Continuous Evaluation
“How’s it going?”
How would you answer that question? It depends, right? It depends on who is asking, and why they are asking.
“How’s it going?” Most of the time, when someone asks me that, I say, “Fine! How’s it going with you?” And they say, “Fine.” In that situation, it’s a ritual exchange, it’s a greeting.
But let’s say a good friend asks me that question, someone who knows me well, someone who knows my current joys and struggles. “How’s it going?” I might respond by giving her an “organ recital”: “Well, my shoulder’s feeling better, but the eye doctor wants me to do another test…”
For Renew 145, we want to ask ourselves on a regular basis, “How’s it going?” Instead of answering “Fine!” or replying with an “organ recital,” we ask “How’s it Going?” in order to see where we are with our commitments and process.
Here’s a very simple, but effective way to evaluate your efforts. This is called a “plus, minus, next” reflection.
Image credit: Ness Labs https://nesslabs.com/plus-minus-next
Let’s look at something that has probably been challenging for most of us this past year. Let’s take one suggestion from Renew 145: interviewing community members to get a better sense of the hopes and needs of your neighborhood.
How’s it Going?
Write down the pluses. What’s gone well with this effort? What can you work with? What resources are available to you now?
Maybe you’ve identified some folks you’d like to talk with. Maybe you’ve talked together about who is in contact with whom: is somebody in your congregation connected with the school system? What errands are people regularly doing in your congregation? Where are connections possible?
I’ve been careful in limiting my face-to-face contact, but over the past year I have gone out into my community: I go regularly to a local farm stand. I go to grocery stores. I’ve gone to the post office. I see neighbors out walking their dogs. The other day I went to a shoe store. I saw my dentist. I saw my doctor. I have a friend who manages a local business and we go on walks outdoors together sometimes. Even with really limiting my in-person contacts, I have still had opportunities to talk with all kinds of people in my community this past year. That’s a plus!
What successes and opportunities might you add to your list?
How’s it Going?
Next, write down the minuses. Where are the struggles or the bottlenecks?
Maybe you all feel weird talking with people about how your church can be of help. It’s one thing to go to the shoe store, but it’s another thing to open up conversation about community issues when mostly you go there to buy shoes. So maybe you write down as a minus: We don’t feel comfortable talking about these things — we just don’t know what to say!
And here’s where we change the question from ‘How’s it Going?’ to ‘What’s Next?’.
Looking at our pluses and minuses, what’s our next step? What could we do next?
Write down some ideas on where to go next.
If the plus is that we already go on errands and have opportunities to talk with people, but the minus is, that right now we feel awkward opening up a conversation, what if we practiced a conversation together? What if we thought of some questions together? What if we did some role playing together, so it feels more comfortable to have the conversation. All of those questions could go under ‘What’s Next’ because they are realistic next steps for us to help us ask people in the community for their thoughts.
Plus, minus, next.
We evaluate what’s going well. We evaluate where we feel challenged. We come up with a “next step” to move us forward.
“Plus, minus, next” reflections can be used on an individual basis, or with a group. It’s a very simple, but powerful way to see where you’re at and how you can move forward. It’s also very effective when used on a regular basis.
Resources:
For more about Plus, Minus, Next journaling, and some examples, check out this article here: https://nesslabs.com/plus-minus-next
This article is oriented to individuals, but Plus, Minus, Next reflections can easily be adapted for regular meetings with groups.
Reflection by Pastor Anna Havron
Questions for Reflection:
- What has your experience been with evaluations? When you hear about evaluations and metrics, do you want to participate, or do you feel stressed about it? Have evaluations ever made you feel judged, or insecure? Have evaluations ever made you feel excited about what can be made better? It’s good to know the thoughts and ideas you bring around evaluations in general. How might evaluations bring about positive and productive outcomes that energize you?
- Do you already have ways you regularly evaluate things with your congregation? Is there something you’ve learned from that existing process, that you could use with Renew 145?
- Where might you try a plus, minus, next reflection? For each project, how often might you want to repeat that — every meeting, every quarter, once a year…?