Six months ago I was
presented with a great opportunity to be a Project Manager for a Church looking
to build a new church and office complex.
As I met with the Priests and Church leaders, I was impressed with the work
they already done in understanding their requirements.
The Executive
Committee is comprised of volunteers - parishioners interested in the future of
their community and parish. Their
excitement was evident, but given the fact that they all have work and home
responsibilities, I immediately recognized the challenge before me.
I am currently
working with the Campaign Committee, a wonderful group of parishioners focused
on raising the financial pledges upon which the church construction will be
based. My challenge is to prepare a
forecast and plan to achieve their aggressive schedule, while anticipating the
success of activities mostly out of their control. Scheduling meetings with prospective donors
is not something that can be documented as a firm commitment and I find the
best I can do is track accomplishments against their best estimates of meeting
with people. Adding to the challenge is
the fact that many times, a Campaign member will need to meet 2 or 3 times with
a prospective donor to ensure all questions are asked and answered. One size solution does fit all!
In the coming months, I will document some of the challenges and solutions I have discovered as I manage this wonderful project.
