Recruitment & discipleship come easiest when monthly events are run well. The new Event Director role groups all the event management duties. Chapters must discuss how this responsibility is delegated and/or divvied up.
A. BACKGROUND
- Each chapter’s monthly G7 events are an essential opportunity to showcase a culture of excellence, both to fellow chapter leaders, members, and especially guests.
- When chapters pull off solid event management, it’s easier to generate momentum in team growth and discipleship.
B. PREVIOUS ROLE OF SECRETARY/TREASURER
- Leadership roles of the Secretary/Treasurer varied from chapter to chapter, but generally encompassed some or all the following:
- Track attendance.
- Share meeting notes.
- Manage chapter purse, e.g. monies for group lunch.
- Any other responsibilities as determined by the chapter.
- Across the G7 Network, we’ve observed the following issues with the current Secretary/Treasurer role:
- The duties above were not that essential to chapter functioning.
- Consequently, leaders in that role may found their role was unedifying.
- Moreover, the role was undesirable & difficult to get appointed (always the last to be filled in a chapter board).
C. NEW RESPONSIBILITES OF THE EVENT DIRECTOR
- Lead planning of 7 G’s, especially coordinating 3 presentational G’s:
- Gospel (scripture-based testimony)
- God (testimony)
- Grow (educational moment)
- Give advanced reminders to event speakers in 3 presentational G’s (e.g. 2 weeks out, 1 week out).
- Coordinate venue details & A/V needs.
- Send & maintain calendar invite for chapter events.
- Any other responsibilities as determined by chapter leadership.
The roles above are not ALL expected of that one individual. Rather, this is an opportunity for chapters to recognize the importance of event management and to discuss it as a team. (Usually the president has borne the brunt of this duty alone, adding to the difficulty of attaining distributed leadership in chapter boards.)
D. SUGGESTED TRANSITION PROCESS
NOTE: No immediate changes are expected! This is a process and may take a little time. Please follow these steps within the next 3 months or sooner.
- Recognize event management responsibility.
- Discuss as a team.
- Delegate role and responsibilities. Existing chapters have basically 3 ways to make the shift toward the new role:
- Past Secretary assumes the Event Director role. (as already shown in G7 App)
- Past Secretary switches with someone else’s role, who takes on the Event Director Role.
- Past Secretary takes the opportunity to step down; responsibilities go to another chapter leader. (If this happens, take courage that this is a good thing. By showing each person’s different level of availability and/or commitment, consistently we’ve seen that this actually helps chapters move more effectively in the long run.)
- Chapter presidents: Make role changes in the G7 App under Members & Recruits.
- Whatever change you make, it’s good to outline any past responsibilities of the Secretary/Treasurer and discuss how those will be divvied up as well.
E. G7 EVENT ROSTER
- To support the new Event Director and the entire leadership team, G7 is finishing a new resource to support event management.
- The G7 Event Roster is an online Excel spreadsheet (no credentials needed to access). The Roster will make it easy to plug in contributors on each meeting segment (including the 3 presentational G’s) & print customized event agendas.
- Expected roll-out the G7 Event Roster: next 2 weeks, along with chapter scorecards!
In closing, we shared these changes with chapter leaders present at the 11-14-2022 Leaders Cohort. There was an immense sense of relief. Presidents inevitably have handled event management themselves, hindering them from focusing on their job of driving recruitment & lead-sharing. Our belief is that by calling out this bucket of responsibility, not ALL the duties will necessarily go to that one person. But at least we’ve made an incremental improvement towards distribution of leadership.