Strengthen the Infrastructure of Your Church with a Management System

A Management System is the key to building a solid infrastructure and, thus, an organization that is prepared and equipped for growth. Establishing desired best practices and seeing that they are followed consistently is a must and is the primary goal of the Management System.

So, what is a Management System?

The Management System provides the church with a method of analyzing stakeholder needs, defining processes that meet those needs, and controlling those processes, ensuring predictable and repeatable results.

The Management System also provides the framework for Continuous Improvement, increasing the probability of meeting stakeholder needs. It gives the stakeholders confidence that the church can deliver desired results, thus accomplishing the mission consistently.

The Management System is the backbone of any serious effort to develop infrastructure in the church. It enables growth by leveraging and scaling up leaders' talent and expertise.

What is a Management System?
To “define” the Management System, we must first discuss Quality. What do we mean when we say something is “high quality?” Or what is meant by “excellence?”

A long time ago, the International Standards Organization (ISO) defined Quality as “The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy a defined requirement.” In other words, quality is “fitness for purpose.”

How does this apply to the church? What is “fitness for purpose” in the church context? It’s simple. Quality is how well the church accomplishes its purpose. And of course, the purpose is to honor God by following his teachings. Specifically, to be a community that reaches the lost and helps people become disciples of Jesus. Church mission statements vary, but they all mean the same thing. Follow Jesus and do what he has commanded us to do.

The main ingredient of the Management System is people. As leaders, we must find staff and volunteers, train and develop them, communicate with them, and implement a system that helps them succeed.

The Management System provides the church with a method of analyzing stakeholder needs, defining processes that ensure the quality objectives are met, and controlling the processes to ensure that results are predictable and repeatable. The Management System also provides the framework for continuous improvement, increasing the likelihood of achieving stakeholder satisfaction. It gives the stakeholders confidence that the church can consistently deliver high-quality results.

How does a Management System benefit the church?
There are many reasons to implement a Management System for your church. The first is that it brings consistency to routine activities and helps to ensure best practices. What does that mean? One of the biggest challenges in a high-growth environment is rapidly identifying, recruiting, training, and deploying leaders. This is the bottom line. If the senior leader is not especially good at constant communication and direction-giving, keeping up with the demand is almost impossible. Here is where the Management System comes into play. 

The Management System is a training aid that enables people to be trained quickly and efficiently. Best practices are established and documented and made available to anyone who needs to know.

The Management System formalizes the communication infrastructure. It provides a vehicle for organizing and disseminating information. Once it’s set up, a “one-stop shopping” simplicity is in place when information is needed to find out how to get something done. From “How do I spend money?” to “How do we plan, design, produce, and execute the weekend service?” is established and available for new people to access.

The Management System is a means to manage and facilitate change and improvement. One of the biggest obstacles to flexibility and change for the better is the need for established systems, processes, and methods in the first place. Yes, this is counterintuitive, but it is true. It’s very difficult to “rally the troops” around a change or quick tweak to something when nothing is really “formally” in place.

The Management System eliminates excuses like “nobody told me” or “I thought they were doing that.”  Communication in any organization is a challenge. When it comes to processes that people need to follow, it can be very difficult to communicate effectively enough to ensure things are being done “according to plan.” You’ve probably heard the old adage, “An e-mail does not make a policy.” In other words, sending an e-mail isn’t an effective means to communicate a procedure or policy. How do new people (staff and volunteers) learn about something communicated via e-mail six months before they started?

What does it include?
The Management System is divided into 5 different “elements,” with a Manual at the top of the hierarchy. The Management System Manual explains the system's purpose and, at the highest level, defines each element… its purpose, and what it contains.

The elements of the Management System are:

1.        Management System Administration

2.        Leadership Responsibility

3.        Human Resources

4.        Execution

5.        Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement 

What’s the first step?
The first step in developing and implementing a Management System is the decision by the leaders to make it a priority. Without a leadership commitment to making it happen, making it a priority for the organization, and supporting it after it begins to be put into place … it’s an "uphill battle" every step of the way.

My passion for the local church and belief that a strong infrastructure is key to growth and overall success has led me to start working with churches to implement their own Management Systems. If you're interested in discussing how I can help you and your church, contact me, and we'll schedule a time to talk.