meeting

Time may be a church board’s most valuable commodity. There are limited opportunities for a board to gather together and when the collective hours of each person are considered, we realize just how high the stakes are to use this time wisely. 

You are likely aware of the ways that time can be poorly used during church board meetings. We know that time is sucked up when rabbit trails are blazed and when irrelevant questions are asked. We understand the inefficiencies of starting late and having members “contribute” when they haven’t prepared. But there are other ways that boards waste time even though they may seem like essential elements. Here are three ways your board can stop wasting time during your meetings: 

Use Your Agenda as a Tripwire  

Your board’s agenda is a powerful way to manage your meeting time. Make sure to sequence the most important items first. All too often, critical elements are listed at the end when time is running out and the board’s capacity to reach a decision has already expired. 

In his book called Governance and Ministry, Dan Hotchkiss recommends asking two questions before a meeting begins: “When will we go home?” and “What will we accomplish before we go?” This strategy will force your chairperson to set a deadline and work backwards when the agenda is being created. When this is done, you’ll find that the unimportant items will be left to the end which is where they rightly belong. Hotchkiss explains that the goal is not to end on time, but to use your time well. A properly prepared agenda will help you stick to your priorities and be faithful to what’s critical. 

You may find it helpful to include time limits for each agenda item. Doing so will give your chairperson the permission to stop the discussion and ask if the board is ready to reach a decision. Larry Perkins explains, that this tripwire will empower the chair to decide if and when additional time will be granted instead of having one discussion dominate the entire meeting (refer to his recommendations on agenda preparation and management). 

Eliminate Verbal Reports  

Reporting is a necessary function of church board life. But reporting is always focused on the past whereas board leadership should be primarily concerned about the future (I credit Larry Perkins for making this excellent point).  

It's hard to multiply small groups if you don’t have small group leaders. And when churches are flooded with people who want to join a group, the logical solution is to launch new groups—even if there isn't anyone to lead them. This is a "problem" well worth solving because groups carry the potential to be excellent incubators of spiritual growth. But it comes with two obvious challenges: 

1. How to find suitable leaders for new groups (most people don't want to lead small groups)  
2. How to train new leaders before their groups begin 

What should you do?

There are many ways to locate and discern new leaders (here are 10 strategies for recruiting volunteers), so I will focus here on the second challenge: how to train new leaders.

Leadership training is critical to ministry success and an effective way to equip new leaders is by sending them resources that they can access on their own time. Our small groups ministry page is designed with this in mind. 

However, there might be an occasion when there simply isn't enough time for new leaders to be trained before their first meeting. And even for those who have been adequately trained, the experience of leading a small group will prompt new experiences and questions. After all, no two groups are the same.   

I asked followers of our MinistryLift Facebook page to give their advice to first-time small group leaders. They delivered some wise comments that you can view here (please add to the ongoing conversation).

Here are 5 things I wish I knew before I led a small group for the first time: 

The “life” of a non-profit board exists in its official meetings. The time that a board has to experience this “life” is extremely limited (perhaps 30-40 hours each year), which means that board leaders have to plan meetings that enable the board to derive the most value during these scheduled interactions. Ineffective meetings—those that hinder a board’s ability to advance the agency’s mission by making good decisions—generate board dysfunction and affect the health of the agency. So investing wisdom in developing quality meetings and board experiences pays immense dividends.

Experienced, non-profit board leaders rely upon five key principles to ensure that their board meetings are productive and healthy:

1. Leverage the link between meetings and mission

Understand the essential relationship between effective board meetings and achieving the key outcomes necessary to advance the mission. When board leaders and the CEO fail to perceive the inter-relationship between well-planned board interactions and the ability of the agency to fulfill its vision, then insufficient attention will be given to nurturing the “life” of the board. The inevitable result will be poor planning, mediocre leadership, and risky decisions. 

2. Develop an annual agenda 

Board leaders serve the board and its members. This can only happen if board leaders understand the role and responsibility of the board, have a clear perception of the work that the board has to accomplish annually, and know how to pace the work of the board to fulfill its responsibilities effectively and efficiently. Developing an annual agenda will accomplish these purposes in the following ways: 

• It will ensure that time-sensitive decisions are scheduled appropriately
• It will require the board to have the necessary information in hand to make such decisions
• It will empower the board to handle unanticipated issues without upsetting its rhythm

3. Nourish the culture