10 Guidelines to Help You Find Staff and Build Culture

by: Tim Stevens

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Recently I had the opportunity to teach at Exponential West. There were leaders from all over the country, churches small and large, and we talked about how to build a great team, and then how to keep a great team by paying attention to culture.

Here is the short version of what we talked about (and you don’t even have pay!)…

When Looking for Staff… 

1. A Resume is Worthless — most of what matters in hiring someone is not found on a resume.
2. You Can’t Train Character — Give your life to helping people find Jesus and reform their character. But when you are hiring, you need people who have proven integrity, especially with their tongue, money, and sex.
3. Social Media is Your Friend — I’m giving you permission to stalk your next employee! If it’s on the internet, it is public. Look at their online persona to see how they think, what they think is funny, and how they treat others.
4. Hire From Within — You know what you are getting; you know they understand your vision and philosophy; you know that the “chemistry” question has already been answered.
5. Find Fresh Eyes — Occasionally you should not hire from within because you need a fresh infusion of ideas.
6. Find Leaders, Not Doers — You have limited dollars, so you should typically spend your staff dollars on leaders who can build teams, inspire followers, and reproduce themselves over and over again.
7. Pay Well — you don’t want people to come because of money, stay because of money, or leave because of money.

Building a Great Culture… 

1. Make Time for the Three S’s — every week, carve time with your staff or leadership team to do three things: A) Tell Stories of what God is doing through His people, B) Spotlight an individual to let them get to know them and celebrate their unique contribution, and C) Give inside information (Stuff) or training that will add value to your team.
2. Offer Employees Flexibility — Some positions need set hours (i.e. facility care shifts or preschool teachers). However, most positions should be flexible, focusing on outcomes (did you accomplish your job?) and not on specific hours (how long did you sit at your desk?).
3. Being Fair is Not a Priority — Make decisions based on your vision and priorities–not based on fairness. News alert: I spend more time with my wife than any other woman. Why? Because she is my priority.

What would you add to either of these lists?

I’ll be expanding on each of these topics in my upcoming book (to be published by Thomas Nelson in July 2014). 

Read more from Tim here.

Tags: New Staff Position, Staff Culture, Tim Stevens

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The Secret Sequences & Systems of Ministry Innovation

by: Mark Waltz

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Sequencing matters. Service matters.  Systems matter.

And so do people.

When sequencing and systems fail to help our guests effectively experience quality service, or take practical steps toward desired outcomes, people are not valued. We don’t communicate that they matter. At least we fall obviously short.

Our connections team has been assessing processes, systems, staffing and teams that most effectively help our people take their next step toward Jesus – particularly, new guests to our church. Although someone’s very next step after an initial weekend service may be to come back the next weekend, we can’t assume that is the only step a guest may want or need to take.

How do people meet others? Find a sense of belonging? And in doing so take a step on their journey toward and with Jesus? 

Sequence matters. And that means opportunities must be carefully planned and offered.

Environments, services, gatherings, resources – all matter. They help people meet, focus, grow and figure out their next step.

Systems matter. Clarity makes the next step even possible.  Following up communicates care.

Susan Abbott over at theIdeaStudio talks about sequencing as a way to innovate the guest’s or customer’s experience. No, she is not observing church ministry; she is looking at fast food delivery systems and insurance claims processes. She suggests that by altering the sequence of events, an organization can discover process innovation.

She offers this exercise:

Consider the sequence of delivery of the elements in your consumption chain. Write them on a piece of paper. Mix up the papers. Describe a sequence for each random mix you come up with. Try not to reject it out of hand … see if you can think of a way to make it work.*

Okay, this whole exercise goes south if you think of your church guests as a “consumption chain,” so don’t. You get the point. What helpful sequencing might come of this exercise in your ministry team? Non-profit? Marketplace business?

If you’re brave enough to give it a shot – report back through a comment.

Our team is going to dive into it. I’ll let you know…

Read more from Mark here.

Tags: Mark Waltz, Sequences, Systems, ministry innovation

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How Do You Resolve the Tension of Enthusiasm vs. Oppression in Your Staff Position?

by: Will Mancini

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It shouldn’t come as a surprise that many naturally wired leaders and driven types rise to the helm of our churches. Each one is following the call of God in their lives and comes with a mixed bag of healthy leadership traits and “type-A” hang-ups.

That leaves you feeling the tension. Some days you are excited to be a part of something that is moving forward. Other days you may feel like you are working for a dictator who is building his own kingdom.

So what do you do when the primary unstated value of your ministry is “No growth, no glory!” How do you resolve the tension of enthusiasm vs. oppression?  You will probably never resolve it completely, but here are a few tips to help you keep sane and develop your own strengths as you lead.

#1: Cultivate your own progress orientation.  Believe it or not, you have a lot to learn from the healthy side of pr0active leadership. Remember, Jesus ran a lean-mean tight ship as the twelve-turned-seventy-two forged ahead city to city with urgency and focus. Where is God teaching you to cultivate a godly sense of urgency? Are you developing the willingness to take more initiative? How can you practice a bias for action even more?

#2: Tie all “push-back,” back to progress. It’s important to move past hasty disagreement or quick pushback. Don’t disagree out of emotion. It may be that you have better ideas. You may have key insights for sustainability and integrated efforts. You probably see the need a better system or process to define before launching the next ministry initiative.  The key is this: When you share you ideas or when you have to push-back, make sure you “connect the dots” back to progress. Don’t share your idea until you can demonstrate why it makes growth eventually better, stronger or faster. Many times I use the phrase “slow down to speed up” or “squat before you leap” to help a leader appreciate a season of “no new visible progress” in order to prepare for the next visible growth run.

#3 Play for pie even if your slice suffers. You must think big-picture as you manage your part of the organization. I was in a conversation yesterday with a leader who was struggling with a talented player who only sees his silo in the ministry. Nothing is more irritating for a leader who must steward progress for the whole organization. You will be surprised how this kind of thinking will come back to bless you. You attitude will not go unnoticed. Leaders desperately need “slice managers” who care about the pie.

#4 Create a scorecard that shows different forms of progress. There is probably something that you are passionate about that you lead pastor can’t real feel or see. The problem is not his passion. The problem is that you haven’t helped him see the progress of what you are excited about. What kind of scorecard or goal setting can you lead-up with? For example, a student pastor may take the time to show percentage growth in student camps over the last three years. Or if the student ministry is not numerically growing, you might show the growing percentage of students who are engaged in daily bible intake over the last 2 years.

#5 Let the weakness of others develop your convictions. There is no wasted experience in God’s economy, even in a culture that is unhealthy in it’s drivenness. The bottom line is that you will be in charge some day and that day is coming sooner that you think. You might not be the lead pastor, but you will have more responsibility and more people to care for. Now is the time to let those convictions stir. Don’t be afraid to name them as your personal values or your future team guidelines. In the end, having clearly stated values is the governor on how fast you pursue your vision.

What are you not willing to compromise in the character of the organization for the sake of progress?

Answering that question is the essence of  values-driven leadership.

Read more from Will here.

Tags: Staff Development, Staff Leadership Roles, Will Mancini

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