Thursday, July 5, 2018

Hey Fletch … I’m interested in using some leading indicators to help our staff get an idea on how things are really going in the church. What do you think?

DRF—One of the best things that you can do for your church’s vision statement is to monitor it being lived out. Check out the April 4, 2018 column for a prior discussion on this topic.

In the church world, lagging indicators are metrics like attendance data and financial reports. A leading indicator could be a real-time report from the greeter team after each service.

Here’s an interesting article on lagging and leading indicators. It gives intriguing examples from business:

    • Percent of incidents not worked on for 2 hours
    • Percent of open incidents older than 1 day
    • Percent of incidents dispatched more than 3 times
    • Average backlog of incidents per agent

These are examples of leading indicators in business. You will want to brainstorm about what would be effective leading indicators at your church.

Translating these business examples to the church:

    • Number of newcomers who took a visitor’s guide each Sunday
    • Percent of newcomers who desired guidance to a location on the campus 
    • Number of people asking similar questions
    • Average backlog of guests waiting at the visitor center

Keep me informed for what you set. In the church world, the examples that I have seen can get legalistic. How can we encourage folks with leading indicators while not loading them down with undue reporting?