November 2022
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- Beta Test full service with Volunteers on Sunday evenings.
- Continue filling and training Volunteer Teams.
- Vision Dinner with Insiders.
- Announce Launch Date.
- Create and distribute launch date invitations (physical and digital).
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December 2022
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- Finalize Volunteer Teams, Processes, and Procedures.
- Vision Dinner with Insiders.
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January 2023
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- January 23: Campus Grand Opening
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This is far from everything we did, but the flow remains very close.
4. Evaluate and Course Correct
Plans exist to guide us forward. But they are not in stone. Plans can change as the environment or opportunity changes.
Having clear milestones allows you to track success against a goal, not a feeling. If the plan is effectively moving us toward our milestone goals, we can continue. If not, we can adjust as needed.
5. Ensure Adequate Systems
Throughout the prelaunch phase, we should develop and test all the necessary systems for a healthy and sustainable church. This includes accounting, finance, database, IT, calendaring, service planning, volunteer scheduling, and communications. Having these systems planned and in place before launch keeps church leaders focused on the many brought by post-launch.
Church Strategy During Post-Launch
A well-planned prelaunch typically gives way to a successful launch. Opening day is significantly less stressful after six complete beta tests, adequate volunteer training, and all other systems in place. Now, church leaders can focus on moving a healthy start into the Orchestration Phase of the life cycle.
How long a church spends in post-launch creation correlates to how strategically and intentionally the church behaved during prelaunch. Obviously, the initial chaos experienced during opening is dramatically reduced through beta services and volunteer training.
At this point in the life of a young church, leadership works to perfect the current methods and strategically project the systems that will be needed as the church grows. More specifically, the quickest way to orchestration is by perfecting the creation strategy. Keep in mind most of the plans were educated guesses. For example, you estimated Sunday attendance, the ratio of children to adults, and the number of cars. You build systems and plans based on these estimates but are now working from actual data. You’ve seen your parking plans in action. You’ve watched guests navigate your facility (and you’ve realized you need way more directional signs!). You know some volunteer teams are understaffed while others are in great shape.
The strategic path from creation to orchestration goes through adjusting to reality. This discovery process must be data-driven, not “it feels like” motivated.
Therefore, our final system in creation is adjusting and developing a dashboard to provide the necessary metrics for decisions. FYI, this is a secret to data. Metrics that are not actionable are unnecessary. Decide what metrics paint the picture you need to move the church forward.
Concluding the Creation Phase
Most of the work during creation hinges on setting up systems to make success more predictable. As Mike Tyson once said, though, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Creation plans are like pre-fight plans. After launch, you’re in the fight, and it gets real fast.
In our next post, we’ll examine how successful churches employ systems to orchestrate what’s happening to grow the church.
This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.
