swerve lab: Strategic Planning
Thanks to all of you who have continued to respond and help those who have submitted questions to the swerve lab. If you have a question that you would like for the readers of this blog to respond to, please send it to swerve@lifechurch.tv and put “Swerve Lab” in the subject line. You can read more about the process.
This issue comes from a church staff member who wishes to remain anonymous. Even though his/her questions are directed to church leaders, I encourage any of you who have been involved a strategic planning processes (church or business) to help answer the questions.
Anonymous -
“Our staff struggles to understand long-range strategic planning.
For whatever reason, we seem to confuse our foundational document (vision, core values, theology, affirmations, etc.) with that of a strategic plan. I would love to hear feedback from leaders who have successfully led the church down a strategic planning process.
Where did you start? How did you present it so that it made sense to ministry leaders who have never done it before? What hurdles or challenges did you run into? What made the process successful? Desperate to get some help on this.”
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[...] August 26th, 2007 Strategic Planning has been a struggle for us… as I’m sure it is for most churches composed of a bunch of people with passion for ministry, but little background in organizational structure, strategic planning, human resources development and a host of other skills. [...]
I originally wanted this question to be anonymous because I was still waiting to have a conversation with our senior pastor about it. That’s out of the way, now, we just want help.
Help us take The Sanctuary to the next level. Thanks,
Jeremy,
Awesome first step in talking with your Pastor … I think that’s the biggest first step you can take, and then with the rest of the leadership.
Those Core Values and Founding Docs are vital, but as you are saying, so is a Strategic Plan. It’s an old cliche’, but a good one … “failing to plan is planning to fail”.
One of the best ways to measure your “strategic planning” (I’m not pro here, just a reader, oK!?) … is to set goals - short term, and long term. If you’re not hitting those goals - there is a reason …
I’d recommend some great reading as well - to help clarify your strategy. “Good to Great” is an awesome book that will talk about a “hedgehog concept” that really helps you focus your strategy and vision.
I love the fact that God said if we ask for wisdom, He’ll give it!
For the Kingdom,
Fred McKinnon
Worship Director, St. Simons Community Church
Confusing vision, core values, etc. with that of a strategic plan is not an unusual dilemma. We often do it in our personal lives, in our jobs, in relationships and with our goals for ourselves.
For example, most Christian parents want their children to grow up as healthy, happy, Godly young people. That’s the vision. The goal. The ‘what’s out on the horizon’. To achieve that goal requires advance planning. It requires forethought and a pre-determined course of action. For example, maintaining purity before marriage requires promoting it during the youngest years of puberty. Teaching children about financial responsibility involves layers of learning, line upon line, order upon order, nurturing ambition and contrasting it with the the laziness warned about in Proverbs.
Likewise, if we want to get in better physical shape, we have a vision, a goal. And we can’t just wish or hope ourselves there. The steps we take to achieve our vision are definable, strategic, measurable, quantatative. The steps we take to execute our vision may include more exercise, cutting out junk food, adding in good food, more water, weighing ourselves, shedding a certain number of pounds within a certain time frame, etc. These steps are not the vision; they are the avenues by which we accomplish the vision.
Church is no different in that our goal or vision can only be achieved with strategic planning. I remember I hosted a women’s event one time and 5 times the amount of women I anticipated ended up attending. After it was over, I happily reported back to the Senior Pastor how successful it was. He asked me what my goals had been. I couldn’t really answer. It was a terrific learning experience for me because I began to realize that attracting a crowd is not necessarily accomplishing a particular vision.
One of the advantages of really sitting down as a staff and determining what God’s heart and plans are for any particular congregation is that only when we have a clear description of the vision, can we determine what avenues we will take to arrive there. And only then can we conclude whether we executed well.
Be clear and concise. All churches want to love God and love people. Go beyond that - get specific; every church can be optimized with a specific personality and a specific calling. Don’t think of doing it all; it leaves you spread too thin. Lack of planning often leads to failures. Do you want to reach the lost (evangelistic), mature existing believers (teaching), take care of the disenfranchised, broken, etc. Feed the poor? Are your church strengths in worship, prophecy, outreach, scholarly Bible exposition, what?
The Lord wants to release His particular gifts and callings in unique ways in each of our congregations so it’s important to be ourselves and be true to what is definitely us. Then beyond that we need to evaluate and measure whether we have a strategic plan for accomplishing the particular vision God has designed for our church family.
Sorry it’s lengthy Craig & Bobby; I always get pumped on this topic!
I recommend reading “Simple Church”. Its a great book that helps you to drill down into how to develop a strategic process based on your vision/mission.
To me a strategic plan has to be looked at from an “individuals” perspective rather than a “corporate” perspective as a mission/vision statement usually is.
In other words, start looking at how the average person operates and participates in the church. Put yourself in their shoes and try to see what they see and hear what they hear. Are they able to clearly see themselves as a part of a process with a beginning, middle, and end(goal)? Are they able to identify where in that process they are? Or is the mission of the church just some nebulous thing to them?
Having said that…we all struggle with this, but I think when we get laser focused and really communicate what the mission AND strategy of the church is you eventually hit a tipping point where people start to ‘get it’. Thats when it gets fun.
Probably has NOTHING to do with your question but hey, its early!
Jeremy, I am not a church staff member, but I am in a leadership position at work. This may help and it may not! One of the first things I do before planning is a SWOT analysis. It measures your core Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It is not a bad idea to do this in every area of your ministry or work. It can help identify areas to grow, change, build on and avoid. After doing this it may be time to brainstorm ideas to take action on what you’ve uncovered in your SWOT. When coming up with action plans try and stick to the SMART method.
S - be Specific M - can you Measure success? A - does it require Action? R - is it a Reallistic plan? T - is it bound by Time? I hope this helps bro.
Peace, Chris
Jeremy-
In addition to the other suggestions above, I thought I’d throw out what our staff does. We take two tests - the Strengths Finder test (Now Discover Your Strengths) and the Leading From Your Strengths assessment (leadingfromyourstrenghts.com).
We look at these results as a staff and chart them…so you’ll be able to identify any one who has that natural gift of “Strategic.” It’s a hard gift to be taught but when someone has it…it can be mindblowing to have them help you line out goals and the mini-steps it takes to get from A…to B…to C…,etc.
With the other test, you’re able to tell more of a personality/work bent…who is fast paced, slow paced, people, or task-oriented.
By figuring out the strengths of those with whom you’re working, and placing them in their sweet spot can mean a much smoother ride to setting & achieving your goals.
Thanks for the help everyone.
Anne-
I totally agree with the strengthsfinder testing. I actually just took my test last week. I came up as: Self-Assurance, Learner, Significance, Deliberative, and Analytical.
I’m hoping our whole staff will be able to take this test or similar, so we can have a better handle on who we’re working with.
Chris-
I like the SMART Method. That seems simple to me.
Everyone-
What levels of your organization do you seek out for input?
At the LEAD Summit a few weeks ago, Bill Hybels was talking about vision to die for. I love the way he deconstructed the myth that vision is something that comes to the senior pastor and then everyone else just has to buy in….
He talked about vision starting there but then buy in happening at so many lavels of the organization.
Is strategic planning the same as vision in this regard? Is it better accomplished, are the goals more clearly stated, is there more buy in to the plan when everyone feels like they are a part of the process?
Should strategic planning be more top-down?
Jeremy.
What is the overall staff “connection to mission” on a day to day basis? I could imagine strategic planning being difficult if staff feel disconnected from the overall role their area and work play in achieving the overall mission of the organization. Could individuals may strive to “strategically plan” outside the overarching mission of the church?
Does your organization need to in addition to heading into a strategic planning process also struggle with how staff is already feeling connected to the mission of the organization?
Ah…the levels question.
Obviously eac circumstance will be different, depending on your staff size, etc…
For instance, I’ve worked in a kinda big church (4k) and a pretty gosh darn big church (10k).
In both instances, there was a small handful of people who “cast vision” and “implemented strategy” for the rest of the staff. One of the churches was open for input/suggestions as they realized some of their staff were really gifted at foreseeing problems, etc. The other church says they’re open…but they’re not so much.
What was great about the first church was (depending on the ministry leader)…your role in that ministry was able to input into that ministry. ie, I was in student ministry and when it came to planning, our leader was terrible. But he surrounded himself with people who were excellent planners…he was great at casting a vision we could all contribute to and take part in, and would encourage us to find a vision within that vision…so on, so forth.
I am personally in a “buy in” plan right now and as someone with Strategic as their #1 strength (both times I have taken the SF)…it is extremely frustrating to see the “strategy implementers” hit the same road blocks and make the same mistakes over and over again without receiving input from others. It kind of makes you feel like you’re spinning your wheels when you don’t understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.
But hey, to sound ultra-corny, I just look on the bright side and remind myself I’m not doing what I do for THEM…I’m doing what I’m doing because God has placed me here at this time and place…so I’ll trust him to use whatever I’m doing.
Sorry for the long comment.
Struggling with strategy is not an unusual reality in many churches; In addition to building a team with someone who is gifted in strategy. StrengthFinders can help pinpoint this– aas noted in this research…it’s a unique way of thinking and seeing things. I think it is part of a God-given wiring; not that others can learn but if you have someone who has this gift– they really add to the team.
Aubrey Malphurs book Advanced Strategic Planning is a great resource; you can also work with someone who is gifted in this area to help your church get on the strategy track. Helping others understand that the strategy is the “how” and that vision (core values, etc) are the what. Having the “what” without the “how” results in little forward movement. I have a couple of articles over at my webpage that may help entitled: Strategy Getting to Where you Want to Go and Strategy Essentials. You can find them at:
http://www.strategicmissioncc.com/articles.htm
Additionally, there is a power-point “Strategy & Implementation” that may provide insights to jump start conversations. If have other resources if you find you are interested just let me know.
blessings,
Susan
Ps 115:1
Our church simply ordered the Strategy Seminar from Nelson Searcy. It was so easy to follow and explain to my staff. We now are a very strategic church that began experiencing growth immediately after implementing a plan
http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=141
Hope it helps.
I’d explain it like this:
The mission, vision and core values are the roadmap. You still have to get in the car and drive. Strategic planning involves making sure the car is roadworthy; deciding who is coming with you; figuring out how many cars you’ll need; what you’ll do when you get there; figuring out where you’re going to stop for gas, eat or spend the night. Some of these things need to be done before you start, but many of them can be done along the way, after you’re already heading somewhere.
thanks everyone for your comments. there’s some good things to ponder and implement here.