Introduction
The process of managing data and information is referred to as capacity management. The characteristics of this economic strategy are to evaluate the performance of the organization (Daft, 2008). It also influences the decision making process and planning capabilities of each individual. Capacity management and performance is a critical tool in the management of an organization. Every organization has its limits due to the resources available (Senge, 2009). The limits include number of workers, the cost of running the organization, resource utilized by the organization to mention a few. The limits of these resources make it mandatory that every organization must organize her capacity management strategy. When this management strategy is lacking, or inadequate it would affect the objectives and goals of any firm.
The United Methodist Church would have to utilize these capacity management strategies if it has to achieve her goals and objectives. Every management system consists of a team of persons that collectively make decisions that would meet the goals of the church. The goal of United Methodist Church is to spread the gospel throughout reaches to as many people as possible. Owing to the financial and resource limits, the pastor in charge and the management team must put aside their personal differences if they must achieve in the mission. There are obstacles that could reduce the level of awareness the church could create and the level of impact its mission would have on the people. Many of the missions and outreach organized by the church are located in regions where the masses are impoverished, enslaved, and for any meaningful development to take place, the church must organize her team.
Interview Questions
In order to determine the performance capacity within the church, five questions would be used to interview five individuals from the church. These research questions would form the basis upon which final assumptions would be made on the performance of the members in the church. The five respondents were chosen at random, there was no preferential treatment in the choice of respondents. The responses given by the respondents were based on their individual observation and they were not influenced externally.
- Describe your past challenges and experiences?
- How have you used the teamwork strategy to overcome these challenges?
- When your decisions were not relevant in a meeting how did you react
- How has your personal image affected your organizational character?
- How would you rate your performance?
The questions above were administered to five individuals in the church, and their responses were collected and analyzed. These research questions were selected because it covered all aspects that would be used to estimate the level of performance in the church. All the five respondents described different challenges and experiences they encountered in the discharge of their duties. They had one thing in common which was their determination to overcome the challenges. Some of the respondents narrated a vivid account on how their zeal to serve the church had put them in conflict with their personal lives. The second research question was the most critical point of the interview.
All the respondents believed that they had the interest of the church and if not for one individual or the other, the success of the church would have increased geometrically. From their response, it is clear that teamwork is important in every organization. In the circular world, the top executive who is in charge, is the Lord of the firm, and wields all the power that is required to achieve the desired result. The manager has the ability to hire and fire any member or staff of the organization at will and that would not affect his or her company. However, in the case of the church, the pastor in charge has to do this will care, because the public perception of the church organ is a critical tool in achieving the mission and vision of the church (Tipton, 2007).
The relevance of the decisions taken by an individual determines how the team communicated with one another. The respondents pointed out that their objection to a plan sometimes was seen in a bad light and that has slowed down the management process of the church. This is critical in accessing the performance of the church. However, another respondent observed that implementation of the church goals was the first assignment, and that was the deciding factor in accepting any reform plan from any member of the team (Skyttner, 2006).
In describing their personal image, most of the respondents explained that their influence in the helm of affairs in the church was instrumental to the success of the church, but they also noted that it would have been better if they had the available resources to further the mission. The last interview questions the turning point for each respondent. They all accepted that the performance was encouraging but the need to do more would be their priority (Palmer, 1990).
The responses by the respondents revealed that management strategy is the most efficient tool in achieving capacity performance in any organization. In accessing the performance capacity of the church there are basic concepts that must be followed in order to achieve the mission of the organization. However, in order to harness individual potentials, every member of the management team must put aside his or her personal differences. This is the only step toward achieving the goals and objectives of the United Methodist church.
Five Basic Concepts
Definition of the mission and vision
The church has a mission and vision to protect, manage, and spread the gospel to the entire world. The church management must constitute a team that would have a common goal and have the first objective priority to put the church mission and vision ahead of any personal development. This is the first step to capacity performance. When the management teams all agree with the church mission, it would make it easier to proceed to the next concept of management.
Accessing Information
Without information, the capacity management strategy would fail to achieve a positive impact. The members of the team would carry out an assessment of the information available to them and align the information with the vision and mission of the church. Information is power, and it makes the difference between success and failure. When the team has information on the possible solution to a task, the planning becomes easy.
Planning
Planning requires precision and time. When these fundamental factors are inadequate or lacking, it would undermine the mission and goals of the church. Planning becomes the key instrument to access the relevance and commitment of every member of the team. However, in situations where the pastor fails to delegate the work of his cabinet members, the management process would surely crumble. As soon as planning has been concluded, the team would move on to the next concept which is implementation.
Implementation
This concept is achieved without stress when the other variables mentioned above have been executed. Implementation is a task that requires less stress, but precise timing. The best policies in management fail when the time of implementation is wrong. For example, the mission of the United Methodist Church is to reach out to the people in need of salvation (Organizational Effectiveness, 2012). Nevertheless, it would be wrong to implement their mission in a community that has no water supply. Implementation is critical of any objective of the church. The church would have to organize the community in the least possible way before it would further her mission to preach the gospel to the people. After the implementation process has been achieved, the next concept is the monitoring process.
Monitoring process
This is the final process to an effective capacity management plan. Monitoring process depends on the desire to sustain the church goals. When implementation is successful, monitoring the project would make it lasting and would preserve the objectives and goals of the church. This process would define the success of the mission and the level of management that was employed for the assignments. From this point, the church could start the process of planning for another assignment in a different location.
Conclusion
However, these concepts listed above would not be achieved if the management team does not have a common agenda. The most common challenge would be in the, management of funds. This factor has been an obstacle in many organizations. Funds are collected from different channels; therefore, the management of these funds must be a collective one (Organizational Effectiveness, 2012). Finally, the performance capacity of the members of the church would require a five-strategy plan in order to achieve their goals and objectives. The concepts include a definition of the project and mission, access to information, planning, implementation, and monitoring. Any meaningful development would be achieved upon this bedrock.
References
Daft, R. L. (2008). Management (8th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western.
Organizational Effectiveness (2012). A Guidebook for Building Organizational Effectiveness Capacity: A Training System Example. Web.
Palmer, D. C. (1990). Managing conflict creatively: A guide for Missionaries and Christian workers. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library.
Senge, M. (2009). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York, NY: Doubleday.
Skyttner, L. (2006) General Systems Theory: Problems, perspective, practice. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Company.
Tipton, S. M. (2007). Public pulpits: Methodists and mainline churches in the moral argument of public life. Chicago, IL: Univ. of Chicago Press.