Ray Evans, FIEC church leadership consultant and co-founding Reach Ministries consultant, asks the question,
Could better feedback make us more godly and effective?
“Could do better.”
Ever had that on a school report? Ever had that said about your preaching or leadership?
Feedback. We fear it will be negative. So, we may avoid it. To our detriment.
A while back I researched how medical professionals, many of whom work in situations similar to church leaders (stressful, incessant, important, difficult, often isolated – the list could go on!), interacted with feedback.
Here are some quotes from the medical literature – I have just inserted ‘minister’ or ‘ministry’ so you may feel the force of this:
“Owing to the fact that [ministers] have often worked in isolation for a long time and not received feedback on performance, they have generally developed their own implicit standards. They are satisfied with most of these and experience them as sufficiently effective…”[1]
“As [ministry] becomes more repetitive and routine… the [minister] may miss important opportunities to think about what he is doing… he is drawn into patterns of error which he cannot correct.”[2]
Feedback is often the best indicator of improved performance. “The value of feedback…cannot be doubted… it is the basis of all learning… It can bring about lasting changes.”[3]
Valuable, but not straightforward. Medics were often resistant to feedback from their equivalent of OFSTED or from angry patients. Yet feedback from fellow practitioners – those working perhaps in another medical practice who had learnt something – was extremely helpful and the agent of lasting positive change.
3 ways to get more helpful feedback
>>> Group review of event – several of you review together how something went. Create an environment of grace and growth and use the ‘2 Good, 2 Bad’ formula (or, better put, what 2 things hit the spot and what 2 things could you/we change next time to better achieve our aim?).
>>> Team review of area – any team working in a church will benefit from taking time to stand back and reflect on, ‘How are we doing, what could have been done better, and how can we improve?’ I have argued elsewhere for a CARE plan approach in which review is a normal part of how teams serve ever more effectively.[4]
>>> One-to-one review of ministry – perhaps you can find a trusted person in your own church or a ministry friend somewhere else. Medics found that, in a 1-to-1, the following structure helped most [5]:
- The trainee is asked to start by identifying his own strengths
- The trainer reinforces these and adds further strengths
- The trainee is asked to identify areas for improvement
- The trainer reinforces and adds further if necessary.
Receiving and giving feedback are key ways in which we develop the life-long learning habit.
Don’t avoid it, whoever you are, however long you have been serving. We are all growing into the likeness of Christ, and in our service of the gospel and the Lord’s people.
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References:
[1] Grol, R and Lawrence, M, Quality Improvement by Peer Review (Oxford, 1995)
[2] Schon, D. A., The Reflective Practitioner (Basic Books, 1991) Emphasis added.
[3] Grol, R and Lawrence, Quality Improvement by Peer Review (Oxford, 1995)
[4] Evans, R, Ready, Steady, Grow (IVP, 2014) pp 134-138; Team Structures.
[5] King, J. Giving Feedback (British Medical Journal, vol 318).
