I was at Disney World last year and so we decided to check out the new Avatar experience. The line to get on the ride was over 4 hours. I kid you not. Over 4 hours. There was no way I was going to put myself through that misery...no matter how awesome the ride is.
How long do you make people wait in line? To check in...to drop off their children...to pick up their children...to sign-up for an event...to get a resource you are giving away?
The best way to find out how long people are having to wait, is to jump in line yourself. Literally get in line during your church's peak check-in and check-out times and see how long it takes to get from the back of the line to the front where you drop-off or pick-up.
Is it more than 2-3 minutes? If it is, then think through and brainstorm some ways you can cut down on the wait time.
We live in an on demand culture. People want what they want immediately. And they take that expectation not only to the store or to television programming, but to their experience at church as well.
I remember one weekend, I decided to see how long families were having to wait to pick up their preschoolers. I got in line and 6 minutes later I was finally at the pick-up door. I knew that we had to shorten that wait time or we would lose some families. The solution was to open up another new classroom so we had fewer kids in each room. This enabled us to cut the wait time in half.
Here's what I would encourage you to do. Intentionally track how long your drop-off and pick-up times are. If the time is too long, then brainstorm how you can shorten the wait time. It might be opening another classroom or passing out the take home papers a different way or start preparing for pick-up a little earlier.
Some reading this would love to have the "standing in line" problem. You find yourself with a small, handful of kids and you wish and pray that you had the "standing in line" problem. Be encouraged. You are making a difference. Here are some tips for growing the ministry so that you have a "standing in line" issue.
How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Ministry
Grow Your Children's Ministry
Do This If You Want to See Families Come Back to Your Church
7 Things to Focus On with Guest Families
Children's Ministries That Grow Will Do These 10 Things
Keep the lines short. Keep the smiles big. Keep the service excellent. Keep the level of care at a high level. Keep growing and reaching more people as your top goal.
And then you can have the great problem of people having to wait in line. And then you'll find yourself doing what we are sharing in this article. Finding ways to shorten people's wait time.
