At the start of my career, I held many positions, most ending with the word “clerk” – Accounts Receivable Clerk, Accounts Payable Clerk, Payroll Clerk, and Accounting Clerk. Personnel like me with -clerk titles attended very few meetings, and I was fine with that. However, as my career shifted and I advanced into supervisory roles, I began attending meetings – a lot of meetings. During a major project where the organization was transitioning the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system from a mainframe legacy system to SAP, my job consisted of attending so many meetings it left me with little time to take action on the outcome of the sessions. There were planning meetings, status meetings, team meetings; you name it, there was a meeting for it. After a while, I knew which sessions were worth the time and effort based on who led the meeting.
As a young person, I made mental notes on which meetings were effective and why. As I began to lead projects and teams, I wanted to take the best of what I learned during those formative years and apply it. Going into full-time ministry, I have found these lessons more valuable than ever. Here are a few tips to help you sharpen your next church staff meeting.
Develop the Agenda
Before scheduling a meeting, take the time to define the purpose of the meeting and then outline the topics to cover. For a church staff meeting, it’s a good idea to start with a time to share successes and how God is working in and through their ministry or area. For each item on the agenda, designate the person to lead that segment of the meeting and the time allotted for it. A good meeting agenda demonstrates to the attendees that you have a purpose and that you value their input and time. Be sure to provide the agenda and any supplemental information for the meeting in advance.
Invite the Team
Now that you’ve developed the agenda and gathered the supplemental information invite the team to the meeting at least a week in advance. Include the date, time, location, and what to bring on the invite. If it’s a virtual meeting, be sure to include the link to join.
Set the Environment
Have you ever felt you didn’t belong or weren’t really wanted? Don’t invite ten people to a room with a table set for six; it sends the wrong message. If it’s an in-person meeting, make sure the room is ready for everyone. Ensure the temperature is comfortable and supplies like pens are available. If the discussion relies on tech, test it before the meeting, it shows you value their time. If there are printed materials necessary, have them ready to distribute.
Encourage Participation
Starting a meeting with a non-threatening icebreaker often creates an atmosphere that promotes participation. Anyone can share about a favorite food and location to eat it. Something this simple goes a long way to building a culture that allows people to share their ideas and input during the meeting. By the way, don’t nod and say okay after someone provides feedback. Ask follow-up questions and promote a deeper understanding when others talk.
Address Important Issues
Follow the agenda outlines to address the issues identified for the meeting. For example, as the church enters into budget season, the staff meeting is an excellent opportunity to present the timeline, strategic goals and assign specific tasks related to the budget. When working through issues like improving a process, the staff meeting should follow the IDS (Identify, Discuss, Solve) method when working through problems.
Review the Outcomes
Before the meeting concludes, recap assignments, due dates, and meeting outcomes. Some topics may elicit a passion exchange between staff members, and tension can arise. Allow enough time to ensure there is unity and agreement. I like to end each meeting with these three questions:
- Does anyone have something they wanted to say but didn’t?
- What should remain in confidence from today’s meeting?
- Are we relationally unified?
End on Time
One way to demonstrate you value everyone’s time is to keep an eye on the clock. Sometimes that necessitates shelving topics until the next meeting or cutting other agenda items short.
While these lessons provide the nuts and bolts of running a meeting, it’s important to remember to let your personality shine and reinforce the church culture. Be present, have fun, lead by example, engage in any conflict that may arise, and don’t be afraid to end early. Meetings that ended early were always my favorite.
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