Activity · Personal Growth
Group Life Check-In
Three questions that tell you what your group actually thinks, including the one that surprises every leader
Leader Context
At the start of a new season, stop and check in.
This gives each person a chance to reflect on how they are growing in community, and gives you a read on the health of your group that you will not get any other way.
The third question is the one to pay attention to. When I ran this with my own group, the ideas they raised were things I had hoped for and never got traction on when I suggested them. One guy wanted to start a midweek Bible study. Another wanted the group to serve our community together. Someone else wanted a group dinner at a steakhouse.
I loved all of it. Instead of taking those ideas on myself, I told each of them to lead the thing they were excited about.
That is the power of giving your group space to talk. The best momentum comes when the ideas come from them, not from you.
Read to your group
I want to spend some time tonight talking about this group. What is working, what is not, and where you would want it to go.
Say the real thing. I am not going to be offended.
Questions
What it has meant
Start here so people are talking about value before they talk about problems.
What do you value about this group?
How have you benefited from being part of a group?
What could be better
This is the one. Do not rush it, and do not defend anything.
How might we improve our group?
Who is not here
Groups close without meaning to. This question reopens them.
How might our group provide room for more people to belong?
Next Steps for Leaders
- Do not own the ideas. When someone names something they want, ask them to lead it. You get a better version and they get developed.
- Watch for who is ready for a role. Hosting, leading a discussion, running an event. This conversation surfaces them.
- Celebrate what is already happening. Call out growth and faithfulness you have seen. People do not know you noticed unless you say it.
- Follow up in a few weeks on whatever came up. A check-in nobody acts on teaches your group that you were only asking to ask.