Here's another thing I was never taught before planting a church…

#2 – How to run a meeting

As a rule, I don’t like
meetings. The reason is that I have spent years of my life in meetings. The
majority of those meetings have been a complete waste of time. Then, I planted
a church and swore I would never be the cause of one of these “snooze fests.”
Sure enough, when I became a senior pastor, I committed the same “meeting sins”
that those who led me had done. So much so, I even structured my meetings the
same way and scheduled them at the same time.  But I've learned a lot about meetings in 10 years and I've been able to cut most of the marathon meetings out of my life. 

I've learned that there are essentials 3 types of meetings church staffs need to have: 

#1 – The staff meeting – This meeting should be no longer than one hour. If it's longer than an hour, people start checking out mentally. A focused staff meeting stays on the agenda and covers the relevant topics that concern everyone in the room. If it only concerns 1/3 of the room, we encourage those people to meet so we can keep the flow of the meeting going. 

#2 – The Touch Base Meeting – This is a 5-10 meeting that's just to cover one or two items. It's not the place where you layout everything you've been thinking. Instead, here we meet for a few minutes to talk about these 1 or 2 items and them it's done. Anything longer than that and we're just wasting time. 

#3 – The stand up meeting – I got this from the book "Death by Meeting". This is my personal favorite. This meeting is when you walk into someone's office (of they walk into your office) and you don't sit down. You just talk about the one thing you need to cover. It's even better when everyone is standing. I have learned that meetings are quicker when everyone is standing. 

I wish someone would have taught me this stuff, but I'm glad I know it now. Implement these types of meetings and you'll be glad you know them too.