Urgent vs. Important

Posted on September 3, 2013 Written by

There’s already been a lot written about “urgent versus important” as a management tool. I’m sure I’ll repeat some things, but they bear repeating. Some consultants advise using a JoHari Window to help manage the important and urgent.

Important

Not Important

Urgent

Not Urgent

 

  1. Immediately deal with important and urgent items.
    1. These are items that cannot wait and if not dealt with efficiently and effectively, there could be a significant downside impact.
    2. Often these will require using substantial amounts of resources so that the outcome is the best possible for everyone.
    3. Next, deal with urgent things quickly but do not invest lots of resources in them.
      1. They are wildfires that need to be put out. Don’t let them get out of control or there could be unfortunately consequences.
      2. Urgent things consume resources – time, money, and energy – and are often not productive.
      3. Third, focus on the important things.
        1. That’s where you need to invest your resources.
        2. Taking time to set expectations and standards will, in due course, mean that people will know what is important to you. They will realize that urgent things are usually insignificant and that you want to spend time on important stuff.
        3. Lastly, things that are not important and not urgent shouldn’t be dealt with at all. Not even by subordinates. They are a waste of time.

By the way, if you’ve not used JoHari Windows, I strongly encourage their use. You can put almost anything on the sides and once you fill in the squares, you’ll quickly see where you need to focus your resources. The Johari Window was created by two guys (Joseph and Harrington) in the 1950s as a tool to help interpersonal relationships, but management consultants saw where this can be used in a variety of business scenarios.

Lead On!

Steve

 

Filed Under: church administration, leadership, strategy Tagged: , ,

Decision-making Questions

Posted on August 20, 2013 Written by

Gray areas are dangerous territory. When something is not clear cut and no easy decision can be made, it is a gray area. To help navigate those gray areas, ask yourself several questions:

  • What is the upside versus the downside of doing or not doing this action?
  • What is the wise thing to do?
  • What would a prudent person do?

These questions will make you pause long enough to help you make the right decision. Sometimes you only need to ask one of these but sometimes you should ask all three . You can figure out when to ask which ones.

What is the upside versus the downside of doing or not doing this action?

By definition, decisions mean choosing one thing over another. That means you give up something in favor of something else, and you want to choose correctly. This question asks if the benefits of this decision outweigh any negative consequences. Sometimes a decision made with good intentions can have unintended divisive results and you need to determine ahead of time if that good decision is worth it.  Make sure the downside never overshadows the upside; if there is a chance it will, don’t do it.

What is the wise thing to do?

Andy Stanley wrote a book The Best Question Ever in which he posed this question as THE basis for all life-decisions. I agree – asking yourself “is this the wise thing to do” will always make you stop and ponder the consequences of your upcoming actions. Wisdom is a life skill that increases with age and experience. Even if you are a teenager, asking this question can simply slow you down before committing to something so that you can make that decision in a well-thought-out manner.

What would a prudent person do?

Ask this question especially when there is a legal issue at heart. Let me be more explicit: can you stand in front of a judge and with a clear conscience justify your decision, such as why you spent that money on some product or didn’t spend money on some safety feature? Make sure you have the right reasons for your decision and then proceed.

Leadership is all about decision making. That is pretty much what leaders do all day long: make decisions. Here is my final rule:

Make the right and wise decision based on all the knowledge and information you have at that time. Go full-speed ahead with that decision. As you go along you will gather more information, and if any of that additional knowledge is sufficient to warrant a new decision, then do it. Never stick with a wrong decision in the light of data which can help you make a better decision. Then, make the new decision and proceed full-speed ahead until/unless you get info that will change that decision.

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: church administration, leadership, strategy Tagged: , ,

Standing Rubble (part 2)

Posted on August 13, 2013 Written by

In my last post, I wrote about Solomon’s Temple, Herod’s Temple, and the First Church of Jerusalem as the three greatest structures in ancient Judaism and early Christianity. These buildings helped shape Judaism and Christianity, and they became centers of their respective faiths. However, all three buildings are gone – only the Western or Wailing Wall of Herod’s Temple remains. Everything else is rubble, as Jesus predicted in Matthew 24:1-2.

As a church administrator, one of my roles is to maintain and upgrade church buildings. I believe that all church buildings should be places where people want to come to, pleasant to be in, inviting to newcomers, and welcoming to all. This means keeping the buildings clean and in good condition – walls with good paint, updated furnishings (not outdated furniture), well-lit, clean carpets and floors, free of clutter, etc. Well-cared-for and well-maintained facilities are important to getting younger generations inside a church – they have high expectations of what they want to see, and too many churches fall short. I’ve been in too many churches that are not taking care of their brick-and-mortar investments and that is a failure of stewardship, but that isn’t my point.

Taking care of church buildings is important, but taking care of people is even more important and urgent. Building up people is the real purpose of the four walls of a church edifice. Renovating hearts and minds is essential to the work of the church. Sometimes “gutting” mindsets and hardened anti-God feelings is necessary so that God can use that hollow structure to construct anew. Helping people begin to understand the love of God is the core purpose of every church building. The church must always be looking out its windows at the horizons God has set in front of it; it must take care of what God has entrusted to it, but the main thing for all churches is people.

All church buildings die. If they didn’t, then I’m sure that at least one of these three central religious structures who be standing today. None of them are. It’s not that God doesn’t care for the buildings, he just cares for people infinitely more and will sacrifice everything, including beautiful and important buildings, for the sake of his most loved creation. We should imitate God and realize that every building can be replaced, but people can’t. We need to prioritize our focus on buildings; they are a tool to help individuals get to know God just like so many other tools God gives us. Take care of your buildings, but take care of your people even more.

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: future, leadership, strategy, wisdom Tagged: , , ,

QR Codes

Posted on June 4, 2013 Written by

QR codes are free. Get a QR code for your webpage for online giving. Print the QR code in every week’s bulletin and remind people they can give online by scanning the QR code in the bulletin. Keep the CR code in the same place in the bulletin so people will know where to look for it each week. For the increasing number of people who don’t carry cash, this is a simple way to facilitate electronic giving (after all, everyone carries a smartphone everywhere but wallets are disappearing).

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: budget, church administration, church finances, strategy Tagged: , , ,

Revenue Projections Spreadsheet

Posted on May 21, 2013 Written by

Projecting church gifts is difficult but not impossible. If you have a few years of giving history and a good spreadsheet, you can get a pretty accurate forecast of how much a church will receive in a current fiscal year with a high degree of statistical confidence, about 98%. I use this with the most important revenue stream for a church, gifts and offerings, but it can be used for any revenue stream that is relatively stable (no major fluctuations from year to year).

To do this, you’ll need at least four years’ worth of giving data with totals by month. The more history you’ve got, the more accurate your projection will be. If you keep up this spreadsheet, each year, the forecasts will get more accurate. Here’s how to do the financial forecast:

  1. Look on the Free Resources tab for the Annual Revenue Projections spreadsheet and open it.
  2. Fill in the church’s or organization’s name
  3. Change the “Year’s Row” to reflect the years for which you have data
  4. Enter all the data for all the years prior to the current fiscal year
  5. Enter current year data through the most recent month in the current year’s column
  6. Change the formula in the row “Through the rest of year”
    1. If you have current year data for seven months, then change the formula in B20 to add up the giving for the last five months of the year.
    2. Repeat for all prior years – you want to add up in row 20 the amount given in each respective prior years’ last five months
    3. The current year’s row 20 cell cannot follow the pattern of the previous cells because there isn’t any data to add. Instead, average the percentage data for all the previous years.
    4. This step, #6, is crucial – it is the only step that is changed each month. As you input data for the most recently completed fiscal month in the current year you’ll need to change what months are added in row 20.
    5. The spreadsheet will give you a figure in “Projected Total as of EOM” (end of month). That is the forecasted receipts figure based on the data you have so far. I suggest copying that figure into the row underneath for the appropriate month so you can see from month-to-month how the forecast changes.

I’ve used this spreadsheet for about 10 years and it uncanny how accurate it is when you’ve got six years of prior giving history and six months of current year giving data. In fact, give the spreadsheet a test: since you know what the total giving was for your most recently completed fiscal year, enter the data as if that year were still in progress and see what the model forecasts with six months’ of data or seven. Compare the forecast with the actual year-end figure to see if it was within a statistical margin (4% or less).

The model isn’t flawless but it is about 98% to 99% accurate. Your Finance Committee will be impressed! This spreadsheet does not account for variances that skew giving such as major gifts or deaths or departures of major givers so consider those events when entering your data. Make sure you save this spreadsheet to your files so you can update it each month.

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: church administration, church finances, strategy Tagged: , ,

Decision-Making Committees and Working Teams

Posted on May 14, 2013 Written by

Churches need to differentiate between committees and teams. Most churches have one or the other but in reality they have both. However, they don’t distinguish between the two whereas I think there is a difference.

  • Committees
    • Committees make decisions. Committee members should have expertise in the areas to which they are assigned. For example, you need numbers people reading financial statements.
    • Committees always have an indefinite existence.
    • Examples of committees are:
      • Personnel
      • Finance
      • Strategic Planning
      • (that’s really all there are – everything else is a Working Team)
      • Working Teams
        • Working Teams accomplish a specific project. They may have an indefinite lifespan, but they have a specific job to do. Most of the teams do not require skills, they require willingness to serve.
        • Examples of Working Teams are:
          • Ushers
          • Teachers
          • Greeters
          • New Building
          • Fundraising
          • Missions
          • And dozens more, however many the church needs to accomplish its tasks

Many Working Teams should have a sunset clause – when the building is built, when the mission trip is over, etc. Committees never end. One of the key differences is that decisions by Committees may have legal consequences whereas the Tellers’ Team and other teams don’t make decisions with legal concerns.

Working Teams don’t need to have a rotation schedule but Committees must have one. It may be a three or four year rotation with the opportunity to re-up for another term or not, but rotation is important. Committees need a balance of institutional memory (members who have been around a while and know the church’s history and politics) and new blood (members who can bring fresh ideas and current concepts to help the church adapt to the present and future). The easiest and best way to get that mix of history and new is to rotate members. Frequently this rotation helps to keep the average age of a committee in the late-40s and that is a pretty good mix of ages.

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: leadership, strategy Tagged: ,

Last Will & Testament of Churches

Posted on May 7, 2013 Written by

Does your church have a will? What will happen to the church when the time comes to close the doors? No one wants to think about that; it’s too emotional. After all, this is the building where you were married, your children were baptized, your dad’s funeral was held, and your children ran down the halls despite your threats. This is a building full of emotion. So how do you make a rational decision about an emotional subject? The answer is, you don’t at the time. You make those decisions before it becomes overwhelmingly emotional.

Every church will close, and every church building will crumble. That’s a fact. Yes, there are some churches that are over a thousand years old, but most of those are historical structures (think cathedrals in Europe) that are tourist sites and thus get a lot of their funding from visitors (FYI, it costs money to get into St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in London but St. Peter’s in Rome is still free though donations are encouraged).

First Church, Jerusalem was pastored by James, the brother of Jesus. This guy, not one of the disciples, was so revered that he was elevated to be the leader of the most important church in the new group called The Way (aka, Christianity). To see how important James was, just read about the very first business meeting of the church (Acts 15) and that when James spoke, everyone listened and followed what he said. First Church, Jerusalem probably met in a home, albeit a house big enough to handle over 100 people. At some point the Jesus Movement became institutionalized with buildings and structures but early on, it probably met in a house. Here’s the kicker, we don’t know where that house is today – it’s somewhere under all the buildings currently in Jerusalem. Surely God would have saved the meeting place of First Jerusalem just to show everyone how important church buildings are, but God didn’t. That building is now rubble, somewhere.

If God didn’t save First Church, Jerusalem, He won’t keep your building and your church around till Jesus comes. So, what is your plan when the time comes? I urge you to think about it – and I mean “think.” When the time comes the decision will be so overwhelmingly emotional that most people will not be able to deal with the subject in a calm manner. That is expected, this is an emotional subject.

Put together a plan now to answer questions related to closing the church

  • How small will the congregation have to be so that the doors are closed?
  • How small will the budget have to be?
  • What options will be pursued prior to closing the church? Options include merging with another church; becoming a mission point of another church.
  • What will happen to the assets of the church?
  • Will you sell the building and grounds to a developer or donate the property to the local denominational governing body?
  • Will you take action before the buildings begin to deteriorate such that their upkeep means they are the single largest expense?
  • Who will originate the discussion?
  • Who will make these decisions? The trustees? The deacons? The church members themselves?

There are a dozen other questions to be asked of any congregation and a dozen other questions which are congregation-specific. I encourage every church’s leadership to have a well-thought-out and well-documented conversation now, while your church is in good shape. Then, when the time comes to begin a painful conversation, you’ll be ready to address this subject.

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: future, leadership, planning, strategy Tagged: , , ,

The Best Shredders for Churches

Posted on April 30, 2013 Written by

The Best Shredders for Churches

Every office likes to have shredders. The finance office needs to shred sensitive financial files or personnel records; a counseling minister may need to get rid of confidential files; an administrative assistant needs to shred papers with members’ addresses and phone numbers. Shredders are good and necessary to protect the church from any liability resulting from sharing confidential information accidentally.

But shredders are not cheap. The smallest ones cost about $50, and industrial ones go for a few thousand dollars (way beyond what a church needs). Shredders are not used a lot, though. They are used heavily for few projects and then they may sit for a few days or even weeks till they are used again. A real drawback to shredders is the mess they make – every time the plastic liner is replaced, some shreddings fall on the floor which then requires a vacuum to come out to clean it all up. Finally, they have to be maintained and eventually replaced, all of which costs even more money.

Here’s my recommendation: don’t spend any money on a shredder. Instead, take all your papers to your bank to shred. Every bank (including small branches) has shred boxes for their own internal use. They have to have these because of the volume of confidential info they deal with each day. Every so often (usually once a week), the bank’s shred box is emptied and shredded by a professional company. This is a benefit of using a bank that a bank won’t tell you about, but they’ll most often provide this customer service at no additional charge.

Get a box or plastic tub and place it in your office somewhere. When people need something to be shredded, they put the papers in the box/tub. Then, when the financial assistant goes to the bank for the regular weekly or semi-weekly bank deposit, the assistant can take the shred box/tub with her to the bank. Talk with your bank ahead of time to ask about doing this. As long as you don’t flood them with a huge box each week, they’ll be glad to help (at least, that’s what they’ll say in front of you!).

So, let your bank’s industrial strength shredders do your work, save you some money, and keep your office cleaner (and give you a little more space). Take advantage of this (unadvertised) service.

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: church administration, strategy Tagged: ,
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