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Article of the Month
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"MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY"
“Use Management technology and maximize your results”

     Management may be viewed as a principle, technology, tool, system or method that can be used to do anything in a more effective and efficient way. Management is the way of getting things done. Therefore we have no choice but to manage, whether it is our personal affairs, home, business, office or church. The question is whether we should manage anything poorly or well. For better understanding management may be broken down into several specific functions, as follows:
                                   Goals setting                             Motivating
                                   Planning                                     Decision making
                                   Organizing                                 Problem Solving
                                   Evaluating                                  Policy making
                                   Controlling                                 Communicating
                                   Budgeting                                  Staffing
                                   Coordinating                             Supervising
                                   Directing                                    Developing and
                                   Leading                                     Implementing Programs

    All pastors have to perform all of these management functions in a church, whether they like it or not. Every pastor is a manager of the church. He has to manage the affairs of the church. He has a responsibility to develop and utilize materials, financial and manpower resource to get best results in fulfilling the mission of the church. The more knowledge and skills he has in management, the better his performance and success level will be. The chart given below (Table No. 2.1) will clearly indicate how relevant and critical these management functions are in church administration. Management is nothing but a stewardship principle in Biblical terms. The more resources he has at his disposal whether it be land, building, material equipment, finances or manpower, the greater is his responsibility and accountability. If he is not well trained and equipped to maximize utilization of resources, he will be only a marginal manager or steward. If he does not learn and use the modern principles of management in managing the affairs of the church, his performance level will be very low relatively speaking, however successful he may seem to be in terms of growth, financial position or goal achievement. We do not have the choice of “management” or “no management”. If we do not manage the affairs of the church properly, the natural consequence will be “mismanagement”.

The table given below (i.e. Table-2.2) is intended to illustrate this point effectively. The value of good management cannot be over emphasized. Good management is good stewardship ! In this table, in the first column, several key functions of management are listed and in the third column the consequence of not performing these management functions are described. The purpose of this table is to reiterate the importance and value of each one of those management functions. When these management functions are properly performed the consequence described in the third column of Table 2.2 will automatically follow.

TABLE 2.1
Relevance of Management Functions to Church

We do not have the choice of "management" or "no management".  If we do not manage the affairs of the church properly, the natural consequence will be "mismanagement".  The table given below (i.e. Table-2.2) is intended to illustrate this point effectively.  The value of good management cannot be over emphasized.  Good management is good stewardship!  In this table, in the first column, several key functions of management are listed and in the third column the consequence of not performing these management functions are described.  The purpose of this table is reiterate the importance and value of each one of those management functions.  When these management functions are properly performed, the consequence described in the third column of Table 2.2 will automatically follow:

 TABLE 2.2
MANAGEMENT VS MISMANAGEMENT

BEING If you do not ensure that Things will be done
EFFICIENT things are done efficiently inefficiently.
PROBLEM If you do not identify and Problems will
SOLVING and solve problems mushroom and become
too big to be solved.

MANAGEMENT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
In any organization, management makes all the difference. Even an uneducated common man will remark when he is not happy with the services he gets from an organization, the management is bad! When an organization is managed well, it makes a world of difference. Table 2.3 illustrates this point by contrasting the effects of good and bad management.

Table 2.3
GOOD MANAGEMENT & BAD MANAGEMENT

IS MANAGEMENT NEEDED IN THE CHURCH?
The answer is a simple ‘yes’. One may say that their church is successful even without practicing the principles of management. But what we need to know is that better results can be produced without increasing the inputs if good management principles are followed, and of course, without sacrificing the quality of the programs and the services rendered by the church. The key to better results is better planning, organizing, controlling and leadership; that is basically what management is all about. How well your church is organized and managed can be determined by answering the questions in the self-evaluation questionnaire, which is given at the end of this chapter in table 2.4. The more poorly your church is organized, the chances are that less effective and less efficient your church will be in terms of getting results and achieving your goals. You may re-organize your church to make it more effective by simply following the easy-to-follow step-by-step approach explained in the chapters that follow. The churches have enormous potential which are not tapped and used to the fullest extent. Your dreams and visions can become a reality if you follow the key management principles to be aroused for action. In essence, good management calls for “effectiveness” which means “doing the important, proper, and right things” and “efficiency” which means “doing it efficiently and economically”. No one will disagree with these two underlying principles of management that serve as the common thread for the entire field of management. The church world has learned to use all modern transportation, communication and construction technologies to fulfill its mission more effectively and efficiently. It is now time for churches to take advantage of management technology, which is available to them.

TABLE 2.4
EVALUATION OF USE OF MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES IN YOUR CHURCH

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