Leveraging Technology

Updated June 2024
February 2018

By Tory Ruark, Chief Operations Officer, MissionWorks

Which of the Seven Standards do you think is most important? God-Centeredness? Empowering Partnerships? Appropriate Training? People ask this all the time. My answer is always the same… all of them! You might have great logistics but didn’t train so the team is unprepared for ministry. Conversely, you might have great training but if you didn’t buy insurance and someone has a heart attack, the team is in big trouble.

Some who read this article love administration, are naturally organized, and their experience has taught them what must be planned, tracked, and collected. Yet others reading this article can’t keep their silverware drawer organized! Regardless of your gifting, logistics are a vital role of a leader and need to be accomplished.

In this article, we want to think about what we need to do to prepare an excellent mission team. While we won’t put together an exhaustive list, we want to reveal some of the bigger components. So here’s a list to get us started:

1 – Truthfully promote your trip – how will you communicate the vision as well as the cost and commitment?

2 – Screen applicants – how will you learn about your applicants? How will you get background checks?

3 – Collect necessary forms – how will you collect waivers, copies of passports, medical information, emergency contact information, insurance cards, and so on?

4 – Track team member support levels – how will you and your team members know how much money they’ve raised and who has given so they can thank them?

5 – Communicate with team members – how will you notify team members of deadlines, meetings, or changes and adjustments?

6 – Track expenses – how will you track expenses compared to budget and demonstrate that money was spent for the purpose for which it was given?

As leaders, we want to work smarter not harder so we have time to devote to all Seven Standards. If you haven’t led a team before, look for team leader checklists. There are lots available but here is one from MissionExcellence. Click here to download the checklist. It’s impossible to provide an all-inclusive checklist for your specific context but this checklist will give you a start and it is expandable.

Another way to work efficiently is to leverage technology. There are software solutions that will help you track and accomplish your tasks as a team leader. They’ll keep your documents organized, facilitate communication and even prompt you when things need to be done.