How To Analyze Your Program

We had chips and salsa, so it had to be fun, right?  I had called all my high school volunteer leaders together to analyze an entire year of high school programs. The majority of the time was spent looking at a survey I had sent out to all of the volunteers.

Courtesy of Micky.!/Creative Commons License

I know there is no amount of chips and salsa that can make analyzing a program fun.  In fact it can be quite painful.  But, if you do not take a look at what you are doing and how you do it, then you’ll limit your ministry’s potential.  

The reason you might be reluctant to review your ministry is because you either:

Don’t Get The Results You Hoped For

or

You Can’t Handle The Criticism

While both are inevitable to a degree, the reason you might hate the process is because you are doing it wrong.  The best way to analyze a program in your ministry is by:

ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

Writing questions for a survey is challenging.  It’s easy to lead the participant to give answers you want instead of need.  Don’t ask questions out of fear of the results.  Ask questions that will help you improve yourself and your program.  

LEAVING ROOM FOR INTERPRETATION

Doesn’t matter how much time you spend on questions.  You have to understand that people will read them differently.  Don’t get hung up on the specifics, instead look for patterns.  When you notice trends it will lead you in the direction you need to go.

REVIEWING THE RESULTS WITH OTHERS

Bring the people who invest in your program to the table to review the results.  Get their opinions.  Ask them what they think.  Then ask them, “What can we do to remedy the negative?”  By bringing others in on the discussion they’ll feel like they own a piece of the program.  This creates buy in and a stronger foundation in the future.

DEVELOPING ACTION STEPS

After reviewing the results make the decisions to dig further.  Look at what changes are low hanging fruit.  Decide what is achievable and what needs more analysis.  Delegate responsibilities to others and ask people to hold you accountable.  Don’t just collect data and let it sit there.  Use it.

The more you analyze your ministry the stronger it will become.  Granted it might seem painful, but it will lead to growth.  Be open to the results.

To give you an idea of what we did, check out the survey I sent out here.  You’ll see the results, but I kept any comments my team made private.  Feel free to copy the questions and leave me your thoughts.

How do you analyze your program?