Winning the Annual Review
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It’s the end of the year and your pastor may be setting up an annual review. Not every church does these, but it’s a good practice. Even when my leaders didn’t do them, I still asked for a meeting to get feel for where we are.
The annual review can be scary. Recently, I saw a Facebook post where a person asked if it’s natural to feel like you’re going to get fired.
My response?
Founded or unfounded. Yes.
Going to an annual review can feel like your called to the principal’s office. And as an honor student who never got in trouble, going to that office would be just about the worst thing ever.
However, your annual review doesn’t necessarily have to be stressful. You just need a plan. What you’re really afraid of is the unknown. You can’t necessarily control what’s going to happen, but you can be prepared. So, here’s 4 things to keep in mind for your annual review.
1. You’re not getting fired…maybe.
Most likely your leadership is happy with the job you’re doing. It costs a lot of time, money, and effort to replace anyone. You’re not irreplaceable, but it’s also really hard. So, relax.
If you’ve been doing your job to the best of your ability. If you’ve hit your performance goals. If the problems in your ministry have been minimal to non-existent. You have nothing to worry about.
However, if you’ve been in conflict with church members, other staff, or even your leadership, the annual review may not go well. Additionally, if you haven’t hit your goals, and your overall performance is lackluster. You may be in trouble.
So how do you know which person you are? Look at your numbers. Look at the feedback from your volunteers and those in your ministry. Are they positive overall? You’re good to go. If not, you have cause for concern, but not all hope is lost.
2. Come with an open mind
A natural reaction to anxiety is to talk too much. You have all these different scenarios running through your head. And when the meeting starts all of that bottled up energy comes tumbling out. Similarly, you can hold it all in and try to read into everything your leader is saying.
The problem with both of these approaches is that you’re not listening. Your Pastor has their own opinions on your performance and what they want to see in the coming year. You want to enter the room with a posture of openness. Listen to what they have to say and ask questions. Don’t leave anything unsaid. If you’re unsure, ask. If you have a different idea, sit on it for now and hear them out. They’ve been thinking about this conversation, and what they’re going to say longer than you have. So, take some time to process before responding.
3. Come with Questions
As much as I’ve said to relax so far, I don’t want you to come in and act like you don’t care. One of the best ways is to have questions prepared. Your leadership has set aside time to talk about you and your ministry. This is a great time to ask questions about where they think the ministry is going and what they’d like to see. Ultimately, you’re serving at their pleasure, and a good servant knows what their master needs.
At one church, the pastor tasked me with starting small groups in kids. It took me over a year to get it done, but I did it. When we sat down for our review, I told him how it was going and then followed up with “What would you like me to focus on next?” I had ideas, which I’ll talk about in a minute, but I wanted to hear from him. I wanted to know if we were on the same page and going in the same direction.
The annual meeting is the time to figure that out. You never want to go in a different direction than the leader.
4. Come with vision
Some may think that my question lacked vision. It didn’t. I just wanted to know where the pastor wanted me to go. He told me he didn’t have a specific thing for me to work on. So that was my opportunity to present my plan. I’d already been working on what to do next, but I wanted to give him first pick.
You need to know where you’ve been and where you’re going. What do you plan to do next year? How do you expect to reach more people? How can you grow the ministry? How can you help the church achieve it’s vision. You need to have answers to these questions and present them to your leadership. As you listen to their feedback with an open mind, let them guide you in the right direction.
By coming with vision, you show that you care about the ministry and what God has called you to do. You show that you’re leading and their trust in you is well-founded.
The annual review doesn’t have to be stressful. In fact, it could be one of the most important and productive meetings of the year for you. If your pastor doesn’t normally do one, you should ask for one anyway. Having a 30 minute, one-on-one can be incredibly beneficial for both of you. You don’t know what you don’t know. So come with an open mind, ask questions, and talk about what’s next. You’ll leave with confidence knowing where you’re going for the next year lines up with your leadership.
Good luck!