Last time we talked about finding your niche and then finding it again and again. In our hypothetical “Disney Church”, we want to follow Walt’s suggestion to Set Expectations High.
Walt Disney believed that, to have a truly “magical” experience, people needed to completely be immersed in the experience. And for that to happen, the training and standards for all employees needed to be extremely high. This is not the easy route to follow, it takes a lot of time, energy, and dedication to accomplish this.
Disney theme park employees, or cast members, are some of the most throughly trained in the theme park industry. All cast members are expected to know Disney history as well as training in more than one area so that they can jump in when and where they are needed. Cast members are empowered to make decisions on the spot to satisfy their patrons. Also, costumed cast members are forbidden to be out of character in any area where they may be seen by the public. If you have verbal interaction with patrons, or guests, you are encouraged and expected to supersede all guest expectations.
With this in mind, lets ask ourselves some questions about the expectations we set in the church:
- What would training our volunteers, to supersede all congregation or “guest” expectations, be like? And what would it do to our church if we changed our training?
- Would we be willing to “settle” with the “it’s good enough for ‘church’” mentality?
- How would our congregation’s attitude change if we set the expectations for volunteers higher?
- What would our retention of first, second, and third time visitors be affected by higher standards of execution in your worship services, with our teachers, and other volunteers?
To find out more about Walt Disney, read Neal Gabler’s Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination.
I completely agree. We need to spend more time training our volunteers and we need to set the expectation as high as possible. Great article and thought provoking.