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Analysis: How is it going?

The following catalogue of questions was sent in by Daniel Stich. The catalogue of question was used together with other training material from YouthWork-Practice.com in a staff meeting. The questions served the purpose of helping us to think about ourselves and the group and to help us start a discussion with each other. Maybe these questions, or similar questions, can be used for your next staff circle.

Analysis your Youth Work / Bild Nr. 18473810
Analysis your Youth Work ©: Robert Kneschke - Fotolia

Do we, as staff members, know why our members come to the group, or why they don’t come anymore? When should we start to think about why the group is running like it is running at the moment?

We should start a regular analysis as soon as the group is established so that we can recognise any changes in the group.

Every person is different and this question sheet cannot give the general answer to everything. It should help you to work out and ask why the group is in it’s current situation and to set goals. Take you time and talk about the questions. Do not simply tick them off but use the opportunity to talk about how each member of staff feels about the questions. Do not assume that everyone has the opinion but put yourself and the group under question. Find out why you sacrifice your time for the group program and what is really important to you.

Write down your answers together and develop a driving route which is specially adapted to your group and which you can always refer back to. Allow yourself the necessary freedom so that you can also reach to changes within the group.

Write down why you do this work so that you can read about your own personal reasons when times are not so easy. Take your time to talk about every single group member and pray. Take the time to get to know your group better. Have the courage to say if something is disturbing you so that these points can be cleared up. This helps you avoid investing your energy in a fight for control so that you can put your energy into the group members.

If possible, you can also ask an outsider if he can go through the questions with you. You will then have a discussion leader so that everyone in the group came have their say.

I wish you good and intensive conversations and hope that you can get to know your group and yourself better with this question sheet and learn to understand why the participants are the way they are.

Daniel Stich

Catalogue of questions: staff/leader

Why am I a member of staff? (Tradition, because no one else will, nothing works without me….?)
What is my motivation and my driving force?
Who do I do it for? (For the group members, for the community, for God,…..?)
What are my fixed tasks in the group? (Set the places, play the guitar/piano, greet the members…..)
How long have I been a leader? (Is my enthusiasm just as strong or stronger than at the beginning or is it just a burden for me?)
Do I care about the group members?
Do I take the group members and their problems seriously?
Do the group members accept and respect me?
a) Do I have contact to the group members outside of the group events?

b) Which members do I have contact to?
How much time do I invest in the preparation of group sessions?
When do I start to prepare the group sessions? (1 week? 2 weeks before? 1 month?)
How much time do I sacrifice for my participants in a month? (Preparation, the meetings, weekend trips, visiting individual member, games evening…..)

How much more time can I sacrifice for the members?

b) How much time I am prepared to sacrifice for my members in a month?
Do I also spend my free time with other members of staff? (e.g. eating an ice-cream, playing squash, …..)
Do I try to attend every staff meeting?
a) Do I enjoy the meetings or are they just annoying?

b) Do I have enough say in the team?
How often have I failed to attend the program last year? Why?
Am I sad if I cannot take part in the program because of important reasons?
Do the others notice I am missing?
Do I really enjoy the work?
Do I feel comfortable in the community?
Does the community know that I am a member of staff?
How do I estimate myself and how do the other estimate me?
(see attached sheet or the concluding catalogue of questions.)
What is fun, what do I like doing?
What are my primary values, what is not up for discussion? (e.g. members of staff must be christened, Copying music CDs, driving too fast, ...)
What would I like to change about myself?
What would I like to change in the group?
What do I want to achieve with the group in this year? What are my goals? (Growth, more commitment, more group feeling, more faith…..)

Self-evaluation

That’s me:	How do I estimate myself?		What do others think of me?
Tolerant and understanding	Yes	No	Yes	No
A contact person for the group members	Yes	No	Yes	No
Diplomatic	Yes	No	Yes	No
Flexible	Yes	No	Yes	No
Authoritarian	Yes	No	Yes	No
Role model	Yes	No	Yes	No
Spontaneous	Yes	No	Yes	No
Trustworthy	Yes	No	Yes	No
Organisational talent	Yes	No	Yes	No
Mediator	Yes	No	Yes	No
Humorous	Yes	No	Yes	No
Versatile	Yes	No	Yes	No
Prepared to help	Yes	No	Yes	No
I can do that well:	Yes	No	Yes	No
Enthuse others/motivate	Yes	No	Yes	No
Keep an overview	Yes	No	Yes	No
Approach people without any prejudice	Yes	No	Yes	No
Give criticism without hurting anyone	Yes	No	Yes	No
Keep myself under control in a crisis	Yes	No	Yes	No
Observe well	Yes	No	Yes	No
Lead a conversation	Yes	No	Yes	No
Remain objective in discussions	Yes	No	Yes	No
Notice when someone needs help	Yes	No	Yes	No
Admit mistakes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Listen well	Yes	No	Yes	No
Tell stories interestingly	Yes	No	Yes	No
Play a musical instrument	Yes	No	Yes	No

Catalogue of questions on participants

How many regular group members are there at the moment?

Are there any guests? How many?
How many new members came to the group last year?

How did it come about that new members came? (Through a camp, invitations in the town or area? Were they brought by other participants, through parents, grown into the group?….)
How many group members dropped out last year or only come irregularly?

Why did they stay away? (moved away, age, became members of staff….)
How many took a look at the group but did not stay?

Why didn’t they come back again?
How many participants started working in the community last year?
Are the participants committed? (punctual, do what they promise…..)
How many friends have the participants brought with them in the past year?

Which events die the friends attend? (Camps, trips, special program or a normal evening?)

How many friends have stayed or come more often?
Were any invitations in the neighbouring area or in the town written?

How many people were added to the group through these invitations?
Have you had a camp or other event with strangers to the community this year?

How many people were added to the group through these events?
Which members have made sub-groups?
Are there participants who do not belong to a certain group?
Which group members can keep the group together?
Which members of the group are the opinion makers?
Who is the group clown?
How many participants had decided to dedicate their lives to Jesus last year?
Does every participant have a member of staff as a contact person?
Who will take care of which group members?
Who will take care of the group members who have not attended for a while?
What do you want to do to attract those group members to come back? (Call them, visit them, pray for them….)
Which events will you plan for next year in order to invite these participants once again without any pressure? (Games evening, trip, going for an ice-cream...)
Do you really know your participants? (You might want to make a “wanted” poster for each member of the group and update it every year to chart the development.)
Where is each participant at the moment? (Has nothing to do with God, is interested, is ready to be christened or is ready to work with you….)
What are the needs of the participants?
Can you offer every participant what they need at the moment? (If not, how can you solve the problem? Splitting the group or a special program…)
If you do not take a register, introduce one so that you can keep a record of which program points are popular and which are less popular.
Is the list of participants up to date?

Questions for the staff team

How often do you meet for staff meetings? (Monthly? Every 2 months? Every 3 months?)
How far in advance is the program planned? (For 3 months? For 6 months? For 12 months?)
When was the last time you did something together as a team which did not have anything to do with the planning of a program?
Do you feel like a team in that decisions are made together and that the team stands behind all members of staff?
Who do you turn to when conflicts among the staff arise? (Community coucil, community leaders, elders council……)
Is the community interested in your work?
Do you let the community be a part of the program? Do you tell the community about what you do?
Are all members of staff trained and when was the last training refresher course attended?
How many special events were done last year? (Were there too few or too many?)
How would you describe your leadership style? See extra sheet.
How do you react against disturbing factors in the group? (mobile phone calls, interruptions, permanent lateness…..)
Do you have fixed rules in the group? Have you agreed on punishments for breaking the rules?
Do you carry out the punishments? How high is your tolerance limit?
Are you, as a team, an example in punctuality, responsibility, and organisation?
As a team of staff members, do you have authority over the group? (Do you decide how things run or do the participants decide?)
Which compromises are you ready to take? (when would you make an exception?)
Which values or rules cannot be avoided? (for members of staff as well as participants.)
What do you expect from your work as a team? (Recognition in the community, fun, offer perspectives for the participants or to Willen Gottes nachkommen,…)
What do you want to achieve wht the group in the coming year? What are aour goals? (Growth, more commitment, better group feeling or strengthening of faith…..)
What should be the highlights in the coming year?
What should the program frame look like for next year?
If participants should help out in the running of events, will you plan them in?