Real QA for Music Ministries

By Erin McGaughan, with thanks to the music directors of the Pacific NW Region

How ya doin’?• Direct topic fit went up from 67% to 73% of songs.• Musical quality stayed exactly the same: avg 8.1 out of 10• Congregant platform appearances rose from 160 to 230, an average of 3.13. to 4.44

per Sunday.• CD sales rose from 7.78% to 8.55% of attendance• Congregant skill-building opportunities rose from 238 to 308• Recording quality rose from 6.9 to 7.3 out of 10.• Out of 159 congregant respondents, 95% said music “consistently high quality”, and

96% said it “supported the spiritual message in a relevant, valuable way”• Avg rating of the music director by 9 respondent contractors was 9.1 out of 10. • Minister and business manager loved it. • Timing slipped from 8.5 to 7.1 out of 10. • Expenses came in under budget by a slightly smaller margin than last year • Overall budget increased by smaller percentage than previous year • Houseband, local contractors and MD received standard cpi raise;

touring artist fees were not raised.

How did I get this info?

Why do I want this info?

We had a crisis, and along with prayer,

we needed information.

Corporate QA Code Language

• C.Q.I. – continuous quality improvement. Organize the systems.

• Q.C. – quality control. Set measurable standard; meet it or miss it.

• P.D.C.A. - Plan. Do. Check. Act. Problem-solving system. (aka Shewhart or Deming cycle)

• S.W.O.T. - Strength, weakness, opportunity, threat.• S.M.A.R.T. goal-setting - Specific, measurable,

attainable, relevant, time-bound. • A.I. – Appreciative Inquiry – Find what works. Build

from there.

Music ministries thrive when they make the time investment in Real QA.

But, like any effective spiritual process,it requires:

introspection risk discipline collaboration

But I’m Special• For music ministries, effective QA

processes integrate right and left brain - qualitative and quantitative measures.

• Why do churches often skip real QA?

It’s hard; takes time; seems clinical.

• What makes them actually start doing it?

Crisis.

• If there’s no crisis, why do it?

Stasis is not the opposite of crisis.

EXERCISE: LAST SUNDAY

To your best memory, rank these 1-10

Musical quality of guest:Musical quality of band/bax:How easy was the soloist to work with:How did congregation receive the soloist:How much did congregants singalong:How was the service flow:

NON-QA

• “He lets me know if he doesn’t like something.”

Whack-a-mole.

• “Congregants let us know what they want.”

SQUIRRELL!!

• “We basically know what we’re doing.”

Dressing without a mirror

QA is not a “family dynamic”.

Thank God.

What does real QA look like?

• Integrated left/right brain. Qualitative and Quantitative measures

• Sustainable discipline. 15 mins/day or 2 mins/week, but consistent.

• Multidirectional. Multiple distinct assessors.

• Actionable. Results affect future goals, budgets, processes

SAMPLE ASSESSMENT WEEKLY SUNDAY MUSIC WRAP-UP EMAIL Music director writes it; 15-20 minutes.Minister and business manager review it; 5 mins each.

In mid-week staff meeting,staff offer opinions.

Emails kept in wraps folder,checked for rebooking.

Brief narrative, easy to read.

SAMPLE ASSESSMENT QUANTITAVE LOGSMusic director updates weekly; 15-20 minutes.End of year analysis: ~ 6-8 hours.

• The same workbook holds hard data: songlists, sales and attendance stats, etc. • Only some of what can be described in narrative can be tracked quantitatively.

The trending is what’s most useful in setting the next year’s goals.

SAMPLE ASSESSMENT ANNUAL 360° REVIEWS

Given to houseband and 6 musical guests with more than 3 visits each, who sent responses directly to the business mgr.

Business mgr. collated results for MD’s annual review

SAMPLE ASSESSMENT TARGETED RESPONDENTS

This one was sent to 6 long time choir members, as a one-time investigation tool to assess past choral directors

Other example target pools: young people, newcomers, high donors, chaplains, people of color, etc.

SAMPLE ASSESSMENT FULL CONGREGATIONAL POLL

Survey Monkey and similar sites provide interface and analysis tools

• 3 music questions out of 25 total, addressed presentation quality, relevance to the spiritual message, and congregational involvement.

• Positive statements; 5 point scale; room for comments.

SAMPLE ASSESSMENT ANNUAL SUPERVISORY REVIEWS

MD submits original Goals document, with highlighted comments on progress; trending, summaries, ‘highlights’ reminder of time-line

• Supervisors review and write appraisal• Feedback shapes Goals for new year

EXERCISE: AD HOC HEAVY?Ministers: How do you give feedback to your MD’s?

• face/behavior during service• verbal comments between svcs• verbal comments after svcs• buying guest cd• phone call or email to MD• comments about MD to others

• verbal check between svcs• meeting after svcs• weekly email feedback • annual goals meeting• semi-annual reviews• annual reviews

AD HOC PLANNED

Start simple

What do I want to see improve?

How do we measure that?

What discipline can I maintain?