I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been contacted by a church wanting to develop an assimilation process. They have one, and they want to improve it or use Church Community Builder to implement the process. Either way, I’m always happy to help!
Remember, though, the assimilation process is just a part of an overall effort to develop strong, solid, and effective infrastructure. And, the heart of any serious effort to develop infrastructure in the church is the Operating Procedure. Here on Executive Pastor Online, you’ll find lots of content about infrastructure development and the Management System’s role in this process. More than any other document type in the Management System will be the Operating Procedure and associated forms, work instructions, effectiveness measures, etc.
The first step in writing an Operating Procedure is developing a “process flowchart.” The best way to get this done is by involving a team of people who understand how the process currently runs and/or how it should run in the future. Get everyone together in a room with a whiteboard and begin the discussion.
Break the process down step by step, beginning to draw a flowchart on the board. Don’t be afraid to get into the details of the process. What are the key decision points? How does the process flow depending on a key decision point?
Download a PDF of our assimilation process HERE. We implemented this process using “process queues” in Church Community Builder, our Church Management Software (CMS). The ability to develop and implement “people processes” is one of many benefits of CCB. You should definitely check it out!
There are also several examples of Operating Procedures in the Resources area of this site. It’s not until the flowchart is done, though, that the Operating Procedure writing begins. As documented in the flowchart, each major step in the process is described in detail in the written portion of the document.
Take a look at the examples and get started!