MEASUREUP – Goal Setting and Keeping The Score

MeasureUp – Goal setting and keeping the score.

Currently, almost every day for my work I go out and measure kitchens. I have been doing this for over 15 years now, and it took me a while to get the hang of it. I had created a checklist in my mind and every time I complete the measuring process, I go over that checklist to make sure I didn’t miss anything and that all of my questions are answered.

To be honest, I made plenty of mistakes while measuring and designing kitchens. There were times when customers would distract me and that would split my concentration, then bam, there is a mistake that takes money to fix and of course the unhappy customer.

I was thinking, how do you measure a youth ministry? Is there something that you can almost take a tape measure and measure, or do you just try to stay busy and hope that in return you will get some kind of result?

When I was a youth leader I was so busy working in the ministry to the point where I had no time to stop and spend time on setting some long term goals. I actually came up with excuses such as: I’m not the type, I don’t really know how to dream, I don’t know how to set goals. Oh, and one more was, this is not how my brain is structured… These were all just excuses. In reality, I was tired, overworked and short sited.

Today, when I look back at all the years that I was in ministry I wish that I had prayed more, planned more and demonstrated example to younger leaders on how to do the same.

It’s been almost 10 years since God started working on me, teaching me many things that I needed to learn. One of them was setting goals.

I have always heard from other people that setting goals is very important. In order for you to achieve something you must set goals. You must be intentional in your work. But, yet again I was so busy! There were so many thing that needed my attention such as, small groups, music ministry, events planning, conferences, leaders meetings, helping out in church, choir and so much more!

If you are still reading then I think we have something in common. You want to improve, learn and make a difference. I would like to share with you a few points to help you get on the road of measuring your progress.

1. STOP – Take a day off

It took me a long time till I figured out that I need to have some time off to just think. I was always running a 100 miles per hour. I was always busy, I had no time. I realize now that when I take time off, turn off my cell phone and start praying and thinking about the future something amazing happens. Ideas start to pour in. Clarity comes to some of the pretty complicated situations. It’s amazing!

It’s important to write down the ideas that will come to you. Write them down, all of them. As you let your brain think about it for a few weeks. Later, when you look back at your ideas, you will eliminate the ones that are not important.
2. GO – Take a weekend off

If you work with a team of people in your ministry, you need to take a weekend off and do a staff retreat for your team. You really don’t want to come up with all of the ideas by yourself, bring it to the team and say – “Hey guys, I have a revelation from God. This is what we will be doing for the next year. Follow me!” They will follow however, if you want your team be sold on the vision and goals 100% then involve them in the process. Give them the opportunity to be invested into the ministry. They will feel like they are a part of the team that is moving somewhere!

There are many great books, seminars and videos on how to set goals. The problem is that we don’t really take the time off and do it. And even if we do get to it, we set goals but there’s no clarity on how to achieve these goals. Who is responsible for what? How do we measure progress? How do we know if we will achieve them before a set deadline?

PS. If you have never done a leadership retreat, don’t worry. You can reach out to us and we will gladly help you organize one.
3. Simplify – Create Clarity

What’s more pressing on a leaders mind more than a set goal is that you have no idea how to achieve? From my own experience I can tell you that I have previously set goals, and had no idea how to achieve them. It was pretty embarrassing.

You must learn how to break down a goal into small steps and assign responsibilities to people. This is why you need your team around you. You must understand that you can’t do it alone! You can use this tool to break down your goals and bring clarity.

Remember, your team wants to know exactly what they need to do. Help them to become better, help them to reach people for God, help them use their gifts for God’s glory.

Use this tool “Getting what you want” to achieve clarity.
4. MEASURE – Keep the score

When I was in school I had a report card which showed me and especially my parents about my educational progress. What I have noticed in our slavic circles that often times we don’t have much accountability. I believe we have heard many times from our pastors stating the following: “We need to save people, we need to save our youth.” Well, so how do I do it? What do I have to do? What do you want me to do? How much time will that take? How much finances it will take? How many people should be involve? At the end of the day the conversation ends without any actionable plan.

Today, I have a score card in my business. I keep score every week. Yep, that’s right, every week. I want to keep my staff members accountable. I want to keep myself accountable also. I want to catch an issue before it grows into a problem.

You can get an example of a “score card” here.

So, can you really measure your ministry? Are you effective? Are you training leaders around you? Are you impacting the communities around your church? I hope that God gives you wisdom to implement these ideas into your ministry.