Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Hey Fletch … I read the Hey Fletch column on February 12 about the 45 minute meetings. This just won’t work. How am I supposed to do an annual review in that amount of time.

DRF—You make an excellent point. Many meetings can happen in 45 minutes. However, significant meetings can take far longer. An annual review is one of those meetings.

For an annual review, I like to schedule a 90 minute meeting. These let everyone know that we are going to be talking about many important subjects. Further, it reminds the attendees that each topic can be discussed leisurely. Don’t make time an enemy when it comes to a review!

Let me add: though you have a longer meeting for a review, have an agenda. Let the attendees know what you want to talk about. Give homework before the review. If you don’t get through all the agenda items, then schedule a follow-up meeting.

Reviews are immensely important to the employee and the church. Staff need to know that they have enough time “to tell their story.” The church needs sufficient time to gather information on how the employee is doing.

Relax and enjoy the review!