Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
Anyone in church leadership understands that a big part of their role is to help solve problems.
Problems. Sometimes, it seems as if we solve one problem, and another one pops up right behind it.
Why? Because fixing a problem creates new problems!
Think about these examples:
Problem: A church of 1000
Church leadership creates strategies and sets goals to increase membership by 50 percent.
They’ve been successful in their endeavors, but now they have a new problem: there is not enough seating for the new members and not enough children’s ministry space for the increased number of kids.
New problem: We need more space.
The team recommends adding another service to relieve the stress of one weekly service. A second service begins.
Problem solved.
New problem: We need more volunteers to operate the second service.
As you can see, those who manage any organization are paid to solve problems. The tools they use can vary from gut instincts to structured problem-solving tools.
Skilled managers are good problem-solvers and use problem-solving tools to help them find the best solutions.
“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result
of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”
William Foster
Any growing organization constantly solves one problem, which creates a new problem that needs solving.
Having problems to solve is not necessarily a bad thing, but solutions are best when they’re part of an established problem-solving process.
The secret is having a structured problem-solving process called total quality management.
Quality concepts provide problem-solving tools that can help identify problems and provide ways to solve problems.
Quality Problem-Solving Tools
Organizations use quality tools to solve problems and monitor and manage improvement initiatives.
Several tools are used, but we’ll discuss the most common ones here. Different problems call for different tools, many of which have multiple uses.
The trick is to become familiar with and comfortable with all the quality management tools so you can pull the appropriate one out of your toolbox when a problem arises.
Problem-Sovling Tools
5 Whys
One quality problem-solving tool is called the “5 Whys.”
This exercise can quickly drill down to the root cause of a problem.
It’s tempting to jump to the first conclusion when trying to solve a problem, so it’s essential to make sure that what you think is the root of the problem truly is.
Let’s look at this example.
Problem: Children’s ministry has to turn away children because there aren’t enough workers to comply with teacher-to-student ratios.
Let’s look at this problem and ask the question why five times.
- Why? The first answer might be that all the scheduled workers didn’t show up for their shifts.
- Why? When calling the workers who did not show up for their shifts, a few answered, “I didn’t know I was scheduled.”
- Why? Workers didn’t receive their monthly schedule in the mail.
- Why? Workers were on the mailing list, and their schedules were mailed, but they didn’t receive the mail.
- Why? Workers moved but didn’t notify the office of address changes.
Now, if you look at the answer to the first “why” and stop there, you may tend to blame the workers and conclude that they are irresponsible and unreliable.
However, examining the fourth and fifth reasons will give you a clearer picture of the issue.
It’s not about the people; it’s about the process.
If you put good people in bad processes, the outcomes don’t improve.
When problems arise, it’s human nature to try to find the culprit and lay blame on someone, but more often than not, the person is working in a broken process that limits his or her ability to perform well.
Let’s look at another example.
Imagine you have a receptionist, and you’re constantly getting complaints about her not knowing the answers to callers’ questions and continuing to transfer them to the wrong person or department.
You can discipline that employee or try to learn what is not working in the process.
Problem: Complaints about the receptionist not knowing the answer to questions asked.
- Why? The receptionist doesn’t know the answer to questions or gives us the wrong information.
- Why? The receptionist manual does not have accurate answers to common questions.
- Why? The receptionist manual has not been updated as scheduled.
- Why? Changing information is not given to the receptionist to update the manual.
- Why? The administrative assistant who takes minutes at the manager’s meeting does not pass information to the receptionist.
- Why? The administrative assistant was not instructed to do so while reviewing her job description.
As you can see from this example, the problem is a training issue, but not with the receptionist, which would not have been identified without asking the question at least 5 times.
Once you separate the person from the problem, you can drill down on the causes and fix the process that will ultimately help the person perform their job duties.
Flowchart
Most of us are familiar with flowcharts. You’ve seen flowcharts showing relationships within organizational structures.
Flowcharts also show how a document process flows. Use this tool to identify bottlenecks or breakdowns in current processes.
Flowcharting the steps of a process gives a picture of what it looks like and can illuminate issues within it.
Flowcharts also show process changes when improvements or a new workflow process occur.
Check Sheet
A check sheet is a basic quality tool used to collect data.
It can track the number of times a certain incident occurs.
For example, a large church that schedules hundreds of volunteers to serve at every church service may track the number of times volunteers don’t show up for scheduled shifts.
This check sheet would total the number of times a volunteer doesn’t report as scheduled compared to the reasons for the volunteer’s absence.
| Did not receive a schedule | ||
| Reason | Number of Volunteers | Subtotal |
| An issue with volunteer role | ///// ///// ///// // | 17 |
| Forgot | ///// ///// /// | 13 |
| Sick/family emergency | ///// ///// | 10 |
| Issue with volunteer role | ///// /// | 8 |
| Other | //// | 4 |
| Total | 52 | |
Pareto Chart
A Pareto chart is a bar graph of data showing the most frequent occurrences through the least.
When viewed from the most to the least number of occurrences, it’s easy to see how to prioritize improvement efforts.
This chart shows volunteers not showing up to work their schedule. The most significant problems stand out, and you can target those first.
Control Charts
Control or run charts plot data points on a line over time and show data movement.
They demonstrate when data is consistent or when there are high or low outliers in occurrences.
Histogram
A histogram is a bar chart picture showing data patterns within typical process conditions.
Changes in a process should trigger a new collection of data.
For example, the histogram below shows the highest volume of phone calls about contribution statements.
This is a seasonal high number that should be redistributed over time.
An adequate number of data points will require a minimum of 50 to 75 data points. This could mean collecting data on phone calls over several weeks or months.
The patterns demonstrate an analysis that helps understand variation and provides information to improve an internal communication process.
Scatter diagrams
Scatter diagrams are graphs that show the relationship between variables. Variables often represent possible causes and effects.
Fishbone – Cause and Effect Diagram
A cause and effect diagram, also known as a fishbone diagram, shows the different causes of a problem. The problem is identified and written in the box (head of the fish) to the right.
Then, there’s the fish’s spine, and problems caused by things off the spine are major.
Causes typically fall into the categories of people, processes, materials, and equipment.
Brainstorming with a group familiar with the problem identifies the causes.
Once you identify all the causes, you can use them to develop an improvement plan to help resolve the identified problem.
Now, remember that these are common categories, but depending on the problem you’re trying to solve, the categories may be very different from these natural groupings.
The goal is to identify and put a list of issues in their own natural category.
This tool can help us identify some of the driving issues of the problem we’re trying to solve.
Every problem has a root cause, something driving it. We want to find that cause and eliminate it.
Let’s consider some easy problems we can all relate to and identify the root causes.
Debt
For example, debt. We know that the typical root cause of debt is spending more money than we earn (even though there are times when debt is out of someone’s control – job loss, medical care, etc.).
Weight Gain
Another example is weight gain. The typical root cause is consuming more calories than we burn (unless there’s an uncontrolled medical condition, certain drugs, etc.).
Being Late for Work
We know that the root cause of being late for work is often sleeping in that extra 15 minutes (however, sometimes it’s weather, traffic, or car problems).
The point is that every problem has a root cause, and the goal is to take a hard look and try to determine the root cause so you can put a plan in place to eliminate it.
If we can identify the real (not perceived) issue, we can address it at its root and eliminate or greatly reduce the problem.
For example, there might be a perception that the root cause of debt is not earning enough money, but the real issue is spending more than is earned.
Separating the perception from the real issue is essential to get to the root cause.
Problem Classifications
- People (training, staffing, turnover, rushed, self-discipline)
- Equipment (capacity, use of space, availability)
- Process/Method (flow of information/steps in the process)
- Materials (supplies needed to support process; for instance, brochures).
Most problems fit into natural categories. From there, you can figure out how to address the issues. For example,
- Do the issues relate to training, space capacity, or supplies?
- Is it equipment, capacity, or use of space?
- Is it a process flow issue?
- Is it the materials required to support the process, for example, a training manual?
These are all questions you must consider when trying to drill down on a problem.
Every Problem Requires a Different Tool
Each tool has advantages for certain situations, and not all are for all problem-solving. Once a tool is learned, you can adapt it for different problem-solving opportunities.
As with anything else, using tools properly takes time, practice, and experience.
What problems are you trying to solve today?
Learn other tips for hiring and managing your employees by enrolling in our course, Fundamentals of Church Administration.
