I get it. Meetings are sometimes necessary.

You know, the weekly Staff Meeting. Then there are others. Senior staff. Certain ministry staff. Support staff meetings and so on.

Today, I want to focus on the Weekly All-Staff Meeting – that’s where most churches start, and then the propensity is to stay there as the church grows.

I’m a numbers guy. I like to put a cost or number on most things. Ever wonder what an All-Staff meeting cost? Churches often are frugal when it comes to spending money, but often don’t realize there’s a financial cost involved in meetings.

 

As an illustration, at my last church, our weekly staff meeting was typically 2 hours in length.

Assume that the entire full-time staff was present the entire time. Our cost per hour – $335.
So a 2 hour All-Staff Meeting once a week could cost our church $34,884 annually. (5% of the Salary & Benefits budget).

We all want to be better stewards, so in that vein, here’s some food for thought:

Some things can be communicated via email.

For everything else:

Dismiss non-essential personnel after prayer time
Keep only those needed for a specific discussion or decision, then dismiss
Change the all-staff meet frequency from weekly to monthly

You get the picture.

Here are 3 posts from Tony Morgan you may find helpful to shape your thinking….

>The Rule of Eight
>Two Transitions Every Growing Church Must Face
>Keeping Everyone Informed Without Inviting Everyone to the Meeting

 

By being a better steward of meetings, the money you spend on salaries can go toward getting more ministry done. That’s always a good thing.

Now don’t get me wrong, all-staff meetings can be beneficial. Sometimes you need to have all your staff together for a while. (If you have an all-staff meeting once a month, have lunch together afterwards). It does help with overall communication and team morale.

Just balance the cost/benefit relationship of meetings.

Food for thought.