Small Groups, Big Impact - Questions & Answers

What churches can benefit the most from taking the Small Groups, Big Impact (SGBI) Assessment?: Churches who will benefit the most from the SGBI assessment are those that have established small groups in order to reach out, enfold their members and multiply leaders. Churches that have groups focused solely on Bible study or Christian growth will not find the assessment as helpful.
Which leaders should take the SGBI online assessment?: All leaders of groups with one or more of the following objectives (outreach, assimilation, and leadership multiplication) should take the assessment.
What if a group has more than one leader?: Many groups are lead by a couple or a team of different individuals. When this is the case, each of the leaders should take the assessment. The assessment is more of a leadership assessment than a group assessment, so different leaders of the same group can get significantly different results. Their results will show each of them where to focus to take their leadership and group to the next level.
What if a person is leading more than one group?: It is common in most churches for some people to lead more than one group. For example, perhaps someone leads a coed group in the evening and a women’s group in the morning. When your church’s assessment administrator enters your group system, they will enter each of these groups, and the leader will take the assessment reporting their leadership behaviors for each of their groups.
Should our support/recovery group leaders take the assessment?: If your support/recovery groups include an emphasis on outreach or leadership multiplication, their leaders will benefit from the assessment.
Our church is currently taking the assessment. The setup asks us to indicate who the coaches supervising each leader are. What if we do not have coaches for all of our leaders?: Many churches have groups that are not currently under a coach or supervisor. This is okay. If these uncoached groups logically fall under certain areas of ministry in your church such as women, youth, or college students, put those respective ministries down as their “coach.” This will enable you to see how well the different teams in your church are doing in supporting their leaders and groups.
I’m a small group leader and my church is not taking the SGBI Assessment. Can I take the online assessment myself, or can I only take it if my church is taking the assessment?: Currently the online assessment is only available to small group leaders if their church’s small group ministry is taking the assessment. You can not purchase the assessment individually. There is a short version of the assessment, however, in the Small Groups, Big Impact book. If you purchase the book, you can benefit from this simpler, self-scoring version.
I notice that the SGBI assessment reports recommends various books and tools for small group leaders, coaches, and churches. How were these resources chosen?: These resources were chosen by a team of small group experts from a variety of small group ministries. The SGBI project does not benefit from the sale of the majority of these resources. We chose them simply because we thought they were helpful and well-written.
I’m a small group coach. How can I take the assessment?: Small group coaches do not take the assessment. The coaching scores are derived from what the small group leaders themselves tell us about the coaching and support that they are receiving from the coaches and/or pastors over their ministry. It should also be noted that some things in the support system are beyond the coaches’ control. These things can also impact the level of “coaching” that leaders are receiving.
Why does the pricing structure for the SGBI assessment include an allowance for double the number of small group leaders than the number of small groups?: Most small groups have more than one leader. We include double the number of leaders in the pricing so that all of your leaders can benefit from taking the assessment.
What kind of statistical analysis underlies the SGBI assessment?: The factor analysis and path analysis that underlie the assessment are based on rigorous statistical standards. The assessment required eight rounds of data collection, analysis and revisions to reach its current level of excellence and usefulness. Some of this is explained in the SGBI book and its endnotes. More detailed statistical background is outlined in Jim Egli’s doctoral dissertation, although the tools have undergone significant analysis and improvement subsequent to that round of the research. We are continuing to improve the factors and make new discoveries as we test new questions, factors, and different dimensions of small group health and growth.