As a renegade pastor, you can learn to conduct meetings that are positive experiences. They still may not be particularly fun and exciting; that’s just the nature of meetings. But they can be organized, productive, and beneficial to everyone involved. Here are five keys to making meetings better:

1. Decide whether the meeting is even necessary. Too many meetings don’t need to happen. If a matter can be handled via a conference call or a couple of emails, it is better to spare everyone the time and trouble of getting together. Make sure to schedule meetings only when they are necessary and make certain to limit the discussion to items that affect everyone in attendance.
2. Set a clear agenda. Don’t start a meeting without knowing exactly what you need to discuss and decide. Provide a written agenda to make the purpose of the meeting clear to those in attendance. This will help everyone stay on topic. When someone goes off on a tangent, having a clear agenda will allow you to steer the conversation back to the issues at hand.
3. Let people know in advance what they need to prepare. If there is some necessary reading to be done or if you will need a certain report during the meeting, be sure to make this clear beforehand. When people arrive at meetings prepared, everything goes more smoothly. Avoid surprising people with requests after the meeting has started.
4. Get input from everyone. Quiet people often get overlooked at meetings. Be careful to ensure that the stronger personalities aren’t permitted to dominate.
5. Provide clear next steps. By the end of the meeting, some action steps should be in place. Make sure that everyone knows what they need to do, and then hold them accountable.

Meetings are a great way to get the best minds in your church together to discuss issues that will make a difference in your ministry. Make sure you don’t squander these opportunities by running bad meetings. When you take the necessary steps to make them pleasant and productive, meetings can go a long way toward advancing the vision and goals of your church.

– Nelson Searcy and Richard Jarman

The above excerpt is from pgs. 116-118 of The Renegade Pastor’s Guide to Time Management. 

Time is your most important God-given resource no matter how hard you work, you can’t make a day last longer than twenty-four hours. By mastering a set of proven time-management principles, you can regain control of your life. It is possible to manage your time so that you can stay on top of the never-ending demands of being a pastor, nurture your congregation, spend quality time with your family, and take care of your physical and emotional needs. Become the pastor God has called you to be.

P.S. – Click here to grab your copy from Amazon today!

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.