What and Why….I can still hear the owner of the old camp that I once worked at.
During staff training he always taught a class called “Interpersonal Management Skills.” He knew that my staff would be working in very close quarters for 8 weeks. He also knew that there would be conflict. He introduced me to a skill that I have never forgotten. “Never divorce the WHAT from the WHY. If you’re telling people WHAT you’re going to do always tell them WHY you’re going to do it.”
I’ve been working with several churches recently that have decided to refocus on this principal. They have made some big changes and the youth, parents, and volunteers have been left to speculate about the possible reason.
In one church they had recently closed the main nursery room. Another church had moved from three worship services to one. A third church had recently combined their youth Sunday school classes into one large class. In each case the church leaders thought that everyone understood the reason for the change, the “WHY.” Yet, in each church there was still some confusion and even some hard feelings. The church is such a riddle sometimes. We promote changes like these using all of the usual channels. We use the newsletter, bulletin, email, postcards, pulpit announcements, Powerpoint, etc.
Still, people will say that they never heard anything about it. It is so easy to communicate today and people still feel poorly informed. So, I guess we have to be more strategic with our “WHY.” As leaders we’ll need to promote the change before it happens and again after it has already occurred. Try not to leave out the “WHY.” Tell them WHY again and again.
David Sippel is a senior consultant for Youth Ministry Architects.
He also serves the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church as the Director of Ministries with Young People.
Website: www.YMArchitects.com
Twitter: @ymarchitects