How to Initiate New Strategies of Change (A Proven 5 Step Process)
Every team employs strategies. The apostle Paul used sports analogies quite a bit. In 1 Corinthians 9 he said that we are in a race, trying to win the prize. He said that he was running with purpose and running to win. In this context he discussed different strategies that he utilized in trying to bring lost souls to Jesus. For example, he said, “When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ.” Paul is sharing his ministry strategy.
Picture your church as a team, and as the pastor, you are the coach. Your church (team) employs strategies. Every church does (whether effective or ineffective). Strategies are so important and they are constantly changing based upon where you are at as a church and where your culture is that you are trying to reach.
Unfortunately, church people (and pastors) can tend to worship strategies. They get attached to them and don’t want to change them (even if they are no longer working)! For example, “But we have always done an offering in the middle of the service and passed buckets around.” What is that? That is simply a strategy that is employed in order to allow your people to give to God and be generous. It isn’t a command in the Bible! It isn’t doctrinal. It is simply a strategy. Church members seldom get their noses out of joint over important doctrine. They usually get upset over strategies. During the pandemic we stopped passing out open Communion elements that were not self-contained in individual containers. It was a new strategy for handing out the elements. Some people didn’t like that!
When you change a strategy (especially a major one) you have to get “buy-in” from your church. If not, you can end up with all kinds of confusion and contention. It is not wise to simply rely on your “convincing” oratory skills to make changes in strategy. If the new strategy doesn’t work or causes major division, you will take a big hit as a leader.
When I pastored, we were constantly initiating new strategies.
- Some were very simple – we wanted to improve how we ended our worship services by doing a worship song at the very end of every service followed by a benediction prayer of blessing by the lead pastor. This was a new strategy for how we ended our worship service.
- Some were far more complicated – we wanted to reach young families in the community by constructing a building with a coffeehouse, an indoor playground, and opening it up for free all week long to the community. This was a new strategy for reaching young families.
Through the years, change became part of our culture. Our church (the team) understood that we would constantly evaluate our current strategies and devise and implement new ones in order to effectively reach people with the good news of Jesus.
Here is what I learned (sometimes the hard way) – there is a right and wrong way to implement new strategies. In this blog, we will share a five step process that has proven to be very effective when desiring to revise or initiate new strategies of change:
1. The Idea Stage
This usually begins in the mind of one person (the pastor, staff member, volunteer leader, etc), but then it must be vocalized and shared. If not, it simply remains a vague idea in somebody’s mind.
Here are some key questions to answer during the idea stage:
- Who should the idea be shared with? (at this stage, sharing with too many people is probably not wise)
- When should we share it? (Sunday after church when everybody is exhausted is not a good idea)
- Who is best equipped to share the idea? (it may not be the person that had the initial idea. Some people are very creative but do not have gifts of speech to be able to articulate the idea clearly or persuasively)
These are important questions to answer in the initial “idea stage” of a new strategy.
2. The Analysis Stage
You must do a careful analysis. This stage cannot be rushed. Jesus taught that before we build something, we need to count the cost. In other words, do a careful analysis or feasibility study. Some ideas are great in theory, but they simply are not doable.
Here are some key questions to answer during the analysis stage?
- How much would it cost?
- Is there money in the budget?
- How many more volunteers will it take?
- When would we start?
- Who will it impact?
- Who needs to approve it?
- How much opposition can we expect?
Don’t analyze too long (you can over-analyze and never get anything done), but do not skip or rush this stage.
3. The Development Stage
Once you finish your analysis, let’s assume that you decide to green light this new strategy. Next, is the development stage.
This stage answers the question, “What is it going to take to make this new strategy idea a reality?” What are some things you must develop?
- Develop the timeline – get a realistic target date and work backwards with dates for when things need to happen.
- Develop the teams needed.
- Develop the fundraising plan (if needed).
- Develop the list of resources needed.
- Develop the communication plan (for sharing this with the team).
It is SO crucial that you get the right people at the table during this phase. Remember, this will probably be different people than the ones that created and analyzed the idea. This stage takes a different gift set. These are people who can see in their mind the finish line and are able to see what it will take to get there.
You must get the right people in the room to develop an idea to its fullness. These are not the “doers” but the “developers.” The “doers” come next!
4. The Implementation Stage
We are ready to pull the trigger and actually do it! The launch date has arrived. Now the selected players go out and actually implement the strategy that you spent time creating and communicating.
Your “doers” will probably be different people than your analyzers and developers.
For example, if the strategy is to add a new worship service, your developers figured out what teams and how many team members were needed for your First Impressions ministry. But the people actually greeting and helping people that morning (the doers) will probably be different than the ones that were at the development table.
5. The Evaluation Stage
It is crucial that you get feedback during and after the implementation phase.
- What went well?
- What didn’t work?
- What did we learn for next time?
Your doers are the best people to give feedback. Some ideas sound great in theory, but your doers can tell you how the idea is actually working. Get their feedback! Do they have the people and resources they need to implement the strategy effectively?
Final thoughts
One of the biggest mistakes leaders can make is to jump from step # 1 (the idea) to step # 4 (the implementation). This is our tendency, especially if we are a Type A kind of personality. “I got a great idea, let’s go!”
Having an idea and implementing it immediately can lead to disaster on many levels. It can get messy quickly.
Don’t skip the analysis and development phases (steps # 2 and # 3)! It may take more time, but the right thing done the right way is the right thing. However, the right thing done the wrong way is the wrong thing.
Are you needing to make some changes and develop some new strategies? Do you need help thinking through these phases? Converge encourages leaders to always have a ministry coach to discuss these things with.
If you are interested in having a ministry coach, please reach out to me! I am here to help in any way.