Decision-making is hard. Decision-making in areas where you might not be as well versed — like technology (or for me, my vintage car engine) — can be even harder.
One way to make decisions relating to technology is to remove the knowledge gap by using objective metrics. Here are some good metrics to use, and I think you’ll find they can be applied beyond the geeky stuff.
TCO — Total Cost of Ownership
What is the total cost of not just purchasing, but owning, an asset? We think of this with cars: we have the purchase price and the cost to maintain the car to consider.
In a church, the same is true for HVAC units. They can cost as much as cars and be just as expensive to maintain.
TCO can also refer to time. How much time will someone on your team need to put into making a project or a request possible?
ROI — Return on Investment
In ministry, efficiency should be a key metric which we monitor. The time put into a project or task (or a request for either) should be assigned an ROI that can be measured through tracking efficiency. The time component of an ROI — when efficiency or profit is realized — should also be factored in.
KPI — Key Performance Indicator
While KPIs are all the rage in the corporate world, ministries are not using them like they should. KPIs are quantifiable indicators of progress towards a goal. They are not “warm fuzzies” — rather, they can be measured.
A KPI also requires a clear goal and strategy, or the metric becomes subjective and worthless.
Now, let’s put these metrics into practice
In this scenario, your church is embarking on a worship space renovation. There is a request for a $5-million video wall.
TCO — The wall costs $5 million, but what about annual support for the software and hardware? What about the time spent by staff to maintain it and configure it, based on current wages? What about time spent by staff creating content for it? How many years will this wall stay in service? Are these costs divided by five years or 10?
ROI — What efficiency is gained across the ministry as a result of this technology? How are the efficiencies gained realized across the entire ministry? What other costs can be saved as a result of this technology?
KPI — How many more people will attend as a result of adding this video wall? How many more baptisms will take place? How many more conversions? What ministry goals and strategies will see the needle move in a positive direction?
While I can’t go into all of the questions to ask here, this exercise should be applied often in your ministry — not just for large purchases but small ones as well.
Now, let’s say your ministry is looking at new software. It could be ChMS or financial software. Or, if your church has a school, it could be a new learning management system. Or it could be for HVAC management. Whatever it is, you’re looking at a significant upfront cost.
TCO — What about the ongoing costs? How long do you plan to have this software? Do you like to change it out every few years? How much does implementation and support cost? How much time will be required to get it going and your staff trained to use it?
ROI — In the software scenario, efficiency will drop during the implementation and training phases. But at some point, what efficiency will be gained? How much time will be saved? What specific processes can be improved to save time? How much money will be saved through improvements in processes and staff efficiency?
KPI — What are your key metrics, and how will they be impacted? Attendance? Baptisms? Conversions? Servants? While it is easy to say, ‘We will be able to serve better,’ that is not an objective KPI.
OK, one more (Have you got one more in you?)
Every ministry, every day, has a technology and/or facilities help desk that’s full of requests. I suggest each of these requests go through this kind of review. Otherwise, everyone is busy, but no one is efficient.
Here is an IT example. In this scenario, the children’s ministry wants a shared email inbox. This way, their entire team can respond to emails about children’s ministries.
TCO — Pretty basic, here: TCO is primarily comprised of the licensing costs for the mailbox depending on your email setup. It is important to also include the time component for the staff who will set this up and the support component (for when folks forget how to use the shared mailbox).
Letting children’s ministry team members know this new email box exists is also part of calculating TCO.
ROI — What efficiencies will be gained? How much time is potentially saved? How much more quickly are responses likely to go out? (Perhaps someone who is currently forwarding emails from another mailbox won’t have to do that anymore.) How long the team uses this shared mailbox is another important consideration.
KPI — Quantifying KPI in this scenario can be a challenge, but we should try. What indicators will change? Will more kids show up on Sunday? It is easier to give “better customer service for the children’s ministry” as a KPI metric, but you need to objectively quantify that. What happens if this box turns into a ‘black hole’ and team members stop checking it?
I’ve seen church staff spend days on tasks or projects that someone said mattered, only for it to go by the wayside three months in, and never be touched again after that. (A horrible ROI, by the way)
Instead, what if we avoided all of that? What if we reviewed requests properly and then measured success? What’s better: going a bit slower to get what you need — and that will last — or the merry-go-round of quickly getting things done only to do it over and over again?
Metrics matter. Ask the servants in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30. Pay special attention to verses 21, 23 and 26.
Jonathan Smith is the President of MBS, Inc. and the Director of Technology at Faith Ministries in Lafayette, Ind. He is an author and frequent conference speaker. Follow him on X @JonathanESmith.
