values based transformation in a 200-year-old-church
situation
Shortly after the start of the pandemic, this downtown Toronto urban campus church experienced a mass pastoral staff exodus. Between June and December 2020, five out of seven pastors resigned in a row, including the senior minister. Over the course of the next two years, this storied and beloved church would experience 100% turnover. Morale of employees and leadership hit an all-time low.
process
Leadership determined they needed answers and engaged Romina Farrell in a small group values assessment with staff, elders and trustees to uncover what could be at the root of the church’s staff culture issues. The results revealed a high entropy score (% of potentially limiting values selected to describe the current culture). It was clear from the potentially limiting values selected, as well as the desired cultural values chosen, that there were some foundational issues that could be addressed through a values-based cultural transformation project.
The project was given a name - Project Phoenix - and a small steering committee was formed. To set up a safe container for the potentially difficult, vulnerable, conversations ahead, a workshop on psychological safety was conducted.
Project Phoenix kicked off with a series of online focus groups (“heartbeat conversations”) and using the Liberating Structure, Conversation Cafe, Romina mined the survey results to uncover stories and explore why certain values had been selected to describe the current culture. She then debriefed with the wider group and used two Liberating Structures (1-2-4-All followed by What? So What? Now What?) to align around two key values (trust and shared vision) that she would activate over the course of two years through various initiatives. Romina then embarked on an exploratory structural assessment using an organizational mapping tool called Peerdom to see what she could learn about any structural gaps or impediments contributing to some of the systems level entropy revealed in the survey that would block the desired culture.
To explore the structural issues that were contributing to the limiting values of bureaucracy, silo mentality and confusion revealed, Romina initiated a working group to align around and propose a future staffing structure for the church. The insight gathering phase concluded with a series of in-depth (“heartbeat”) interviews to assess progress made on key values activations, identify next values activations and obtain input for a new set of core staff and leadership values, or “Culture Code.”
The draft Culture Code was workshopped at a festive gathering and rolled out shortly thereafter as a series of ringed flip cards with explanatory video to staff, elders, trustees, committees and key lay leaders. On the front of each card is one of the five values (#commitment, #wonder, #prayer, #forgiveness, #belonging) embellished by a supporting verse from scripture and on the back of each are the collaboratively discerned “guardrails” describing how to live that particular value (and how not to live it).
impact/results
As a result of conducting the Barrett Small Group Assessment, activating key values, introducing new ways of working and driving down entropy over a period of 2-3 years, this church is now experiencing a much-improved workplace culture and ministry is starting to thrive once again. Staff report feeling well-supported and that they work for a healthy, functioning and collaborative team.
summary:
increased trust and open communication between staff and leadership
increased connection, cohesion and collaboration between staff teams
growing sense of operational alignment and shared vision
increased accountability, coaching/mentoring and staff development
increased equipping of lay leaders and stabilized ministry structures
new hiring, onboarding, off boarding, training and performance development processes
new meeting structures, rhythms and practices
decreased silos, confusion and bureaucracy
new organizational structures and role clarity
trust-based HR policies and a new spiritual direction benefit for staff support
many new practices and ways of working aligned with the future of work
