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Every month for six month’s I’m meeting with Tony Morgan and a group of ten other church leaders at West Ridge Church in Dallas, Georgia. I’m very humbled and excited to be a part of this coaching network. I hope blogging the takeaways will help you in your ministry as well as my retention of them.

Here are the takaways from April.

Long Hellos and Fast Goodbyes (Hire Slow, Fire Fast)

We covered a lot of things this month around staffing and structure. These are a brief summary — more meat to follow in future posts.

1. Hiring

• Don’t jump after first person available.
• Have the applicant create a cover letter. This is a good way to evaluate their written communication skills.
• If you’re interviewing for a position you don’t know a lot about, bring in an expert from outside your organization to help with the interview.
• Be consistent with the questions you ask all candidates.
• Make sure you ask about the applicant’s faith journey.
• Ask what the applicant’s spouse thinks about the transition. In some cases take them both out to dinner.
• Have the applicant go through a personality profile and Strength’s Finder. Also, run a background check always.

2. Firing

If it’s not working out and you need to fire…

• Could this staff person be moved to a different role inside of your organization?
• This shouldn’t be a surprise. The staff person should have enough communication with you before hand so it’s not totally out of nowhere — especially if you’re having regular one-on-ones and there has even been a conversation or probationary period.
• Come prepared.
• Decide how long until termination.
• Decide how much severance is, if any, and how long you will continue benefits.
• Make sure they maintain the high road vs the low road.

Resources

• The E-Myth Revisited
• Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
• Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis

Extras

Here are some mentionables from other guys in the group.

• Tony Morgan says, in regards to when a staff person isn’t working out,”When I am tightly managing a person, I know it’s time for a talk.”
• Mark Lee tells his folks, “If you’re not serving, you’re part of the press.”
• Todd Lollis and the staff at Freedom Church calls their discussion of how the weekend went “Hits and Misses.” Good name.
• Elvis Radio on Sirius. Yep, I rocked it out in the rental car during the trip. So what?

>> Click here for takeaways from previous months.