What does it cost to pay attention?
Not as much as we all thought.
We’re wrapping up the final coaching sessions with UMC clergy who are completing their 3Practice Circle Referee Certification practicums.
It’s been a great learning experience for us and, we hope, for those we’ve been training. This year, thanks to the vision of Conference and District leaders, we’ve been able to train several dozen UMC clergy using a more comprehensive practicum regimen than we’ve attempted in prior trainings. We anticipate this will lead to increased confidence in using 3Practice Circles in a wider variety of settings.
“Attention is rarest and purest form of generosity”
Simone Weil
We call our company Attentionicity because what we do is defined by three tools that deliver human attention at human scale … whether that’s 1:1 or 1:many.
Our first tool is 3Practice Circles: You’ve observed how 3Practice Circles can help the people you lead learn how to pay attention to each other. That’s 1:Many
Our second tool — the one we want you to know about today — is 3Q Check-ins. 3Q Check-ins are designed to help District Superintendents pay attention to each pastor they supervise. That’s 1:1.
3Q Check-ins are an easy to use - once a month - check-in tool. They reduce the drama in managers’ lives by giving them a script to follow with each direct report. They take 15 minutes or less and only require that the manager ask three questions. How are you? How are we? How can I help?
By increasing consistency of contact without adding unrealistic time expectations on either of them, 3Q Check-ins strengthen the connection between a supervisor and the people they manage. If it made a difference in both performance and job satisfaction, would you find investing 15 minutes a month in someone you value worth it?
Our third tool maps 5 measures of engagement on the job. The Engagement Map helps you identify and map patterns in what emerges from 3Practice Circles or 3Q Check-ins … or both. The Engagement Map is designed to help you: 1. track the effectiveness of your connections with the pastors you supervise, and 2. track the quality of their leadership in their parishes and their alignment with the overall mission of the UMC.
3Practice Circles and 3Q Check-ins are complementary. You can use either by itself; used together, they work even better — that’s tools working in synergy. Adding the Engagement Map turns it into a multitool.
People lead 3Practice Circles without using 3Q Check-ins; and people use 3Q Check-ins without leading 3Practice Circles; and people use both those tools without using the Engagement Map. Truth be told, most 3Practice Circle Referees will never be interested in 3Q Check-ins or the Engagement Map, because they don’t supervise anyone or superintend anything.
But you do. It’s right there in your title.
In the last two years, certifying more than 300 UMC leaders as 3Practice Circle Referees, we’ve come to appreciate all you remainers … the ones who stuck together when others left … the ones called on to do more with less as you imagine and work out the future of the United Methodist Church. So, in this “DS-only” cohort, we’ll train you to integrate 3Practice Circles + 3Q Check-ins + the Engagement Map.
And we’ll discount the cost of the training as far as we dare — because you’re exactly the kind of leaders we had in mind when we designed this multitool.
Early Adopter District Superintendents speak up
For the better part of a year, we’ve been testing this multitool with a handful District Superintendents and other leaders.
Here’s some of what they’re saying…
“3Q Check-Ins have helped me discover things I wouldn't have otherwise known, such as [spotting] emerging problems before they escalate, and relational tensions or assumptions that would've never surfaced through ordinary reporting.”
Rev. Dr. Michelle Bodle, District Superintendent SUSUMC.
“My pastors keep telling me I’m the DS they’ve had the most connection with. All I did was add 15 minutes a month to be with them. …. With the restructuring of our districts, this may be something we very much take up as an ongoing practice. It’s become the kind of thing I’m starting to share with others.”
Rev. Nancy Johnston Varden, District Superintendent. TWKUMC
And, from a 12-year practitioner of 3Q Check-ins + 3Practice Circles: “It’s one thing to hear, it’s another to listen. I was once known for being a talker but thanks to the discipline I learned through 3Q Check-ins, I’m now known as a listener.” Major Kelly Collins Divisional Commander of Salvation Army Kansas City (Ret)
“Your attention is part of their salary - not a bonus”
Joey Reimar
While developing the 3Q Check‑ins tool, it became clear that most organizations leave the distribution of attention to the personalities and goodwill of leaders who, at best, deliver that attention intermittently—not because they don’t want to be consistent, but because so few of us have a tool we can rely on beyond the sound of our own voices. And when talking is our only tool, every problem looks like a speech. 3Q Check‑ins give you a way to lead with your ears, not just your voice.
Why have we left something so central to the human experience — the need to be seen and heard — to chance, mood, or available time? We say people are the most important part of our organization, but imagine if we approached how we keep track of payroll with as little intentionality as we keep track of the people we supervise. That might cost some of us our jobs.
With 3Q Check‑ins, you not only can track the quality of your connections with the people you supervise; you can also map the specific contributions they make in their community. [audition: “you can also map the depth of their engagement with their community.”]
[NB: There’s a very good chance you are an accidental manager—meaning you probably weren’t formally trained to manage people. Which is why 3Q Check‑ins training isn't a pep talk; it’s a simple introduction and demonstration of the 3Q Check‑in tool … a tool anyone — especially an accidental manager — can use to mine the organizational intelligence held by all the people you don't want to lose.
At the parish level, 3Q Check‑ins are designed to give leaders who supervise staff and volunteers what 3Practice Circles give communities and teams: which is, simply put, greater clarity about who we are to each other, and how we work together, as people‑managers and frontline employees and volunteers. Practiced together, these tools tell leaders how things are (really) going with the people who are doing the actual work of the church everyday of the week.
The same is true at the DS level — plus you get a way to map the wellbeing and effectiveness of the clergy folk who lead that work over time.
Not to beat a dead horse but: If you could accomplish that, would it be worth 15 minutes a month for each person who reports to you?
“Transformative leaders don’t demand attention… they pay attention “ Anu George Canjanathoppil
3Q Check-ins Training for UMC District Superintendents and Connectional Ministry Leaders
When: Mid-August 2026
Where : Zoom
How Long: 3 Hours
What: In this training, we explain, demonstrate and practice 3Q Check-ins
SCRIPT: Removes guesswork from the process.
ONCE A MONTH: Consistency matters more than charisma.
15 MINUTES: Why brevity builds trust.
3 QUESTIONS: Familiar, repeatable, effective.
BACKUP QUESTIONS: Keep conversations fresh.
Plus
Real-life 3Q Check-in examples from current practitioners.
Answers to the common "what if," "why not," and "what about" questions.
An in-session in-person 3Q Check-in to build confidence and skill.
Monthly Coaching
Following the initial training session, participants are paired with a Certified 3Q Check-ins Trainer and begin meeting once a month (30 min) for 6 months to ensure consistent uptake and support.
Cost: $450 (Standard Fee:$650)
Time: Here’s the time commitment
3Q Check-ins - you check in with 10 or more supervisees once a month (15-min check-ins)
3Practice Circles - you convene the same people you supervise in 3Q Check-ins in a 3Practice Circle once a month for six months (30-min circle)
EM - Engagement Map - you evaluate each supervisee on five measures using our proprietary Engagement Map © (5 min each, once a month)
You meet with your 3Q Coach to share data, experiences and ask questions (30-min once a month)
You must be a Certified 3Practice Circle Referee to Register for the discount
If you're interested in this opportunity and still need 3Practice Ref training, contact us and we’ll get you into an 3P Training cohort before we launch 3Q Check-in Training in mid August
Register here for mid-August DS 3Q Training Cohort
Help! I need to get trained as a 3Practice Circle Referee - please send me info on how to do that.