Are you feeling overwhelmed with your ministry marketing? It’s great to have goals and high expectations for yourself and your team. We all need to set benchmarks; the problems start when we start to become paralyzed by the sheer volume of what we’ve set out to do.
You may not have realized it, but having a multitude of goals can actually cause us to get less done than if we only had one or two? Why is that? When our To-Do List becomes overwhelming our brains only have two avenues of escape
• Inaction: That’s when become figurative “deer in the headlights” and we’re on a collision course with unpleasant consequences (loss of funding, disappointing others, etc.)
• Random Action: That’s when we’re a “rabbit on the run” not looking where we’re going and landing in pitfalls that could have been avoided easily. This type of reaction takes its toll not only on you, but your entire staff as they attempt to make deliver on your instructions.
So how do visionary leaders, like you, avoid sliding into either of these activities? How can you keep yourself and your team motivated? Let’s explore four effective ways to achieve your vision:
1. Refresh. Stop everything that you are doing. Take a deep breath. Take a break.
Taking a day off (or even a few hours) to clear your mind will ultimately help your establish priorities. Take the time to discover what your true priorities are. I have found that most often when we are overwhelmed and unsure of exactly what to do, we start operating in what I call “survival mode.”
We engage in activities that have no clear strategic results. Action that is not-purposeful is just as bad as inaction. It takes just as much time and energy to do something random than it does to do something right. And when you do the right things you get the right results.
2. Reboot. Now that you have taken time to refresh your mind and your body. It will be a good idea to reboot your marketing systems.
You know kind of like the way you reboot your computer when it runs slow or get stuck and won’t do anything at all. I don’t know about you, but I quite frequently press CTRL+ ALT+ DELETE To jump start my computer after I have overload it by running multiple programs at once? Do you know why you do this?
Rebooting your systems clears out all the “gunk” and glitches in the system and allows your computer to get a new start. And if you (the brains of the operation) are feeling stuck then chances are your ministry marketing systems are stuck as well.
Rather than forcing things that to work (you know, pressing the ESC key twenty times when we get frustrated) take a moment and reboot all your marketing programs and systems. It’ll give your programs a fresh start and reinvigorate everyone who is working with you too.
3. Regroup. Let’s get organized again.
Most ministries lack the clear organization and focus they need to get the results they expect. Because of this lack of organization ministry marketing is often performed on an ad hoc basis, or worst yet, as a mere after-thought .
Remember random actions produce random results and cannot random generally be cannot be duplicated. Now is the time to gather the critical components of your ministry marketing:
– Goals
– The plan
– Processes/programs your are using within the plan
– The steps you’ll need to take to complete those processes
The key to success is to make sure that all of these elements are all in one place that is easily accessible to your team at all times. Then Review, Rank, Prioritize. Review, Rank, and Prioritize your ministry marketing goals.
Now you are ready for our fourth and final step.
4. Re-open. One at a time
Re-open only those programs that are critical to the goal you want to achieve right now. Today. Not next week, not next month — Today. We often get overwhelmed because we cast BIG visions, Develop BIG plans, and set BIG goals. Then we set out to achieve it all in one BIG step.
That is an insane expectation! And if you are feeling a little crazy right now, this is probably why. Rather than trying to tackle everything at once focus on ONE thing at a time.
– What would you like to achieve within the next 30 days?
– What steps do you need to take to achieve that goal?
– Who will you need to help you make this a reality?
Whew! We covered a lot of material today. Now let’s break it into chunks so that the ideas and lessons that we discussed can actually do some good.
Here’s your ministry marketing assignment:
1. Take a look at your schedule and determine right now which day this week you are going to REFRESH.
a. Write it on your calendar.
b. Send messages to your team letting them know that you are taking a planning day (or a couple of hours whichever your schedule permits).
c. Decide where you will go and how long you will be there.
i. *Be sure it is a place where you can truly refresh…don’t leave one place of chaos and jump into another 🙂
2. Identify the systems/ programs you have running that need to be halted and restarted.
a. Get organized right away.
b.Take a look at what you are currently working on.
c.How can you reorganize it and get it all in one place so that you can operate more efficiently?
3. Okay, now you are ready to try again
a. What will you engage in right now?
b. Why this project or program?
c. Be sure to share with your team next steps and any deviation from the original plan (the last things you want to do is have your team go one way and you another)
Are you feeling overwhelmed in your ministry but are ready to expand? Click here to schedule your F.R.E.E. Ministry Marketing Breakthrough Session with Janice. You can share you vision and ask key questions.