Project Optimus

The work that you are doing as a church, ministry or nonprofit is TREMENDOUSLY important.  The stress is enormous already simply due to the nature of your work.  Add on top of that the financial pressures you face from month to month.

Why make things more difficult by using ambiguous terms to describe daily, weekly, or monthly progress?

Think about it ~ more than likely, you know (almost to the penny) how much money is in your organization’s bank accounts.  You wouldn’t dare try to operate without systems in place to accurately measure how much money you are taking in, spending, & saving.  This information tells a story and helps with decision making on how to proceed.  And no doubt you have financial reports that are given to your board of directors on a monthly basis, citing the ministry’s financial health.

So why not commit to that same level of detail when it comes to your programs & ministries?

For example, a church will most likely keep up with how many first time guests it has on a monthly basis.  But, do you also track the average length of time that goes by before a guest makes a second visit?  Are you certain the guests were ever followed up with?  Do you record where they live and how far they are driving to establish how far households are willing to travel?  Are you logging how they prefer to be communicated with (phone, email, social media outlet) to gain insight on potential marketing strategies?

I use this brief example to illustrate how important your effort is in gathering KPM’s (Key Performance Measurements).  Without accurately measuring things that are most important, you’ll have conversations laced with ambiguous phrases such as “there were about”, “we had a lot”, & “it’s been a while since”.  And the deception of ambiguity is killer ~ you can actually convince yourself that you’re doing better or worse than you really are.

Doing the work to track KPM’s now will give you the information you’ll need to make even better program decisions,  leading towards the success you’re looking for over the long haul.

Need help establishing KPM’s for your organization?  We’d love to help!  Contact Jon today for a free consultation at 678.451.7006.

I compare micro-managing to that of a gnat flying around your face on a hot summer evening. Gnats are always buzzing around with the sole purpose I believe to annoy. They get in your ear & drive you crazy. Although you swat them away….they return with persistence.

Nobody likes to be micro-managed. Nobody!

If you hired a team member, micro-managing them communicates equally as much about you, your leadership abilities, and your ability to hire as it does about the team member you are smothering.

Of course, there is an alternative…..to trust.

But the choice is completely up to you….to trust or gnat.

Some people’s natural response to failure is to rake themselves over the hot coals of undesired results, beating themselves up mentally & emotionally and never even considering how rich they are because of the experience.  Still others choose the path of avoiding the tough questions and not considering the details that led to the demise.  They chalk the failed attempt as “life experience” and move on . . . likely to more of the same results.

So, the next time your big idea implodes, employ these two techniques to ensure you’ve failed with success.

First, you’ll need to convince yourself that you took a risk and for that, you are actually better.  Those who  criticize failure are typically too afraid to try new things themselves anyway.  Don’t buy into the voice inside your head that you shouldn’t try something, anything new again.  In fact, you’re better prepared now because the project, program, idea, etc. failed.  In truth, it’s riskier now days to sit comfortable than it is to try & fail.

So congrats on sticking your neck out and failing.

But don’t stop there!  Next, take yourself down the road of honest evaluation and analysis of what happened?  Take a stab at understanding why you didn’t achieve the results you desired.  Have enough guts to ask for input on what could have been done differently.  Look at the numbers.  Where did your plan break down?  Discover how this experience will help shape your next task.  The information that is at your fingertips is gold.  The real failure is not in taking risks and not achieving your goals ~ it’s in in failing to evaluate and grow.

Most people lean towards one of these two methods.   Failing with success requires both.

Static can make the hair on your arm stand up when you’re folding clothes fresh out of the dryer.  It can also make things stick to you or your clothes, causing embarrassment in public (thank goodness this only happens to other people, though).  And, static can most definitely shock you when the air is dry/cold and you touch certain surfaces.

But the most annoying kind of static may be the kind that’s employed to operate dynamic organizations.  By definition, static means stationary or fixed, while dynamic means energetic, capable of action and/or change.  Thus, a static operational approach tends to lean towards history, the familiar, what’s predictable.

Don’t look now, but the world is different that it was this time a year ago, much less five or ten years ago.  In theory, we would describe our businesses, churches, our very lives as dynamic.  People, technology, our world view, the economy  – they’re constantly moving & changing.  As a result, it’s riskier to remain the same than it is to be proactive – to be dynamic.

Static organizational behavior tends to look like this:

1. Asking the same questions or looking only at work history & education when interviewing/considering potential new team members.
2. If you can find your policies & procedures manual, its in paper form & yellow….or worse, it’s electronic (easier to update) yet hasn’t been touched since inception.
3. You’re following up with your guests/clients the same way you did 2 years ago.
4. Clients are still filling out surveys or needs assessments in paper form.
5. Zero time is set aside for “dreaming out loud” in your staff meetings.
6. Continuing education really only occurs when required.
7. Your organization applies for the same grants year after year.
8. Social media is anything other than your first consideration for advertisement & marketing.
9. Employee compensation packages have not increased proportionately over the years.  A $35,000 annual salary ain’t what it used to be, my friend.
10. Your programs/ministries, budget, strategic plan, etc. mirror the same approach you had 3-5 years ago.

Stability is one thing – static is another.  It’s entirely possible to stay rock solid in your mission & vision while meeting the ever-changing demands of a dynamic society.  Growing organizations understand this, and they too agree that static is annoying.

1) Fail to clearly define what success looks like

• Ben Stein is quoted as saying, “The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want.”  If you can’t clearly paint a mental picture of what you want to do or where you want to go, you’re doomed from the start.  Be specific – your team needs this clarification from you.

2) Fail to communicate with your team & other stakeholders

• “You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.” – Lee Iacocca.  Communicate early & often.  Think about all those who have a stake in your plans and share.  For key influencers, be sure to have a meeting with them individually before a group meeting.

3) Fail to put a plan in place

• Fredrick Douglass offers a familiar quote in, “Man does not fail to plan, he just fails to plan.”  Put your plan to the test – write it down and share it.

4) Fail to measure results along the way

• Establishing key performance measures (KPM) is critical to your success.  If you don’t know the score along the way, don’t be surprised if you lose in the end.  I’ll be posting more about how to develop KPM’s for churches & nonprofits in the days ahead.

5) Fail to make necessary adjustments to the original plan

• “Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal.” – Friedrich Nietzsche.  If you haven’t established a contingency plan, or a contingency plan to your contingency plan . . . please return to reason #3.

6) Fail to communicate with your team & other stakeholders about the adjustments you’ve made.

• Aaron Goldman reminds us to, “Communicate unto the other person that which you would want him to communicate unto you if your positions were reversed.”  Failure to communicate changes to your plans along the way causes confusion and can halt any momentum you may have going for you.

7) Fail to celebrate

• “Celebrate what you want to see more of.” – Thomas J. Peters.  If you achieve the goals and plans you set out for, yet don’t celebrate with your team, capturing their imagination and hearts for the next journey will become increasingly difficult.

I knew I needed to lose weight.  I knew what it would take – creating margin & capacity to do it, a strong determination, setting the goal & staying focused, etc.  I wasn’t sick, but I simply felt bad & had no energy.  What’s worse?  Six months ago I was at my desired weight & felt incredible (insert Christian cuss words here).

KNOWING WHAT YOU NEED TO DO IS ONE THING.

This week, I started eating less and exercising again.  It’s a small beginning, but I’ve dropped a couple of pounds and can already tell a little difference in the way I feel.  It’s going to take a while, but I’ll get back to my desired weight again.

You may not need to lose weight, but I bet there are fascinating plans that you have for yourself, your staff, & your organization.  The goal you’d set to read one leadership book per month.  The desire to clean up your financial procedures.  The impact that creating a strategic plan can have on your entire organization.

The culmination of our plans (whatever they may be) can’t get here fast enough.

But the beginning . . .ah yes, the beginning ~ it’s right now if we choose.

God can’t wait for you to see how this turns out, so go ahead – GET STARTED!

Excellent article found in the Harvard Business Review on creating sustainable performance within your team.

It’s worth the 2 minutes you’ll spend reading, so give it a look.

What measures are you taking to create vitality and learning in your organization?

Taking your team off-site to a conference may provide just the spark you are looking for.

For Nonprofits, I suggest the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast. It’s affordable and they do an excellent job of bringing valuable/practical ideas to the table.

For churches, I suggest the Catalyst leadership conference. A fantastic mixture of energy, spirituality, & leadership.

Which other conferences would you suggest? Fire away…..we’d love to hear from you!

There are moments, short-seasons where it’s necessary for the staff of a church or nonprofit to turn up it’s intensity.

A new program or ministry begins in two weeks.

The church annual business meeting is coming up with ministry reports and year end budgets due.

In these moments, your return on intensity is likely high. The team rallies, kicks into another gear, and just makes things happen. Once complete, a sense of accomplishment prevails and the staff enjoys a “win”.

Just make sure that when you choose to turn up the intensity – it’s worth it.

Sounding the organizational alarm too often will likely show a smaller and smaller return on intensity over time.

I’m not suggesting that you don’t push your team to ensure they are fulfilling their daily potential. But when every project is a rush, when nearly every day is met with the same level of intensity, the team can become numb to the message.

The use of strategic intensity, however, gives your team a rush, a quick lift, a sense of renewed purpose.

Strategic planning meetings often end up being more vision casting & creative thinking sessions than anything else.  The challenge of these meetings are to connect the passion of the dream with the details of the journey.  So why not try creating the meeting as if  you were creating a 4D movie:

1) 2D - Establish the main idea.   Start from where you are now and define what the end looks like.  Be sure to include the “who”, “what”, “when”, “where”, & “how.”  Most importantly, don’t forget to put it in writing and take notes during the meeting.  Doing so provides a point of reference for the team and creates a sense of accountability.  Most strategic planning meetings stop here, but don’t let yours.

2) 3D – Add depth.  Now that your strategic plan is recorded, it’s time to revisit each step.  Create action items that will define how each step will be executed.  Record milestones along the way so that your team knows incrementally what the next steps are and so they can enjoy success early and often.  Finally, recording a plan “B” & plan “C” for each step communicates to the team that the plan is breathing – that while the journey is laid out, potential solutions have already been considered for detours that are sure to arise.

3) 4D – Add special effects.  In movies, a 4D experience builds on 3D with a physical effect (dripping rain, air breathing on your neck, etc.) that the audience can actually feel.  Adding 4D to your strategic planning meeting is where you add passion and meaning to the details.  It’s where you tie purpose to the plans.  Your team should leave the meeting feeling excited and inspired.  They should feel like the plans laid are systematic and organized.  They should feel like the goals are attainable and that success is just around the corner.  To inspire with effect, try these:

• Bring a small token that represents the project for the team to place on their desks.
• Hold the meeting offsite at a venue that represents a visual of where you are headed.
• Share a relevant, inspirational story that stirs their emotions towards the goal.
• Create a team building activity to communicate that success will require the team working together.

If your organization is using a budget line item with any variation of “Misc” – you could be headed towards a big MISC-take.   Miscellaneous expenses are difficult to explain to board of directors & congregations.  What is a miscellaneous item, anyway?  Try going to Target, Office Depot, or Best Buy and asking where their “MISC” section is.

And did you know that they also could keep your organization from being awarded grants?  Miscellaneous dollars spent are seen as discretionary when committees are reviewing candidates’ financial statements.  If your MISC line item is too high, you could automatically disqualify yourself.

Here are four ideas to steer you away from this line item when setting up your budget:

Match it up – Look for past expenses like the one you are about to classify as miscellaneous to see if the same category could be used.

Identify the most appropriate category – If you can’t match it up to a previous expense, look over your current list and select the most appropriate one.

Seek guidance – Contact your CPA and gain insight on a potential home for the expense if you just aren’t sure.

Create a new expense account – When all else fails, it may be necessary to add a line item to your budget to absorb the new expense.