Multi-Site EPODs: Defining the Don’ts
We continue a miniseries based on this long-ago post titled Multi-Site: You Need an EPOD. An EPOD is one of the tried-and-true tools in our multi-site toolbox, and keeps us on the literal same page. It establishes understanding, goals, and accountability between our central resourcing teams and the campus staffs who are on the front lines.
The fourth and final section of our EPOD is Don’t, defined this way: the following prevent us from living out the mission of The Summit Church effectively, therefore, they should not be done at any time.
And while that sounds pretty negative, the Don’t section is meant to display a big neon arrow to the positive side: the things we want our teams to Do. (You can see the EPOD in full via the link on this post.)
The Don’t category spells out just six things that we don’t do, but those things can all be summed up as anything opposite of what is in the “Essential” section.
For example, near the top of Essential is that teams should have a skeleton crew present at all times. But that’s reinforced in Don’t, because we want volunteers to really feel the weight of that decision. To say (or think), “It’s not a big deal if I abandon my post for ten minutes” isn’t just a temporary suspension of protocol, it actually undermines the experience we want to provide for our guests.
I’ll be honest: there are times that I’ve struggled with whether the Don’t section is even necessary or helpful. After all, aren’t we just providing a mirror image of something that was spelled out three sections before?
But here’s why I stand by the Don’t: it’s an exclamation point. A declaration. A line in the sand that says “We just talked about who we are. Now let’s define who we are not.”
Behaviors in the Don’t section – left unchecked – multiply like Gremlins when you feed ’em after midnight. And while those behaviors might be totally fine in other church or team cultures (I mean that in the most charitable sense), they’re not going to cut it in ours. When the Don’ts are allowed to thrive, the things we love about our team get choked out and competing ideologies arise.
And by the way – 99% of the time, those competing ideologies are totally innocent. Our volunteers aren’t being intentionally subversive. They’re not staging a coup against the Essentials. But by putting things squarely in the category of Don’t, we are able to give a bold, highlighted, underlined, italicized emphasis not just on who we are, but who we’re not.
Do you have questions about the Optional section of our EPOD – or EPOD questions in general? Let me know below, or email me here. I’ll address as many as I can in future posts.
See all posts in this series:
- Multi-Site: You Need An EPOD
- Multi-Site EPODs: Establishing the Essentials
- Multi-Site EPODs: Promoting the Preferred
- Multi-Site EPODs: Opining the Optional
- Multi-Site EPODs: Defining the Don’ts
- Multi-Site EPODs: Campus Teams vs. Central Teams
