This is part 1 of a 4-part series on project management in church ministry.
According to the Project Management Institute’s A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), a project is a temporary endeavour (i.e., delimited with a start and a finish) to create a unique outcome (product, service, result). In the local church and Christian ministry context, whether it is a building/facilities reno undertaking, fundraising campaign, short term mission, conference, evangelistic and revival meetings, board and staff meetings, preparing and delivering a sermon, preparing and teaching a course/class, preparing and facilitating a Bible study, undertaking research study, working on a task force, it is a project. These activities have a beginning and an end, and produce a unique outcome. Check out this post which provides a short guide to manage projects in churches.
When managing projects (e.g., implementing changes) keep in mind the chronological sequence: Ready, Set, Go … and Ready, Aim, Fire … not: Ready, Fire and then Aim maybe! So once the WHY is addressed (i.e., raison d’être, purpose, objectives) then the WHAT, WHEN, WHO, hoW long and hoW much need to be addressed. Thence given the reason(s) and the driver(s) for the WHY, break down (decompose) the component parts of WHAT needs to be done. Moreover, the WHEN (milestones) and WHO will do WHAT by WHEN need to be articulated.
Bear in mind that project team members and stakeholders play various disparate roles and have different responsibilities. This diversity can be distilled in a DARCI matrix that identifies with clarity the roles and responsibilities of team members; i.e., WHO Decides, Approves, Responsible to do the work, Consults and is just Informed. In the post, “Project Management for Churches: A Short Guide,” step #4 is to monitor progress, which includes the WHAT IF (risk management) in response to invalid assumptions and unexpected surprizes/obstacles popping up during the execution of the project. In addition to the hoW long (duration), the project team needs to determine hoW the work will be carried out and estimate hoW much (budget) the project could cost (time, materials, services).
Luke reminds us of what the LORD Jesus admonished:
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’”