I think it is safe to say that we are all ready to return to normal. We’ve done the covid thing, we’ve learned a few new skills, but we’re tired of editing our services together and watching them online like everyone else.
Unfortunately, normal is not coming back. At least not in the way we remember it. And maybe that’s a good thing.
Getting back into the routine of pulling off services every week, now is the time to potentially make some changes.
One of the main reasons we tend not to make changes is that it can cause disruption. Disruption on the team, disruption of the process. We’ve always done things a certain way, so why mess with it?
Well, things have been disrupted alright. Most of us haven’t had services in person for 5 months! You can’t get more disrupted than that!
Chances are, when we do get back, the way we used to do services is a thing of the past. It is time to make some adjustments. Not only adjustments to the “new” that we’re facing, but also to the “way we’ve always done things.” This is a perfect time to even do those things we always wished we had time for.
Start Doing
Remember all those great ideas you’ve had over the years but have never done anything about? Well now is the time to consider implementing them. There will never be a better time than now!
Much of the challenge of starting something new is that it breaks you and your team out of a comfortable routine. The only comfortable routine you’ve had in the last 5 months has been working while still in your pajamas. Trust me, you need to break out of that one anyway!
- Maybe you’ve always wanted to have prayer time with the team before beginning rehearsal. Start now.
- Or perhaps you were in the habit of saying yes to everything because you were trying to be helpful. Now might be the time to start being strategic with your time and only saying yes to those tasks that help achieve your team’s mission.
- But what if I don’t have a mission? It’s time for that too! Developing a mission statement and a set of production values will help define how your team moves forward into this new era. There’s never enough time to figure this out. Start now. Start talking about them with your team. Get everyone on the same page as it pertains to what your team is about.
- And speaking of the team, maybe now is the time to invest more in the people than in the gear or the task. Investing in people might have seemed like something we could put on the back burner, but if we’ve learned something during the pandemic is that people and the community matter more than the stuff. Don’t lose the chance to reallocate your time away from the nuts and bolts and towards developing the people on your team.
Don’t waste this amazing opportunity to start something new when you get back to meeting in person. The time is ripe to take yourself and your team to the next level by starting something new.
Stop Doing
This new beginning is also a great time to stop doing some things. Those tasks were designed for a different season or to slaughter that sacred cow. Similar to starting something new, we are already out of our routine, so let’s blow it up some more while we have the chance!
- “This is how we do it.” And I’m not talking about the song from the ’90s. That saying has stopped us too many times from starting something new. Stop saying it. Stop letting your team members say it. Let’s figure out some new ways of doing tasks. More efficient ways. More effective ways. Just because something worked in the past doesn’t mean it is still the right way now. Don’t be afraid to stop doing something just because the team is emotionally attached to it.
- Now is also the time to stop saying yes to everything. (I know this is similar to start being strategic with your time, but it is that important!) Be more strategic with your time! Especially if you are going to invest in our teams more, that means you can’t do as many tasks outside of the boundaries you’ve set for strategic purposes.
- With boundaries set, and production values shared, now it is time to stop enabling team members that don’t want to be a part of where the team is going. You know who they are. You know how much they drain you. You know how much the rest of the team wonders why there are production standards that everyone has to follow but those few people. It is time to stop letting it slide and it is time to hold them to the standard. Arriving on time. Not being negative all the time. Only wanting to serve where they want to serve. If you are the leader, it is time to stop ignoring it and hoping it simply goes away. Confront that now. It is a perfect time.
We have been given the opportunity to start fresh. It is the moment that we dream of when we are buried by the routine that seems locked in place and can never change.
They can. And it is time to seize this moment to help make your church more effective by starting new things and stopping old things.
Do it.
