How to Keep Your Church Staff Meetings Productive

Meeting Agenda:

Objective:

For the sake of clarity, a meeting should only be about one thing. Otherwise, it will become much easier to get off topic and for collaborators to lose focus. Narrow your scope to a single objective and be more productive.

The Problem:

Meetings are called when there is a problem that needs to be resolved. So, during this part of the meeting, describe the problem and explain how it stands in the way of your church’s success. Go in-depth if needed, providing clear details that communicate the mechanics of the issue.

Resolution:

How will your church benefit once the problem is solved? What will that look like, specifically? Perhaps better time management could allow your staff to minister to more members of the community, or a more flexible budget would allow you to accommodate other ministries. These are just examples. Whatever the resolution is for your church, paint a clear picture of it, reminding your staff why it’s essential that the problem be solved and what’s at stake if it isn’t.

How the Problem Will Be Solved:

Brainstorm together and come up with a plan for how to solve the problem. Outline a series of practical steps that will get you there and decide who will be responsible for the completion of each step. Figure out how these steps will work together to solve the problem and achieve the desired goal.

Action Steps:

When assigning specific responsibilities, issue a clear call to action. Articulate exactly what needs to be done and by when it should be completed. Then, reinforce the directive with a reminder of how the given task will serve the church overall.

Timeline and Completion Date:

Create a timeline that shows in what order and when each step should be completed. These individual deadlines will lead up to the completion date for the whole project. By doing this, all collaborators are in sync with and held accountable by the same timeline.

What Happens When We Reach the Resolution:

Finally, reiterate how this project benefits the church as a whole, and also how it benefits the staff members who have been called on to resolve the issue. Doing this will tie everything back in to conclude the meeting.