another better as neighbors and friends. Cool!

Last night was league night. We had a larger than normal turnout (about 14 players). It was a great night. Yes … I won all 3 of my games, but that’s not why it was a great night. The number of players that showed up to play (at Joe’s house) and the fun we had together is what made the night great.

It’s been fun for me to have made the career transition to ministry that I’ve made since the first season of league play. The guys are curious to hear about CCV and how we’re growing. I’ve had the pleasure of talking about our building programs, Kids’ Camp, and all the other cool stuff that’s happening around here. Of course, I often invite them to church or to bring their kids to one of our children’s events.

So far, none of them have come to church. But, you know what? I don’t really care. I don’t think that is what it’s all about. Just hanging with them and being part of their lives is all that I’m doing for now. Hopefully, I’m still here and available to serve them in some way when the time comes.

The Communication Challenge

kevin@moviechurch.com — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

One of the most important components of good leadership is also one of the most difficult. Have you ever heard the expression, "I feel like I'm being treated like a mushroom"? Mushrooms are fed a lot of "crap" and kept in the dark ... obviously not good when it comes to communication.

The bottom line is that continuously communicating with everyone is critically important to an organization's overall effectiveness. But, actually getting this done consistently is very difficult. Like many of the other difficulties of leadership and infrastructure building, communication must be systemic - happening almost automatically at all levels of the organization.

In fact, communicating effectively is so important senior leadership should establish and document a Communication Plan. The Communication Plan should be "communicated" to all team members and be continuously available for reference. Of course, once you put a plan in writing you definitely have to follow it.

The Communication Plan should include communication guidelines/requirements at all levels of the organization. A typical plan would include guidelines as follows:

Announcements - A vehicle for routine all employee announcements should be established and utilized as much as possible to get the word out to everyone frequently. Almost anything of interest to the team that is public knowledge can be communicated via e-mail or an internal website bulletin board.

One on One Meetings - On a very frequent and informal basis a leader should meet one on one with each of their direct reports. This can be done in an actual sit down meeting and/or through routine interaction throughout the week. Regardless, there needs to be a forum for team leader to team member communication.

Routine Staff Meetings - Every team leader should schedule and conduct routine team meetings. The two most critical aspects of a "staff meeting" are that they are regularly scheduled and on everyone's calendar well in advance and that an agenda is sent to the team before the meeting begins. I've asked many a leader if they have a "routine" staff meeting and they immediately respond with a "yes." But when I ask when the next one is scheduled, I more often than not get a response like, "We try to have them every week or two." In other words, the leader hasn't made the commitment in the form of a standing appointment on the calendar. It's important that the team know they can count on a regularly scheduled forum for communication and coordination with other team members. The agenda piece is just good practice. People need to know what will be discussed and have the opportunity to add things to the agenda if they want.

Quarterly Communication Meetings - All organizations of any size at all should have a periodic forum for presenting information from leadership to the rest of the organization. In the past, I've done this via a "Quarterly Communication Meeting." Around mid-month of the new quarter a meeting is held with all employees. Again the meeting is scheduled in advance and has an agenda published ahead of time. Communication in a large group setting like this one is mostly "one way" and should have more of a "state of the business" feel to it. There can be a brief Q&A time, but actually resolving anything or making a decision in a forum this large is not easy and not really the point of this communication method.

Annual Meeting - One of the quarterly meetings (1st quarter of the new "business year") can be utilized as the "annual" meeting. Again, in a state of the business format the previous year is discussed and the plans for the coming year are presented.

Feedback - Another important aspect of good communication includes a method of allowing employees to give feedback to their leadership. In larger organizations this can be done via a suggestion program of some sort. Smaller organizations can implement something less formal, sometimes having a feedback segment to a regular staff meeting like a roundtable agenda item.

As important as communication is to the success of the mission, it should be given the attention that many other aspects of the business are given. Having a formal Communication Plan can help the leader to get it done.