Lecture Notes: 90-Day Win Planner for Church Leadership

Introduction

• Speaker: Todd
• Occasion: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Location: Texas (Todd’s retirement home)
• Context: Todd is on sabbatical until the end of February, splitting time between Texas and California.

Purpose of Presentation

• Discussing the 90-Day Win Planner tool for church leadership.
• Tool aims to get church leadership teams on the same page for goal setting and planning.

Importance of 90-Day Planning

• Traditional long-term (3-5 years) and even 12-month plans are outdated for church leadership.
• 90 days is the optimal time frame for setting and achieving goals.

The 90-Day Win Planner

• Availability: Part of Church Playbook Academy subscription (PDF version downloadable and printable).
• Purpose: Helps in focusing church efforts on a single category of ministry for 90 days to make it bigger or better.

Initial Steps

1. Start Here Section

   • Ask: “What is one category of ministry we can focus on for the next 90 days to make it bigger or better?”
   • Categories: Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Ministry, Evangelism, Children’s Ministry, Youth Ministry, Administration, Other.
   • Focus on one category (or up to three for full-time leaders, two for part-time).

2. Brainstorming Actions

   • On the back side of the sheet, write down as many actions as possible to make the chosen ministry category bigger or better.
   • Example category: Children’s Ministry.
   • Tips: Push ideas toward the creative edge, not just safe middle.
   • Example actions for Children’s Ministry: Download worship videos, form a teen worship team, hire preschool staff, fill a vending machine with candy, etc.

Tournament to the Death (Idea Selection Process)

• Purpose: To identify the best idea to focus on for the next 90 days.
• Steps:
  1. Write top 16 ideas, alternating between brackets.
  2. Conduct four rounds of competition among these ideas.
  3. Debate and decide the winning idea among church leadership.
  4. Example matchups: Download worship videos vs. Hire sports director, Student store vs. Hire preschool staff, etc.
  5. Promote winning ideas to the next round and continue until one idea remains.

Finalizing the Goal

• Write out the final statement: “We will [top idea] by [date 90 days from today].”
• Example: “We will hire a new Children’s Ministry Director by April 18, 2021.”
• Engage entire team: Each department (e.g., Worship Team, Social Media, Pastor) focuses on supporting this goal.

Additional Tools

• One Page Planner: Helps in setting goals for personal areas such as family, health, finances, etc.

Conclusion

• Encourage practicing with the 90-Day Win Planner.
• Important for keeping the church and leadership focused on achievable short-term goals.
• Call to Action: Download the planner from Church Playbook Academy and start using it.
• Q&A: Open for questions and comments from the audience.