Improving Work Processes and Systems

A Process is defined as the grouping in sequence all the tasks directed at accomplishing one particular outcome.

 

I worked in a refinery where there were thousands of processes both physical/mechanical & human decision/action processes. In an environment like that you can only improve your work by improving processes and better organization of tasks.

But every workplace including churches have systems & processes to achieve outcomes.

 

Are some of the work systems you work with not as user friendly or as efficient as you would like? Are some failing to deliver the desired outcomes?

 

I remember hearing that 85% of failures are the fault of management controlled systems. It is likely that you can do something about them if you choose to.

 

Part of your job as a leader is finding defects in processes and systems and removing barriers to their improvement.

 

Or put it another way every vision, strategy, or improvement idea needs to result in changed work processes or systems at some point. 

 Fishers of men

Jesus said to some of His fisher disciples, Come follow me & I will make you fishers of men. His invitation is applicable for all of His disciples that would follow him. This is a simple fishing analogy on how to reach out & fish today.

We need a Desire to go fishing

If I asked you to go fishing tomorrow would you go?

What would motivate you to go?

What motivates us to go fishing for men?

*Seeing people as Jesus sees them.

*Love them enough to reach out.

*Desire to serve.

We need a passionate desire to give the Gospel.

We need a License/permission 

We not only have permission, we have a mandate. There is no catch limit. Catch as many as you can. The more fishermen the better, in fact we need more. The end will not come until the right amount are caught. Matt.24

We need to locate the fish

Need to understand their habitat.

Find where they may live & go there.

Understand their ways & see their needs.

Understand that pollution is affecting them.

We need a lure or net.

What is the difference between a lure & a net?

One works by attraction, the other by direct placement in their flow of life.

Unfortunately a lure is also used by the enemy of our souls. Our lure should be the beauty & love of Jesus seen through us, not tricks or any falsehood.

A net means putting ourselves into a strategic place to serve, bless, & love people. where we can help & connect. 

We need to set the hook or purse the seine.

This means that at some point conditions will bring the right opportunity to share our story & our faith.

What He has done for you. The hope that is in you. Or what you have seen or heard.

Jesus wants us to tell the world He loves them.

What about the one that got away?

This is the most common fish story. We need to remember that it is the Holy Spirit that draws them. We also may need to mend our nets & check our bait.

What do we do with the catch?

Strangers coming in the church door are like fish jumping in the boat. All of them need friendship & discipleship. There is work to be done.

Pray for workers & let’s go fishing.

 Thoughts on Prayer 

Prayer is a continuous dialog with our God involving all aspects of life. It is us sharing our thoughts, hearts desires, & feelings with Him. It is also us listening, & that takes time & active listening. Do we understand the awesome privilege & power of dialoging with the King of the universe?

In the scriptures we see prayers for thanksgiving, intercessions, wisdom or understanding, direction, revelation of truth, repentance, confession, etc.. Is your prayer life as diverse as this? Or are you like me & tend to more often just take the issues of the moment to Him?

Take some time to think about your conversations with the Lord. Do you think they are an indication of the relationship you have with Him? Do you rest in the confidence that He hears you? Do you find that answers sometimes come without even asking if you spend quiet time just listening?

Have you ever prayed for Him to search your heart & reveal any anxious or hurtful ways that remain in you? Have you asked him to lead you out of those ways into a new way in Him? Doesn’t the road to transformation begin with prayer? Prayer draws us into where God wants us to be.

The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Paul tells us that the Spirit intercedes to help us pray. It would seem that at some point in our growth we would become devoted to prayer just as generations of disciples before us did. I would encourage you to again take some time to reflect on what He is saying to you in this area.

Understandably we take our problems and issues to the Lord. We sometimes take our concern for the situations of others too. But if we are going to grow into Christ in all aspects of our lives we need to take our hopes, dreams, plans, & relationships to Him as well. As you can, take some time and just put everything about you before Him.

In the last few years I have come to better appreciate & spend more time in silent prayer or contemplative prayer. For sure I still talk to Him a lot. But increasingly if I quietly humble myself before Him, He reveals the truth about many of the circumstances & issues I face. Are you being nudged to change anything about your prayer life?

James talks about our need for, & the power of prayer in our lives. He also says that we should be sharing our burdens & praying for each other. Are you part of a praying community? Do you have a community, or a group, or a person that you can ask to pray for you?

Why pray if God knows everything & nothing can stand against His will?

Yet we see Jesus praying & He instructs us to pray. Virtually everyone else we see in scripture is praying & encouraging us to as well. Pray without ceasing. Pray in the Spirit in all occasions. We see random & planned prayers, & we even read in Revelation of a bowl containing the prayers of the saints. So our Prayers seem to affect things.

Do you think it’s possible that His will is for our will & His will to be in unity before some things happen?

If we pray for things like His mercy, healing, wholeness, help, & wisdom for ourselves & others, aren’t we really asking for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven?

If prayer is conversation with almighty God, don’t you think we should do some listening? In our stillness before Him, aren’t we shaped by His desires? Haven’t you found that to be true?

Is prayer then part of the work we were created to do?

If we see it as true work that we are called to do, then it becomes less discretionary & more an indication of our relationship with Him & our desire to see His kingdom come.

Dont you think so?

 2 Things you need to know about People Productivity

I wrote this for leaders in my previous secular work place, but the principals are certainly applicable to churches, non profits, & volunteer organizations.

1. People desire/need significance in their work

Why do volunteer firemen get up in the middle of the night to respond to fire calls? People will do some lousy, inconvenient, even potentially dangerous tasks if they see the significance in what they are being asked to do. Productivity will improve if you can help people get interested in some piece of their work. People need to feel connected to something worth doing & to be part of a community. I’m convinced that all work that is really necessary work is significant.

 

It is important for a leader to remember to appreciate the work people do in some visible tangible way. It is also important to show how it connects with the big picture of the business. This is really one of the keys or secrets to success because it is the inspiration engine to achieve great results from people.

 

 

1. Match interest with opportunity

People tend to put a lot of effort & pride into the things they are interested in. You have a built in quality advantage to any task or project if you can assign someone who is interested in it. It is very likely they will invest discretionary time and effort towards that activity.

 

You have to get to know your people fairly well to be able to determine this, but it is usually a great situation for both of you. I have seen very average performers really excel at that special thing they are interested in.

 

I would suggest that there are a large number of tasks or projects that people will put their hearts into if asked.