Do less . . . Go deeper . . . Do What Matters

Discover how you can live your best life that's filled with purpose, connection, and meaninful moments.

STEP 6 | Evaluate
Use insights from the past to reimagine the future.
Evaluating ministry is not a new concept. The Bible is filled with a number of passages encouraging self-examination and reflection. in 1 Timothy 3:1-13, Paul gives the qualifications for deacons and elders. in
1 corinthians 11:28, Paul encourages the people of corinth to examine themselves before taking the Lord’s Supper. examining ourselves and our ministries is also an essential component for growing in ministry excellence. When we fail to regularly evaluate ourselves and our ministries, we lose sight of what we do well, and not so well.

The Benefits of Ongoing Evaluation
evaluating congregational ministry has the following benefits:
Evaluation and the resulting action ensures missional alignment. evaluation practices help congregations and leaders identify the gap between where we are now and where we want to be as regards living into our mission, vision, and values. The evaluation process helps us define our current reality and allows us to make course corrections that lead to God’s preferred future.
Evaluation indicates what’s important. many of us have heard the phrase, “What gets measured gets done.” in a similar vein, i’d like to suggest that “What gets evaluated gets transformed.” When we take time to evaluate, it communicates that we’re serious about making a difference. When i give money to an organization, i do so only after i’m confident that lives are being changed as a result of my giving. When i recently shared with a leadership team that what we measure indicates what we deem important, a music minister piped up, “So what does that mean if we don’t measure anything?” i let them draw their own conclusions.
Evaluation provides opportunities to celebrate what God is doing through people.
Proverbs 16:24 says, “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” evaluations enable us to say to people with integrity, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” acknowledging that they’ve been a source of blessing to others.
Evaluating People
in addition to these benefits of and purpose for evaluation, another purpose is ministry assessment. People should know the answer to, “How am i doing?” it is not unusual for a person to spend a year or more in ministry, thinking that all is fine, only to discover that he
or she is abruptly dismissed for not performing as expected. if a person is not measur- ing up, he or she deserves an early warning, which an ongoing evaluation system
provides. congregations that do not regularly evaluate their staff risk losing good employees, who will get tired of picking up another person’s slack,
“What gets evaluated gets transformed.”
filling in for other people’s shortcomings, and dealing with their abusive behavior. Given the amount of dysfunction i see, i sense that
some congregations have made a silent agreement among their leaders—“if you don’t point out my faults, i won’t point our
yours.”

Volunteers are often terrified by the thought of being evaluated. When evaluating paid and volunteer leaders, i always provide them with when, how, and why they’ll be reviewed. i give them their job or ministry description. i also tell them that there will be no surprises at the time of the review, informing them that we’ll check in with each other on how things are going several times before we do a more formal evaluation.

Here are three cautionary notes about evaluation:

• • Keep in mind that in situations where you ask someone to evaluate you, you are giving that person a certain amount of authority over you—
• be careful whom you choose.
• • Too much evaluation can create an environment of constant criticism in the church.
• • if the evaluation process becomes burdensome, people will resent it and quit providing feedback.

Evaluating Important Decisions
all of us generally make our best decisions when we take
time to gather information from a variety of sources and a
variety of perspectives. in his book, Six Thinking Hats, dr.
edward de Bono, a leading authority in the field of creative
thinking, offers insights for leaders to help them broaden
their perspective and make more informed decisions. Listed
below is an overview of his “six hats” thinking process along with
a few typical questions evaluators might ask. each hat is a different
color, representing a different evaluation task. Please note that a leadership team may decide to use all of the hats listed below or just a few of them based on the decisions being made.
The White Hat
If a person is not measuring up, he or she deserves an early warning.
The color white suggests paper. The white hat is used to direct attention to available or missing information. When we wear the white hat, we ask the following questions about our decision or new effort we’re evaluating:

What information do we have?
What information do we need? What information is missing?
What questions should we be asking?
The Red Hat
red suggests fire and warmth. The red hat has to do with feelings, intuition, and emo- tions. When the red hat is in use, we have the opportunity to describe our feelings and intuitions without any explanation at all. our feelings exist, and the red hat gives us permission to vocalize those feelings. When we as leaders and evaluators wear the red hat, we ask questions such as these:
What energizes us about this proposal?
What’s our gut instinct about the plan?
What are our feelings about what we’ve discussed so far? How do we sense others would respond to this idea?
The Black Hat
The black hat is probably the hat that is most often used in evaluation. Black reminds us of a judge’s robe and symbolizes caution. The black hat stops a plan that may be harmful from going forward by pointing out risks and why something may not work. overuse of the black hat, however, can be just as dangerous, preventing congregations from taking calculated risks and trying new ways of doing ministry. a few sample black hat questions include the following:
What will this cost us in the way of time, money, and human resources? What are the possible downsides to this proposal?
Who else has done this? How did it work for them?
is this the best use of our resources?
The Green Hat
We associate the color green with vegetation, which suggests growth, energy, and life.
The green hat is the energy hat. under the green hat, leaders offer proposals and suggestions and discuss new ideas and alternatives. The green hat allows us to bring up possibilities and talk about modifications and variations for a suggested idea. Sample questions might include the following:
What do we like about this idea?
How might we build on what’s been proposed? What other possibilities are we overlooking? Who else should we talk to for more ideas?
The Blue Hat
The blue hat is for looking at the thinking process itself: What should we do next? What have we achieved so far? in an evaluation process, leaders use the blue hat at the beginning of a discussion in order to define what we are thinking about and to decide what we want to have achieved at the end of our thinking. The blue hat may be used to order the sequence of hats that we are going to be using and to summa- rize what we have achieved. Typical blue hat questions include the following:
• What are the steps for moving forward if we decide to act? • Who is responsible for each step?
• Who else needs to know about the decision we’re making? • How will we get the word out to people?
• What criteria will be used to determine if we’re successful?

The Yellow Hat
Yellow suggests sunshine and optimism. under the yellow hat we make a direct effort to identify the values and benefits in an idea or proposal. Sample questions include these:
• What are good points about this proposal?
• What are the benefits for moving forward?
• Who would benefit from this program or ministry? • How would people experience these benefits?

Evaluating by Asking Questions
Questions can frame how people approach topics and can set the tone for further conversations. Questions can help us challenge the assumptions we hold and empower us to take action. Throughout the coaching cHaNGe process different types of ques- tions are asked of different individuals and groups from whom we’re seeking input or a response.
one basic tool i frequently use with congregations to help them explore the launch of a new program or ministry is asking who, what, where, why, when, and how ques- tions. i often use this method to discern if a new ministry fits their overall vision and if the timing is right. i invite congregations to ask themselves:

• Why are we considering this? (What is the purpose? How does it fulfill our mission?)
• Where is this leading us? (is it helping us live into our vision?)Whom are we seeking to serve? (Whom are we planning to serve? What are their
• needs?)
• What service or program are we providing? (is this the best way to serve their
• needs?)
• How will we launch this ministry? (What’s the process or plan for moving forward?)
• When might we launch this? (is this the right time? How long will it last? can we
• pilot it?)

Questions frame how we approach topics and set the tone for further conversations. Questions can help us challenge the assumptions we hold and empower us to take action. Throughout the coaching cHaNGe process different types of questions are asked of different individuals and groups from whom we’re seeking input or a response.
Leaders who are advancing change also need to raise questions that others fail to ask. This is an essential role for coaches. i was working with a faith formation director who was informed by her personnel committee that she needed to create a task force to oversee the implementation of faith formation principles and practices. She already had individuals in place doing much of the work that the new task force was charged with overseeing. She stated, “i’m not sure how i’d use this task force and i’m not looking forward to tying up another night every month meeting with them.” it was obvious that the question, Why do we need this task force?, was never fully discussed among per- sonnel, the faith formation director, and the pastors. Two of the most important questions we need to ask regularly are, Why is this important? and, is this worth doing? Listed below are some of the questions i frequently ask congregational leaders that a lead pastor or other key leader could ask a congregational leadership team.

Ten Questions to Ask Congregational Leaders
1. if you had to describe our congregation to your neighbors, what would you tell them?
2. How do you see our congregation living into its mission and vision?
3. Which of our congregation’s core values do we most exemplify? To which core
value do we need to pay closer attention?
4. How have you seen lives change as a result of our ministry efforts?
5. When’s the last time you personally invited a friend to our congregation? What
was the occasion?
6. in what ways do you help your children, grandchildren, or godchildren practice
faith at home?
7. What are some of your dreams for this congregation?
8. What are some of your concerns for this congregation?
9. in what ways does this congregation help you practice faith at home?
10. What is our congregation known for in the community?

Ten Questions for Evaluating a Program or Ministry
(responses would come from program or ministry volunteers.)

• 1. in what ways does this ministry help us fulfill our mission?
• 2. How have lives been changed as a result of this ministry?
• 3. What stories have we heard about how this program or ministry is affecting
• people?
• 4. did this program or ministry serve the people it was
• intended for? if not, why not?
• 5. is the ministry’s impact sufficient to justify the
• amount of time and energy we invest?
• 6. if we were to continue this ministry, what
• would we do differently in the future?
• 7. What would we quit doing?
• 8. as a leader, how passionate are you
• about this ministry? (1–10; 10 = very)
• 9. What do you see as the long-term
• impact of this ministry?
• 10. if this program or ministry continues,
• what role, if any, would you like to play?

Leaders who are advancing change also need to raise questions that others fail to ask.


Ten Questions to Ask Members

1. 1. if you moved and had to find a new church home, what would you look for in a congregation?
2. 2. if you had to leave this congregation, what do you think you’d miss most about it?
3. 3. in what ways does this congregation help you practice faith at home?
4. 4. What do you see as your next step for growing deeper in your faith?
5. 5. Who were the people in your life that shaped your faith? What did they say
6. or do?
7. 6. in what ways do you see yourself influencing the faith lives of friends and family
8. members?
9. 7. How can our congregation best support you in teaching your children how to
10. practice faith at home?
11. 8. What ministries of the congregation do you most appreciate? of which
12. ministries are you most proud?
13. 9. do you have any concerns for our congregation?
14. 10. What some of your hopes for our congregation?

Are You Gathering the Right Information?
i remember sitting down with a youth director who couldn’t wait to show me how he tracked the most minute details of every youth event. He evaluated every event and took copious notes on what he’d do differently if he ever did the event again. When he asked what i thought of his plans, he was startled to hear me say, “You’re spending too much time tracking the things that don’t matter and not enough time tracking what really does matter.” i showed him my evaluation of a recent youth event i had coordi- nated. The congregation’s mission statement was “Helping people connect with God, connect with each other, and connect to the needs of the community.” The feedback we gathered showed how the event helped young people connect with God through Jesus christ. it included stories about how we saw youth building deeper relationships with each other during the event. it included ideas for incorporating a service compo- nent into the event if it was ever held again. i told him that “if we only gather feedback on logistics rather than how the event changed lives, then we’ve failed to gather the essential data.”

Are You Willing to Have Others Point Out Your Blind Spots?
i’ve found that one of the most helpful things you can do to aid in your self-evaluation efforts is to invite someone into your life who will give you honest feedback. This also assumes that you are open to hearing about all facets of your life and ministry and will not take offense if things are shared that you may be surprised by or disagree with. We all have blind spots, and it’s usually our friends and family members who are most aware of our greatest strengths and our greatest personal challenges.
i did this informally with a co-worker of mine at a congregation where i served part-time. We would meet at a local coffee shop once a month and we’d share our observations of each other’s work based on our responses to the following questions:

• What seems to be working in your life and ministry?
• What seems not to be working in your life and ministry?
• What do you need to pay closer attention to in the future?
• What do you need to quit doing, do less of, or have others do on your behalf? • What changes do you need to make to do more of what you do best?

i learned more about myself and my ministry effectiveness through these monthly gatherings than i ever did through a formal performance review process.

Will You Be Able to Find the Information When You Need It?
i remember working with a pastor who hoarded every newspaper article, research document, and trivial statistic he came across in anticipation that he’d have just the right article or sermon illustration when he preached. The only problem was that his current filing system, consisting of stacks and overflowing piles everywhere, didn’t lend itself to having the information at his fingertips when he needed it. it also meant that people couldn’t visit with him in his office (there was no place to sit), nor was there any space on his desk to set up his laptop. He may have had great articles and ideas, but he could not access them when needed.
Similarly, in an evaluation process there’s really no reason to collect feedback if it’s not going to be used. if you’re going to spend the time gathering feedback, then spend a
little more time figuring out where you’ll store what you gather. i keep a “Notes” sections on my iPad where i maintain this information and review it on a monthly basis. The gems of wisdom i’ve gleaned over the years continue to get woven into a multitude of projects and new proposals simply because i know where i can find them when they’re needed.
for more insights and ideas for ways to evaluate your ministry effectiveness, con- sider using the following forms found in the cHaNGe agent’s Toolkit:

• Congregational Spectrum exercise (Tool 27) • annual Self-assessment review (Tool 28)
• Quarterly check-in (Tool 29)
• Planning for Next Year (Tool 30)
• Personal development Plan (Tool 31)

QUESTIONS TO PONDER
1. What prevents you from regularly evaluating your life and your ministry?
2. in what ways do you think your ministries would be different if you constantly evaluated them?
3. Whom would you trust asking for feedback on your ministry performance?
4. What information do you need to gather from members, leaders, or your community to do your best work?
5. What’s the next step for acting on feedback you’ve already received?