Tag: measurement

  • Listen to the Right People

    A big mouth doesn’t always equal an effective mouth

    Photo by sroemerm via Flickr (Creative Commons)

    One thing I’ve noticed happening in Christian-land these days is that there are a lot of voices saying quotable things about stuff they have no clue about.

    The biggest one, something I’d label a pet peeve, is people who have successfully planted a megachurch trying to teach people in existing churches how to change their church culture.

    It’s all a big misunderstanding.

    Let’s face this one reality– A guy who planted a church and it grew to 10,000+ members cannot possibly help a 100 year old church of 300 who is struggling. Nor can they help a church plant that started in a house with 25 people and has grown to 200. Or a church that was once 1000 but is now 85.

    Let’s face a second reality– If a person is a wonderful communicator of biblical truth they are not likely a prophet to your struggling ministry. They don’t know a single solitary thing about your situation. Nada, zip, zilch. If you had the chance to meet them they might tell you the same thing. They are probably impressed with what God does through their ministry, too. But that doesn’t mean squat to your church context.

    Do take their words of encouragement personally. But let’s face it, they don’t know how to fix your church.

    Should I try to change my church?

    Of course! Just make sure, when you need advice, you listen to people who have actually done what you are trying to do.

    • Hire a consultant. Having an outside expert come over a series of months is probably the best and fastest thing you can do to systemically change a church. A neutral third party can be the best money you’ll ever spend.
    • Get to know people. It shocks me how fast newly hired church leaders want to move. Most church issues are based in culture. Over-eager church leaders will try to change stuff without understanding the culture enough… thus making the problem worse. Then they quit and leave the mess to someone else to clean up.
    • Become the expert on your community. You have the one advantage that truly makes a difference. You are there. When you read a book, article, or hear a message, everything you take in should be screened through the matrix of your unique church culture. Something you hear can be a fantastic idea– but a complete disaster in your culture. Become the expert of your community. (Which means spending decreasing time in the office and increasing time meeting the people you are trying to reach.)
    • Innovation is always welcome. I’ve never been in a church where new ideas were frowned upon. The trick in a church is how you implement an innovation. If people spent half the time on implementation that they spend on generating new ideas they’d be a lot better off.
    • Fools GoldPhoto by sportwrapper via Flicker (Creative Commons)

      Focus on transforming the people you have. The people in your church already have access to the people you want to reach. A popular speaker says, “You need to focus more on reaching than keeping.” That phrase shocks me. It sounds brilliant but is incredibly rude. Do you want to go to that church? I know I don’t. Rather than focusing on shedding people you don’t like why not focus on teaching in such a way that transforms those people’s hearts? Why not pray for those who are your enemies that they might become your allies? You don’t turn around a church by shedding all the people. You turn around a church by transforming people’s hearts around a common vision.

    • It’s about we not you. When I read books and listen to speakers I’m shocked at how little value they give to the leaders of their congregation. When a leader starts to say “this is my vision” everyone should automatically know that this person isn’t leading people. Vision is inclusive.
    • Measure the right things. Do measure stuff. Just make sure you measure the right stuff. I can’t believe how many people are upset with their congregations because they are measuring stuff like butts in seats and dollar bills. We both know those aren’t Kingdom measurements.

  • Measuring Success in Social Media

    I laugh when I see the term, “social media expert.“ Let’s be honest. It’s an emerging field and the only thing that makes someone an expert is that they have labeled themselves as such and they read Mashable and Seth Godin.

    With that in mind, I’ll just point out that for the last two years I’ve gotten paid to handle social media. I don’t know if that makes me an expert in the field, but it does mean that I’m employed in the field. (And I read Mashable and Seth Godin just for good measure.)

    So, how do I measure success?

    False positives

    • Size of following. Having 25,000 followers on Twitter or 10,000 fans of your Facebook page doesn’t mean jack.
    • Contest excitement. I love hosting contests as much as the next guy, but hosting a big contest doesn’t mean jack.
    • Being active. Utilizing the tools of social media is important, but just showing up doesn’t mean jack.
    • Atta boys. [Or atta girls] When you first get started everyone in your organization will be excited, but that doesn’t mean jack.
    • Sales or lead generation. This may make the boss happy, but in most cases it doesn’t mean jack.

    True positives

    • Engagement. Are your followers, fans, subscribers listening to the stuff you send out in a measurable way? Do they click on links you recommend? Do they comment on stuff you post? Do they open the emails you send? Having a large following is only as valuable as your ability to engage those people. Otherwise, your just another message they are ignoring. I’d rather have 100 engaged Twitter followers than 25,000 who ignore me. What to measure: comments, likes, open rates, click rates, number of clicks, mentions on fan/followers feeds.
    • Users who contribute. Is your effort a two-way conversation? Traditional marketing is about pushing a message. Social media is about pulling a response. It’s shocking to me how many organizations have large followings but only push. And they wonder why they think their social media efforts are a waste of money? They are! What to measure: Submissions, Facebook messages, Twitter direct messages, unsolicited or solicited ideas.
    • Repeaters. This post is the perfect example. When I press publish on this blog post, my own network will draw a couple hundred visitors. But this post will be read several thousand times in just 7 days. How did that happen? Repeaters. What to measure: Facebook shares, Twitter retweets, add-to-this analytics, trackbacks, blog posts about your content/product/service.

  • Why Do Church Leaders Count?

    counting-sheep

    If ministry is about people and not numbers, why do we count people?

    I’ve been going to church a long time. I’ve visited and been a part of probably a dozen churches. Typically, churches count heads either during the offering time or during the sermon of the Sunday morning services. And counting is a big part of everything else that goes on in a church as well. How many in Sunday school, how many at youth group, how many in the choir, how many pastors, how many chairs are unused, how many people cars in the parking lot, how many donuts, how many old ladies, how many envelopes were in the offering… the counting never stops.

    People in churches: I find it devaluing to be counted. If that’s you… communicate to your leaders to stop counting you. When people have to sit on the floors because the preaching or program is so good, we’ll know to give to a building campaign. Until then numbers mean squat. Tell your staff to focus on who does come to church and not how many more they need to reach a goal or propose their next fund raising campaign.

    People on church staffs: Stop counting stuff. Find something better to talk about in your team meetings. If you’re judging everything by a number then you’re judging things by the wrong denominator. I’m all for measuring success and failure. But find a measurement device that isn’t butts in seats or dollars in the plate. Don’t give me that crap about the parable of the 99 sheep. That’s not why you’re counting! Counting heads, cars, envelopes isn’t about finding lost sheep... it’s about ego.

    Admitting that is the first step towards recovery.

    You can have a church that doesn’t count. It’ll work. Trust me. Next time someone asks you how many ____ come to ____, tell them you don’t know.