Building Relationships...

isn’t something that comes naturally to most techies. Like many technically-minded people, it’s something I struggle with. Yet I’m finding it’s an important aspect of being able to generate good metrics. I’m learning (in some cases the hard way, ouch!) that metrics are about more than numbers – it’s about people. Not the people that the numbers represent, but the people that use the numbers - you know, your teammates. Ministry partners. Other staffers. Volunteer leaders.
They are your most important allies. You need to get to know ‘em. How they work. How they think. What makes ‘em tick. Not as some weird psychological experiment, but because your responsibility is to take raw data, sometimes a mountain of raw data, and make it understandable and useful. Does your guest services team favor tables or graphs? Would your senior management team like summaries or in-depth reports? Do illustrated diagrams help with comprehending the pertinent details?
All those decisions are governed by what your teammates need. You can’t get them what they need if you don’t know what they want. And you won’t know what they want unless you know them. How do they operate their ministries? What are their processes? Systems? What segment of your church population do they touch? Do you actually know what they do?
The purpose of a metrics and statistics program is to get your ministry leaders the information they need to make informed decisions quickly. Make sure it’s understandable. Build those relationships.