Meet with a purpose

Mike Bonem Oct. 10, 2019

my saved content

VIEW AS
A PDF

How often have you thought to yourself, Why are we having this meeting? or This meeting is a waste of time. A significant amount of time in church and ministry leadership is spent in meetings. And yet, complaints about unproductive meetings are common. 

When this frustration is expressed, my response is to ask, What is the purpose for this meeting?If you can’t give a one-sentence answer, there’s a good chance that the meeting will not be productive. Having a well-defined purpose should drive what is discussed in the meeting and who participates. 

For example, there is a big difference between a meeting to work out the details for next week’s worship service and one to brainstorm about sermon themes for the next 12 months. The people that should be in the room to give input about the selection of long-term mission partners are not the same people that need to plan the details for each of those partnerships. 

Patrick Lencioni has a helpful term—“meeting stew”—to describe the tendency to dump all sorts of different items into one meeting. He points out the difficulties of jumping from a short-term tactical discussion to a long-term strategic one. (His book, Death by Meeting, is a helpful and enjoyable resource. He also addresses the subject in one section of The Advantage.) 

I know the counter-argument: “There are a variety of things to discuss, so let’s do it while we’re all together.” If that’s working well for you, and you’re not frustrated with your meetings, then keep doing it. But you probably wouldn’t have read this far if that were the case.

One important implication of more purposeful meetings is that someone needs to own each meeting. That doesn’t have to be the most senior person in the room. But someone needs to be clear about the purpose, shape the agenda beforehand, and keep the discussion from veering far off track.

Please don’t hear this as a recommendation that every meeting should be tightly scripted. Some breathing room—for sharing personal concerns or just light moments together—is a valuable part of being together. But even that can be purposeful. 

You’ll never reach a point where everyone in your church or ministry looks forward to every meeting. But as a first step, make a list of all your regular meetings and rate the effectiveness of each. If your assessment reveals a pattern of lackluster meetings, you may need to be more purposeful.

Photo source: istock 

my saved content

VIEW AS
A PDF

Mike Bonem is an author, consultant, speaker, church leader, businessperson, husband and father. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a breadth of experience in ministry and business, including 11 years as an executive pastor, consulting with Fortune 100 companies, and leading a start-up business. This article was first published on MikeBonem.com. Used with permission. Learn More »

• Why people don't respond when you talk to them (by Carey Nieuwhof)
• When preaching solutions, do these two things first (by Mark MacDonald)
• How smartphones have been used toward a torrent of cyberbullying (by Thom Rainer)
• How to bless before you blame in a conflict at work (by Jordan Raynor)

Free eBook

Steps to Launching Your Personal Workplace Ministry

Have you ever felt the pull to full-time ministry work as a missionary or pastor? If not, you can still make a Kingdom impact without quitting your current job. In this eBook, you will learn the four essentials that can change your perspective of work, your workplace, and most importantly, your heart.

Download Now