26Apr 2010 by Nigel Ring

Effective Meetings pt 2 – Characteristics of a meeting

Administration in the Church, Equipping, Good Practice, Meetings
I am involved in many different types of meeting. Not all have the same structure or importance but listing them may give you a point of identity from your own scene, so I will discuss them briefly in the next blog. First, however, all need to have certain characteristics or questions answered. Characteristics 1. What is the purpose? 2. What are the expected outcomes? 3. What is the status e.g. does it have a legal standing as part of the management of the church/charity? Purpose This defines the structure on which to hang topics to be handled. So, the purpose of one group could be ‘to govern the church’ (i.e. elders’ meetings), ‘to organise a conference’ (e.g. the annual Newfrontiers conference ‘Together on a Mission’) or ‘to manage and strategise for the family…
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12Apr 2010 by Nigel Ring

Time Management pt 14 – Summary

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Equipping, Good Practice, Time Management
We have now completed the detailed material I wished to share but there are two more sections I shall include. First, a summary and then a look at applying these principles on a PDA. Summary Initially I set out to share my own experience, not to give a comprehensive overview of various different time management systems. I have particularly focussed on the day-to-day management of your Organiser, being the ‘vehicle’ in which the events that fill time are planned and monitored. Time management is about ‘writing your history in advance’, making the best guess you can about what the future holds and planning to achieve that. I encouraged you to define long term goals and expectations and then to break these down into intentional activities to help you achieve them.…
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05Apr 2010 by Nigel Ring

Time Management pt 13 – Progressing the Do it list 3

Administrative Skills, Equipping, Good Practice, Planning, Time Management
Keep going! Processing the Do it list, as described below and in the previous two blogs, can appear very complicated. But it is in fact quite simple if you work your way systematically through the guidelines I am giving you. I want to urge you to persevere - it will quickly become ‘second nature’ and will redeem hours of your time to be used more effectively. So, keep going – we are nearly finished! Don’t fall just short of the finishing line!! Having looked at the symbols used when setting up the day’s Do it list we shall now look at those used to monitor progress and maintain continuity. There are two symbols in each category. Monitoring progress ^ In Process / Completed Maintaining continuity > Transferred x Dropped Monitoring progress The symbols ‘^’…
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25Mar 2010 by Nigel Ring

Time Management pt 12 – Progressing the Do it list 2

Administration in the Church, Christian ministry, Equipping, Good Practice, Planning, Time Management
The symbols we use to monitor progress are During the planning process: * Urgent [J] Delegate (e.g. to Jan) ( ) Reference For Monitoring progress: ^ In Process / Completed > Transferred x Dropped Symbols used in the planning/prioritising process In the last post we saw that * highlights urgency. This is used at the time of planning the day’s priorities, as is the delegation symbol [J], where the initial refers to the person to whom the activity will be delegated, in this case my excellent and efficient secretary, Jan. How does this operate? If, while planning, I find an item on my Do it list that can be delegated, particularly if this allows it to be done sooner than if I undertook it myself, I will bracket the initial of the person concerned. The priority still…
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16Mar 2010 by Nigel Ring

Zimbabwe – Meet Brian Oldreive

Agriculture, Christian ministry, Good Practice, News, One to One interviews, Poor, Zimbabwe
About 30 years ago Brian Oldreive, a former Zimbabwean test cricketer, was farming tobacco when he and his wife Cath became Christians. He is now well-known for being the visionary behind Foundations for Farming, formerly Farming God’s Way. In this interview you get to meet him and to learn something of his background, and why he changed from tobacco to food. You will also sense his passion to see the Kingdom of God advance in Zimbabwe and the whole of Africa, and his great heart for the Poor.   One to one with Brian Oldreive from Newfrontiers on Vimeo. If this video has inspired you and you wish to become involved in Operation Trumpet Call there is a day of prayer for Zimbabwe on September 26th. More details will become…
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12Mar 2010 by Nigel Ring

Time Management pt 11 – Progressing the Do it list 1

Administrative Skills, Christian ministry, Equipping, Good Practice, Planning, Time Management
Now that we have dealt with prioritising and have the Organiser organised it is time to bring practical application to your Do it list. When you write the list leave two imaginary columns on the left side – in other words indent the items. In the column nearest the list you write the priorities, A1 etc. So a list may look like this: |  |  |Phone John Smith 019234 567890 |  |  |Plan the Conference meeting agenda |  |  |Complete ministry proposal for the elders’ meeting |  |  |Brief staff about holiday arrangements |  |  |Report back to staff on trustees meeting |  |  |Monitor progress with Sally about Easter outreach |  |  |Ask Mike to set up meeting with local press officer Note the ‘2 columns’ of space beside…
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