MarkHowellLive.com » Connection Strategy

What’s the Best Way for People to Sign Up and Commit to a Group?

Mark Howell — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:48:21 +0000

What’s the best way for people to sign up and commit to a group?

It’s a frequently asked question. It’s a fair question. It’s almost always the wrong question.

How can it be the wrong question? Well…maybe it’s just the way it’s worded and the underlying meaning of the words, “sign up.” Here’s what I mean.

In most cases, taking sign-ups implies an opportunity for unconnected people to fill out a form and turn it in. There are three basic instances when a form is turned in:

Sign up to be placed in a group: It is almost always a bad idea to allow people to to turn in a form to be placed in a group. I know this isn’t a universally held opinion, but in my experience taking on a matchmaking role is almost always counterproductive. First of all, once the form is filled out motivation changes. Second, the follow up phone call frequently connects the matchmaker with the spouse who did not fill out the form.

Sign up to attend an event where they will have an opportunity to connect (i.e., a Saddleback style small group connection or a North Point style grouplink event). A much better option, the form serves the purpose of expressing commitment to attend the event. Upside: the event itself does the work of connection. Downside: only those who attend the event get connected.

Sign up to HOST a group: Different than signing up to join a group, this form is used to take commitments to host a group. Hosts are encouraged to fill their own group. Upside: this strategy connects the friends, neighbors, family members and co-workers of the host. Downside: requires a joining opportunity for those who aren’t invited. This can be done a variety of ways that avoid turning in a form promising placement (matchmaking):

An online solution like ChurchTeams is both easy to employ and reasonable priced, allowing unconnected people to find a group without going through a middle man. In addition, an online solution allows an all-church email to be sent with a link to the small group finder.
A printed list of groups can be made available at the small groups table in the lobby. The list of groups can be distributed. Alternatively, potential members can commit to an individual group by adding their name and information directly to the group roster (this is different than a form that implies matchmaking).
A group fair allows potential members to sign up directly with group leaders. Each open group can host a table at the fair.

What’s the best way for people to sign up and commit to a group? As I mentioned earlier, I believe it is the wrong question. The right question? What’s the best way to connect the largest number of unconnected people? I begin answering that question right here. Be sure you’re signed up to get my updates. You can do that right here.)

What do you think? Got a question? You can click here to jump into the conversation.

Saved by the Herd

Mark Howell — Mon, 16 May 2011 10:50:25 +0000

Looking for a video that shows the value of being in a small group in times of trouble? We had Kenny Luck (Everyman Ministries, Men’s Pastor at Saddleback) in to do a conference for men and he showed this video at very end; to help men understand that life is dangerous to do on your own.

You might have heard of this video. It’s had over 61 million views on YouTube. I had never seen it and it perfectly shows the value of a herd. Spoiler Alert: No one get’s seriously hurt…or eaten.

If you can’t see the video, click here to watch it on YouTube. By the way, Kenny Luck always does a fabulous job and our men loved the conference.

Accelerate GroupLife in 2011: T – 1 Week

Mark Howell — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:23:02 +0000

Welcome back to my 6 week bootcamp series, designed to walk you through the steps of preparing to accelerate the growth of your grouplife system in 2011. There really are some very basic ideas that make this timeline effective, and frankly, make any ministry timeline effective. If you can learn to do the following things, you can accomplish a great deal:

look ahead in your planning
identify natural opportunities that are built in to the ebb and flow of the people in your community
leverage the authority and position of your senior pastor
over-communicate

You’ll still have limitations (i.e., the size of your community, the pace of life in your community, built-in systems, etc.), but these four things…you can do way more than you probably think you can. And, if you’re on board with what God’s already blessing, there’s nothing you can’t do!

This Week’s Assignment

Because we’ve looked way ahead (we actually started on this project 5 weeks ago!), there are only a couple things that must be done this week. And honestly, these two things should become part of your weekly agenda…they’re that important. Here’s what to do:

First, make sure you connect with your senior pastor and reconfirm their participation in promoting the small group connection(s) that you are planning. Senior pastors are busy; they’re often thinking about more than one initiative at a time; and they’re besieged from all sides by the leaders of other ministries and programs clamoring for their attention. Which makes it supremely important that you keep reminding them of their key role in promoting the upcoming small group connection(s).

This is probably a good time to remind you of one the most important lessons I’ve learned about communicating with senior pastors. Here it is: Life-change stories are almost always the best way to get their attention. So…when you connect with your pastor to talk about their upcoming role in promoting the connection, make sure you’ve got a story (or two) about the life-change that’s happening in your existing grouplife system.

Second, it’s always important to reconfirm some details that you’ve probably already nailed down (i.e., that you’ve chosen the study that your new groups will be using, that you’ve determined when it is has to be ordered, that the bulletin insert is being designed and will be ready for inclusion, etc.).

Question: Feelin’ the assignment? Does it make sense? Use the comment section to put in your two cents. You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Acclerate GroupLife in 2011: T – 2 Weeks

Mark Howell — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 13:31:23 +0000

Getting ready for a year when grouplife really accelerates? Hopefully you’ve gotten a lot done in week 1, week 2, week 3 and week 4 of our 6 week boot camp. But even if you’re joining us in progress, you can still catch up easily. You just need to pick up the pace of the things you’re doing…or add time to the end of the schedule.

This Week’s Assignment

We’re now 5 weeks into our 6 week process. Congratulations for sticking with it! It will pay off as you kick things in gear right off the bat in 2011. This week’s assignment is pretty light. There really are just two things you must get done:

You’ll want to make sure you’re prepared to order the materials that your new groups will be using. To be prepared, you need to have selected the study you’ll be using, estimated the number you’ll need, and figured out how long it will take for them to be delivered. I briefly mentioned selecting curriculum in the very first week. The key to me is to choose a study that is easy for the leader to use. That definitely means DVD-driven. A second key is to choose a topic that will appeal to unconnected people and probably people who know less about the Bible. Third, the ideal length is 6 weeks. That makes it short enough for new people to commit to and long enough for the very beginning stages of connective tissue to develop.
Next, you’ll want to give some thought to the items you’ll include in the Leader Packet that you distribute at the very end of the Connection event. The last thing that happens at a connection is a short stand-up meeting with your new “leaders.” I describe that meeting very thoroughly in the 4th article in the connection series. I also detail what I include in the Leader Packet.
The last thing you need to do this week is schedule the New Leader Orientation meeting. I usually try to hold it about a week after the Connection event. It’s a short meeting, about 75 minutes. What it accomplishes is just a little bit of training and a great opportunity for your new leaders to connect with their coach.

That’s it for this week. I hope this is helping you. You have an opportunity to change the landscape for the people who are connected in early 2011. Some of them will never be the same. Some of them will always look back on what happened in early 2011 and mark it as the moment that their new life in Christ really took hold. Thanks for playing your part!

Question: Feelin’ the assignment? Does it make sense? Use the comment section to put in your two cents. You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Accelerate GroupLife in 2011: T – 3 Weeks

Mark Howell — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:57:32 +0000

Getting ready for a year when grouplife really accelerates? Hopefully you’ve gotten a lot done in week 1, week 2 and week 3 of our 6 week boot camp. But even if you’re joining us in progress, you can still catch up easily. You just need to pick up the pace of the things you’re doing…or add time to the end of the schedule.

This Week’s Assignment

There are a couple things that need to happen this week as you prepare for the small group connection, the first major event in your 2011 strategy.

First, now is the time to prepare to market your event. I know not everyone likes that word…but that’s really what you’re doing. And there are at least three ways you should be thinking about marketing your small group connection.

You’ll want to have a bulletin insert, a sign-up sheet, for at least the two weeks prior to the event. Three weeks is even better. What you need is pretty simple. You just need a form that can be filled out quickly that will capture their name(s), their address (street, city and zip), their best phone number, their best email, whether they need childcare, and the type of group they’re looking for. Obviously, it will also need the event title, the date of the event, and maybe a tagline (I usually like it to say, “Give us an hour. We’ll help you get connected.”
If your church has an enewsletter or a newsletter that is mailed…you want to have the small group connection in the newsletter. Be sure and give your readers a way to respond (i.e., Call 555-1212 Ext. 123 or email us at _________ to sign up).
It’s a great idea to get the event on the website. If you can, make sure it’s on the home page of your website. This is another discussion, but if it’s hard to find out how to get connected at your church, you really can’t expect to get very far in connecting your congregation.
If your church uses slides either pre-service or during announcements, now is the time to alert whoever prepares the slides that you’ll be needing them soon.
If you have a small group booth, it’s not a bad idea to have a poster or sign there promoting the upcoming small group connection.

The second thing that will payoff this week is to circle back to your senior pastor and remind them about the small group connection event and confirm their role in marketing it. In order to have the best attendance, you need your senior pastor to play along. And ideally, you need their help for three weeks in a row (remember, your average adult attendance is made up of people who don’t come every week. If you want everyone’s attention, your senior pastor needs to talk about it several weeks in a row.)

I provide quite a bit of detail on how to make the ask for a small group connection right here.

There’s plenty to do on this week’s assignment. But it’s doable. If you work at it now, you’ll have a great start for 2011!

Can I ask you a favor? Especially if you get my updates by email…why not forward it to someone else who’s working the small group ministry puzzle in another church? Share the love…so to speak! I appreciate your help in passing these ideas around!

Question: Feelin’ the assignment? Does it make sense? Use the comment section to put in your two cents. You can leave a comment by clicking here.

File This Under Connection Ideas

Mark Howell — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:14:10 +0000

I’ve written in the past about how to use special days (like Father’s Day) to launch groups. Just thought I’d give you an update on how it works out when you actually do it.

This year on Mother’s Day we launched a strategy to jump start some new women’s small groups. We used the following ingredients:

We chose four studies that we thought would appeal to women (Bad Girls of the Bible, Parenting, The Me I Want to Be, and Surviving a Spiritual Mismatch).
We chose a date for a women’s small group connection that was two weeks after Mother’s Day.
We put the event on the website (where you could click to register), in the monthly newsletter available in the lobby, in the bulletin (both an announcement and a spot on the tear-off to register).
Our Senior Pastor worked the importance of being connected into his message, referred to the bulletin, and encouraged the women to sign up (“drop the tear-off in the offering or take it to our guest and information center”)
We announced it again at the end of the service
We announced it again the following week at the end of the service
We announced it on the day of and said “whether you signed up or not, we have room for you at the women’s connection.

Outcome: We launched 7 new women’s small groups using the small group connection strategy.

Approaching Father’s Day, things looked a little different. Two weeks after Father’s Day was the July 4th weekend. Not a good time to hold a connection, so we tweaked the strategy. Here’s what we did:

We chose a book (The Measure of a Man, by Gene Getz) and planned to launch an a.m. and a p.m. “summer book study” on Tuesday, July 6th.
We announced it on the website (where you could click to register), in the monthly newsletter available in the lobby, and in the bulletin (as both an announcement and on the tear-off).
On Father’s Day our pastor worked it into his message and encouraged men to sign up to be a part (“It’s easier to become the man God wants you to become when you’re connected with some other guys going the same way”).
We announced it again at the end of the service and encouraged men to drop their form in the offering or take it to the guest and information center.
We repeated the process for the next 2 weekends (mention in the message and announcement at the end).

Outcome: We had our first a.m. and p.m. sessions yesterday. We had about 60 signed up and 92 men show up. Here’s what we did during the first session:

They signed in, put on a name tag, and paid for their book.
When they came in, they found a seat at a table with 4 to 6 chairs.
We had them introduce themselves and tell the group how they came to Parkview and what made them come back.
We sorted them out geographically and had them move to a new table with a few guys who live near them.
At the new table they shared what prompted them to sign up for the book study and what they hoped to get out of it.
They also shared if they’d ever been in a group before and what was their experience like.
At the end of the session we talked briefly about their assignment for the week and then had them get the name and phone number of the person to their right and commit to call them during the week to check in.
We prayed to close the meeting and dismissed. Many of the men hung out and talked for 5 to 10 minutes (and some much longer). Few knew each other before the session.

What’s the point? You can connect people year-round if you look for ways to do it. Change it up. Adapt your concept to fit the calender. Don’t be afraid to try it a different way.

And one other thing…let us know what’s working!

5 Keys to Finding More Leaders

Mark Howell — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:55:21 +0000

“I can’t find enough leaders!”

Have you ever said that? If you have, you’re in good company. It’s one of the most common complaints of small group ministry point people.

Here are the five most common reasons you can’t find enough small group leaders:

You’re asking for the wrong thing. I think this is one of the easiest parts of the challenge to fix. If you’re not very careful, it sounds like you’re asking for a lifetime commitment to something that requires a lot of energy, hours of preparation, and a selfless quality rarely found apart from Mother Teresa. Remember, the best candidates are already busy. They’re already overextended in their work and at home. If you want to add leaders you’re going to have to make it easier for the best candidates to ease their toe into the water. This is one of the main reasons that the HOST and Small Group Connection strategies work so well. They’re designed to start out as test drives. The first key is to ask for the right thing.
You’re not looking in the right places. Most small group champions spend their time looking for potential leaders among people who are already in a group. After all, a lot of small group strategies have as a core premise that in order to lead a group you first have to be a member of a group. The truth is that in most cases the majority of potential leaders are not yet in a group. Unless your church is already pushing beyond 60 to 70% of your adult worship attendance in groups, the likelihood that your best candidates are already connected is pretty slim. Again, this is why the HOST and Connection strategies make so much sense. It’s also why a well-executed church-wide campaign can jump start leader identification and irrevocably change the landscape in your congregation. The second key is to look in the right places.
You’re asking the right people the wrong way. There are obviously some great people who are already in groups who ought to be leading a group. All of us see that. One of the earliest assumptions I developed was that many of the best leader candidates are pre-wired to be drawn to community and they end up in groups even in churches where there’s no real emphasis in group life! You don’t have to give them a reason to get connected. They’re already in a group. You need to give them an inspiring reason to leave their group for a few weeks. This is why the idea of inviting your existing groups to take a small group vacation works so well. It’s not permanent. it’s a few weeks. And it has the potential to help many of the right people experience what it’s like to move from consumer to contributor. The third key is to ask in the right way.
You’ve put up barriers that are keeping the right people from saying “yes.” For example, if I’ve got to be in a group first before I can lead a group, that’s a barrier. If I’ve got to attend a 12 session leader training course before I can lead…that’s a barrier. If the only curriculum I can use requires 2 or 3 hours of preparation, that’s a barrier. Think very carefully about the barriers you put up. Eliminate all but the most essential guardrails. Think test-drive. Think baby-steps. Think about making it easy to get started. You can help new leaders get started with an easy to attend orientation. You can build in on-the-job coaching. You can offer decentralized skill training huddles led by your coaches. The fourth key is to remove every unnecessary barrier.
The wrong person is doing the asking. The churches that are having the most group life success, that are building the most effective systems, are the churches where the senior pastor is the small group champion. End of story. If your not getting your senior pastor in the game on a full-time basis…you’re missing out on the best way to enlist more of the very best people as leaders. This is why building in a message series with built-in host recruitment before your church-wide campaign makes so much sense. Don’t miss this important trick! It will make a huge difference in your situation. The fifth key is to use the right person to make the ask.

The last time I said, “I can’t find enough leaders” was about 10 years ago. That’s when I began discovering the strategies that started me on the boundary-free path.

Need help? It’s easy to schedule a coaching call or set up an on-site consulting visit. You can find out more or get started right here.

The ABCs of a Great Start (for your connection group)

Mark Howell — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:50:33 +0000

A number of years ago (back when the connection strategy was new and untested) I developed a handout that I give to each person who is chosen as a leader. In most cases that’s more than one person per group. The handout is called, Getting Started: The ABCs of a Great Start (for your connection group).

The handout is very simple. It’s a prescription really. It’s a prescription that comes with a really good guarantee. I tell people as I hand it out that if they’ll follow these suggestions for…

preparing for their first meeting
what to do at the first meeting, and
following up on the first meeting

…they’ll have a much better meeting and really increase the likelihood that it will be a great experience for everyone who comes.

Who doesn’t want that? Want your own copy of the handout? You can download one free right here. By the way, the handout mentions a small group covenant (agreement) and you can download one right here.

The Results Are In…Women’s Connection Recap

Mark Howell — Mon, 24 May 2010 11:58:11 +0000

A few weeks ago I published Taking Advantage of Special Days to Launch Groups. Since I use the strategies I write about, I wanted to give you an update on what happened at our Women’s Small Group Connections this last weekend. You need to know several things:

We had a great time! I added an impromptu question to my schtick right before I had them choose a leader at each table. It just came to me. It was beautiful. And I’ll use it from now on. I was so taken by the intensity of the conversations at all three tables that I asked, “How many of you feel more connected at Parkview right now than you ever have before?” Literally, every hand went up. That was awesome!
I’ve learned to ask connection participants how long they’ve been attending (by show of hands). It’s very common for a connection event to pull in newer attendees, so I wasn’t surprised to learn that almost all of the participants had been attending less than a year. There were quite a few that had been coming for just a few months. That’s a huge win in my book. A connected person is much more likely to attend more frequently and that’s a very important variable in the growth engine equation.
The connection process identifies leaders from the congregation that you don’t know. This is more true the larger the congregation, but it’s still true in small to mid-size churches. Once you’ve reached a certain size it becomes more and more difficult for the staff of a church to know all of the people attending. A connection event with the 45 minute conversation it generates will flush out leadership potential when it’s done correctly. We found some incredible women leaders this weekend…and I was not surprised. It is the genius of the connection strategy.
As I mentioned in my article a few weeks ago, I selected four studies for the women to choose from (Parenting, Bad Girls of the Bible, Surviving a Spiritual Mismatch, and The Me I Want to Be). I looked for studies that are easy to do and don’t require a lot of leader preparation. I also looked for four distinct topics or types of studies. The study the women chose determined the table they ended up at and added to their sense of affinity.
We launched 8 new women’s groups and connected over 50 women! We also really had a great time. We worked hard keeping them on the schedule. All three connections ended on time (give us an hour, we’ll help you get connected!). There were women still hanging out when I left all three. Very cool. And it would have been equally cool starting one group and connecting 6 women. The numbers are not the point. Helping people connect is the point. And you can do it!

I hope the recap helps you see the potential of the connection strategy and maybe gives you a few ideas about how to use. Same strategy will work for Father’s Day. And it’s only a few weeks away!

Taking Advantage of Special Days to Launch Groups

Mark Howell — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:15:52 +0000

As I’ve mentioned previously, there are several key seasons when launching groups makes the most sense. End of September, first of October is a great time to help new arrivals connect using the HOST strategy. End of January, first part of February is a great time to help New Year’s resolution and turn-over-a-new-leaf people take a spiritual next step. Right after Easter is another pretty good time to run a small group connection or launch new groups.

Special days like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day also present a good opportunity to promote an upcoming opportunity to get connected or take a next step. Here’s how it works:

Calendar a small group connection two weeks after Mother’s Day.
Order a curriculum that will appeal to women or couples. The curriculum you choose determines the way you pitch the connection.
Develop a sign-up form/insert to be used on Mother’s Day.
Have your pastor refer to the connection in the sermon on Mother’s Day. “Ladies, there are few things more important than developing relationships with other women who are growing closer to Christ.” I’ve written a detailed article on how to make this kind of ask right here.
Include the insert a second time the week after Mother’s Day and have your pastor refer to it again.
Include a blurb in the bulletin on the day of the connection and refer to it in the announcements (“whether you signed up for the connection or not, we want to invite you to take this important step in getting connected”).
Run the connection!

Pretty simple stuff really. Choosing the right curriculum might be the most important piece. A 6 week study that really appeals to a high felt need goes a long way to help people take a baby step and get connected. From there, who knows! At least you’re helping a few take an important next step.