You have a strategy for connecting people. You might have more than one (we do).

And you might not think of it as a strategy.

You might think of it as the semester model or fall groups launch or your annual church-wide campaign, but those are just names for the strategy you've chosen to use (or may have been chosen for you).

Can you see it?

We all have a strategy (or strategies) that we use in the hope of connecting people to groups.

But when you design your connection strategy, you must think first about the people you are hoping to connect. This is essential. It is not a nice extra thing to do.

When you design your connection strategy, you must think first about the people you are hoping to connect. This is essential. It is not a nice extra thing to do. Click To Tweet

And don't make the mistake of expecting the newest or least connected people in your congregation to have your sensibilities or priorities. When you design your connection strategy you need to keep the priorities and interests of unconnected people in mind.

And don't make the mistake of expecting the newest or least connected people in your congregation to have your sensibilities or priorities. When you design your connection strategy you need to keep the priorities and interests of… Click To Tweet

What I want to do in this article is provide 5 insights that will help you evaluate your strategy's effectiveness for connecting unconnected people.

5 Insights that Help Evaluate Your Strategy's Effectiveness (for connecting unconnected people)

Insight #1: The outcome you will call success must be determined in advance.

When you design any strategy the first thing you must do is determine what outcome you will call success. Another way to say it is to determine what you will call a win.

When you design any strategy the first thing you must do is determine what outcome you will call success. Click To Tweet

Now, what you will call success or what you call a win can include things like

• the number of new groups formed
• the total number of people connected in groups
• the number of new group members
• etc.

Add this insight to your strategy:

If you want to connect unconnected people, what you call success or what you will call a win must include the number of newly connected people.

Insight #2: It's easier to connect in a new group than in an existing group.

The longer a group has been together, the more difficult it becomes for a new member to connect. Groups that have been meeting longer than about 12 meetings have begun forming an almost impenetrable membrane around their nucleus and only the most extroverted (and sometimes brazen) can break through to connect.

The longer a group has been together, the more difficult it becomes for a new member to connect. Click To Tweet

If there is an exception to this reality, it is that friends of the leader or members of existing groups can often be invited to join (without blowing up the group or remaining outside the nucleus).

This is why you must prioritize launching new groups and train leaders and members of existing groups to "fish for themselves."

Add this insight to your strategy:

Can you offer a new group 52 weeks a year?  No, but you can build in opportunities year round that make it easy to join a new group.

See also, 5 Keys to Launching Small Groups Year-Round.

Insight #3: It's easier to connect in a familiar setting than a stranger's living room.

Long-time church members and very connected people sometimes have a hard time understanding what it feels like to be new. Many of your church's newest attendees will tell you that coming for the first time was a giant step and filled with awkward moments. Asking these same people to "find a group online" or "pick a group from our small group catalog that meets near you" is often even more scary than attending church the first time!

Are there people that can brave the unknown, find a group online or pick one out of the catalog and show up for a meeting? Yes, but they tend to be church people who have been in a group before (either at your church or somewhere else).

Unconnected people without previous experience of a group are rarely enthused about choosing from an online list or a catalog.

Unconnected people without previous experience of a group are rarely enthused about choosing from an online list or a catalog. Click To Tweet

it's important to design your strategy for the less sure of themselves majority.

Add this insight to your strategy:

Consider offering an on-campus connecting event or short-term opportunities that lead to an off-campus group. The familiar setting will make the first step out of the auditorium an easier step.

See also, How to Launch a Short-Term On-Campus Strategy (that leads to off-campus groups)

Insight #4: Choice is preferred over assignment.

Think about it. In almost every other experience, you are accustomed to choosing from a menu of options. Which movie would you like to go to? Which restaurant? Which class would you like to take? Which store would you like to shop at?  Which church would you like to attend?

When an unconnected person is assigned to a group (i.e., you live in 90210, you're assigned to the Wilson's group) they feel limited.

Add this insight to your strategy:

If your current system is to preemptively assign to a group based on zip code, marital status or life-stage, you may want to consider providing a way to choose from a short menu.

Insight #5: Choosing from a hand-selected menu is easier than choosing from a full buffet.

It may surprise you to learn that too many options is actually demotivating. In a fascinating study by Sheena S. Iyengar and Mark R. Lepper (Choice is Demotivating) it was learned that more is rarely better.  See also, Is An Artificial Barrier Limiting Growth in Your Small Group Ministry?

An unconnected person is more likely to choose from a short menu of the best options than a wide menu of all options.

See also, A Smörgåsbord of Destinations vs Sequential and Tailored Next Steps.

Add this insight to your strategy:

If your menu of next steps looks more like the buffet at Luby's (or the Mirage), you'll want to consider highlighting a hand-selected short menu. Just because you have 9 entrees doesn't mean you have to give all of them equally desirable platform.

For example, our strategy for connecting unconnected people often provides 2 or 3 options. Unconnected people can choose to "do the study with a couple friends," sign up to attend our next Life Group Connection, or sign up to attend one of the next short-term on-campus options.

See also, Overview: Here Are Our Four Strategies for Launching New Groups

Need More Help?

How to Diagnose Your Small Group Ministry is one of my most popular video courses. If you've not taken it, you might want to take a look at all it offers. After all, if you're not evaluating (or diagnosing) how can you expect to be heading in the right direction?

Image by John Fraissinet