How much does it cost to pay attention? Not as much as we all thought.
“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. Hopefully, 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 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 for people who manage people … or in your case: leaders who manage leaders.
3Q Check-ins reduce the drama in managers’ lives by giving them a script to follow with each direct report each month. 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?
The secret ingredient is not the questions …. they’re simple and memorable, but they’re not magic.
The secret ingredient is consistency.
Adding consistency without adding unrealistic time expectations on either party, 3Q Check-ins strengthen the connection between supervisors and the people they manage … which increases clarity, trust, and alignment … all of which predict better outcomes.
Q: If it made a difference — in performance and job satisfaction — would finding 15 minutes a month to invest in someone you value be worth it to you?
Our third tool is an Engagement Map that tracks five dimensions of clergy engagement with their parishes.
3Practice Circles, 3Q Check-ins, and the Engagement Map are complementary tools — each of them works beautifully by itself; and even better when you use them together — that’s tools working in synergy.
You can use 3Q Check-ins by themselves. Same with 3Practice Circles. You could probably even adapt the Engagement Map as a standalone tool = - )
But when you combine them, you don’t just have three tools … you’re holding a multitool.
In the last two years — in the process of 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 … who are called on to do more with less as you imagine and work out the future of the United Methodist Church.
So, we’re launching a DS/DCM-only pilot cohort to train District Superintendents and Directors of Connectional Ministries to integrate 3Practice Circles + 3Q Check-ins + the Engagement Map into a multitool for your ministry to UMC clergy-folk.
We’re discounting 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 to reach beyond mainstream institutions and organizations and into the domain you’re called to serve and nourish into the future.
Early-adopter District Superintendents (and a Sister) Speak Up
We’ve been working on this for a while.
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…
“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
“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.
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)
“Transformative leaders don’t demand attention… they pay attention “ Anu George Canjanathoppil
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.
[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.
We’re working to help UMC leaders fix that with tools — not pep talks; tools — that meet us all where we are, not just aspirationally but operationally.
Q: Not to beat a dead horse but: If you could accomplish that, by giving your undivided attention to each person who reports to you for 15 minutes a month, would you?
Here’s the plan for joining this pilot DS/DCM-only cohort to integrate 3Practice Circles + 3Q Check-ins + the clergy-centered Engagement Map into a multitool for your ministry to UMC clergy-folk.
DATES . TBD . 3 Hours on Zoom
COST . $450 (Standard Fee: $650)
COMMITMENTS . Following the 3-Hour training
Six 30-minute coaching calls over six months coordinated with your coach
Six 15-minute Check-ins with individual select Direct Reports over six months at your convenience
Six 30-minute 3Practice Zoom Circles with the group of select Direct Reports over six months at your conv
If you haven’t completed the 3Practice Circle Referee training, you can join the next open cohort at a 50% discount of $250 . Click here and we’ll get that information to you right away.