How to Create Mechanisms for Getting Good Feedback
Now that you’ve worked through the obstacles that obstruct good feedback, it’s time to invite people to share what they think.
You need to get feedback.
This is where the fog settles in. How do I proceed? Should I download a generic church evaluation form and distribute it by email? Or maybe I should hire a consultant to conduct focus groups to learn about the congregation.
And what am I even asking about anyway?
You may have removed the obstacles to feedback, but how do you lift the fog?
The first time I asked the congregation for feedback as a lead pastor, I didn’t even realize that’s what I was doing.
What I thought I was doing was asking for a commitment.
One fall I launched an initiative called Kingdom Month. For four weeks we focused on the prayer, “Let your kingdom come.” I preached a brief series on stewarding our relationships, our spiritual gifts, and our money for gospel advance.
Everyone was given a printed 4×6 card where I asked them to commit to investing themselves in three relationships, two service teams, and weekly giving.
The last week we celebrated Stewardship Sunday when we had a church luncheon and everyone turned in their cards.
To say the results were disappointing is an understatement.
Only about a quarter of those present returned the cards. (Even a number of leaders failed to turn them in.) And of those who had, most seemed to view the commitments as multiple choice, volunteering for one thing but not the others.
I had a lot to learn about getting feedback.
For one, I realized I was asking for substantial commitments without really knowing the state of the flock. I needed to back up and do more preliminary research.
Furthermore, we hadn’t developed a culture where this kind of input was the norm. So my first invitation for broad congregational feedback asked for way too much.
I needed to temper my expectations and go back to the drawing board. I had to get better at asking and receiving honest input.
So how to proceed?
Here’s a simple five-part strategy to create feedback mechanisms in your church.
1. Pick Your Topic (the What)
What feedback loop do I need to close? What input do I need to get from people?
Your answer might range from very general to very specific.
You may wish to conduct a broad demographic report on the flock. (This, by the way, is a good place to start if you’ve never done this before.) Or perhaps what you really want to know is how people are engaged in mission during the week.
The place to start is the type of feedback you want.
2. Choose Your Subjects (the Who)
Who needs to offer feedback? Whose input should I seek?
At first glance this may seem a pretty easy question: ask everyone. And certainly for some surveys you will want to invite everyone to participate.
(Even in this case, though, you still need to decide who “everyone” is. Does that include every attender or members only? Depending on the topic your answer may change.)
With some topics, however, you may wish to narrow your subjects to a smaller circle. One might poll congregational leaders, for example, on their disciple-making habits, or first-time guests on their experience of Sundays at your church.
Other subgroups whose input you might consider seeking is disagreeable people in the congregation. This may seem counterintuitive, since they might seem most forthcoming with their feedback. But giving them a platform may be an opportunity to advance a constructive congregation.
Another group I suggest you survey is your neighbors. Who are the people that live near the church? What do they think about life, society, and (most importantly) your church? How might you serve them?
Decide the Who question second.
3. Clarify the Endgame (the Why)
Why am I asking about this topic? Why do I want their feedback?
What transformation do I long to see?
This question helps narrow your focus and specify the types of questions you will ask.
Broad surveys that cover everything in the life of the church are important and helpful. But they are necessarily limited.
The narrower your focus, the deeper you can go—not just in your questions but in your methodology. (More on that in a minute.)
What growth do you want to see in, say, evangelism? Or disciple-making? Or guest experience?
Why are you listening to them?
Get as clear as you can on the endgame, your vision, the transformation you long to see.
4. Select a Methodology (the How)
How do I seek their input? How will people share their thoughts with me?
Essentially you have two options here, which I’ll call personal and impersonal.
The impersonal method leans on some kind of survey, either on paper or online. You create questions and respondents plug in their answers.
On the plus side surveys give you responses to your specific questions; one can easily collect and analyze those data. Furthermore respondents can remain anonymous and may feel free to be a bit more honest about their true thoughts. The impersonal method is also the most time-efficient, for you and for participants.
On the other hand, their responses are limited by what you were able to ask them, so you lose the possibility of extra insight.
I mean, how many times have you gotten to that famous last question of a survey (“Anything else you want to share?”) and completely drawn a blank?
So if you didn’t think to ask about something, you’ll never know their answer.
The personal method leans on interview. It could be one-on-one, in small groups, or with a larger group. You have your questions, but you’re engaged in a conversation with all its ebbs and flows that’ll take you places you didn’t think to go.
This is a great way to go deeper with people about your topic. A thirty-minute coffee or phone call will give you a much more accurate picture of what they’re thinking.
Of course if your church (or your pastorate!) lacks a safe culture that prizes honest feedback, respondents might simply tell you what you want to hear. That will blunt the effectiveness of your results.
Another drawback is that the personal approach takes a lot more time, for you and for participants. Your pool of potential respondents might become shallow for this reason alone.
Both can be effective tools, though, and you can use either method really well.
You can also combine both methods to try to get the best of both worlds. Start with an impersonal method and offer the opportunity for a one-on-one follow-up conversation.
But you’ll need to decide how you’re going to ask for their feedback.
5. Decide on the Frequency (the When)
How often should I invite feedback? How regular a practice should this even be?
At minimum I suggest an annual impersonal survey, even if only to get to know the basics about your church.
But you want to go farther than that—you want to build a culture that nurtures safe and honest feedback.
Let people know they’re welcome to share their thoughts with church leaders. One doesn’t have to wait for the survey, but if there’s a regular way for people to share their thoughts, it creates a healthier feedback culture.
Beyond that I encourage you to keep pushing to close the feedback loop.
It’s been observed that every church is a congregational church.
Not that this is every church’s polity, but that your flock—regardless of your polity—can vote with their feet. They don’t have to come back.
Before that happens, open a wide door for them to share their thoughts.
You might not always like what you hear, but you’ll know your flock better and learn invaluable lessons in shepherding them towards the vision God has given you.
A Question for You
How do you close the feedback loop? What mistakes have you made that would help other pastors?
Drop your thoughts in the comments below!