The Evangel Dean School - Developing Wisdom

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a pp enDi x 38 Toward a Flexible Strategy for Ministry Coordinating the Team for Success Lorna Rasmussen and Don Davis

TUMI defines Ministry Stewardship as the process of authorizing our trusted and gifted people to freely deploy our goods in connection to our key operations and projects, consistent with their authority and duties, and our corporate fiscal year priorities and goals.

What Exactly Is a Project? Projects may be large or small. . . . Projects may involve many people or just you. . . . Projects may be planned formally or informally. . . . Projects may be tracked formally or informally. . . . Projects may be performed for external or internal clients and customers. . . . Projects may be defined by a legal contract or an informal agreement. . . . Projects may be business related or personal. No matter what the characteristics of your project, you define it by the same three ingredients: outcomes, start and end dates, and resources. The information you need to plan and manage your project is the same, although the ease and the time required to develop it may differ. The more thoroughly you plan and manage your projects, the more likely you are to succeed. • Identify Your Burden and Call: Based on your call, history, and vision, what are the dreams you have for your enterprise? • Set Goals: What practically can you do, sponsor, produce, or executive this year to make your dreams a reality now? What possible goals do you have to make your dreams come true? • Establish Priorities: Of all the possible things you could accomplish, which goals are the most important to pursue right now? What will you seek to do this year? • Execute Projects: What projects will you initiate that will enable you to fulfill your goals for this year? • Review Efforts: How did the accomplishment of this project help or hinder us in our strategic goals and purposes? What did we learn, what should we do again, what should we change, and what should we drop (if we do this again)? ~ Stanley E. Portny, Project Management for Dummies . Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2001, pp. 10-11.