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The Power of Questions (2 of 3)
Questions About Our Staff
Here are 10 questions about staff. They could also be applied to volunteers.
- What staff member needs developing? Who is going to do it and when?
- What staff member has more to offer than what she is currently doing?
- Who are the future stars? What opportunities are we giving them to grow?
- Who should have been moved or removed but hasn’t been?
- What volunteers or staff deserves recognition and/or promotion? Who is going to recognize them and when?
- Which staff members are at risk of burning out? How will you help them?
- Who has hit a leadership ceiling? How can you help him overcome it?
- What are the next ten staff positions we hope to fill?
- What are the ten staff positions that could be (should be) eliminated?
- What is our written action plan based on the previous nine questions?
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Great questions to present especially with number ten wrapping it up. Asking questions but not following-up with an action plan is so a waste of time. Thanks Craig.
Thanks for these questions Craig. I think, like many churches, finding future leaders is absolutely essential. And we do struggle with that. This will help us focus on this issue.
I asked yesterday about sticks. It is being put on my New Hope Church in Loudonville. More info at thesticks.tv. Focused on churches in small towns wanting to have a big impact. They have advertised someone from life church being there and was hoping it was you.
I am already registered. Wanted to momoplize all your time! Just kidding but I would have loved to have taken you out to eat. Conference looks good.
Heady, Glad the ?s are helpful!
Bill, Thanks for the info on the conference. Sounds very good!
I love question 3. We are looking to fill a position right now and just yesterday we were asking the question, “who is doing it right now”? We are looking for an All Star, not someone who is content to sit on the bench.
More great questions. I love the intentionality of Lifechurch. So much of what we do in the church world is reactionary, just try to keep up, you guys really have a handle on staying ahead and that is probably a reason God continues to bless your ministry. Thank you for your wisdom and example Craig.
Sometimes I forget there is so much thought that goes in to making an organization like this run the way it does… I appreciate the time and effort you guys put in to make it a great place to work!
Craig - Love this list.
Especially #&. I really wish more church pastors / and leaders would ask that question of their staff.
Leadership ceilings are a painful reality many shy away from addressing.
Wow. i love this list so much I could barely type in my last post. #7 is a great one.
There’s also the challenge of keeping fresh eyes to new leaders in development in your church. If things are rocking and rolling well, it’s easy to keep moving with the same list of leaders you had 12 months ago when hundreds of new members have joined the Body and possess key functions likely needed. Plus, the diligence to evaluate who’s serving in a particular way and level but has the capacity and readiness to serve in an entirely different area and scale?
Craig- I was struck by Ques. 2, “What staff member has more to offer than what “she” is currently doing?
What professional roles do women fulfill at LifeChurch.tv outside of traditional church administration or childrens focused ministries? How do you or your leadership team identify and develop women employed by your ministry to maximize their God given talents?
Do you think that God will provide opportunities at LifeChurch.tv for women who consistently demonstrate leadership, accountability, and are Christ driven to serve in a pastor role to maximize their God given talents? Your thoughts please.
I have some questions: Is the divide between staff and volunteers helpful? What doors could close to an organization that makes such a strong distinction? Which would the apostle Paul be considered?
Kemper, You asked what ladies do… A few examples: One leads our whole kids team, several are youth pastors, one is over our finance department.
I don’t think our training is much different for women than men. Some of the women might be able to give you a better perspective on what we do.
Caveat, I’m not sure how we are making a strong distinction between staff and volunteers.
If there is a divide, it is probably that staff can generally devote more time to ministry and can be held to a higher level of accountability.
I am certainly not discounting the HUGE role volunteers make toward the Kingdom.
Craig, regarding #6, what do you do to help staff members who are obviously burning out?
Txmom4, It depends on the situation. We might encourage the team member to take some time off. It could be that their responsibilities are too broad so we might off-load some of their workload. No matter what, we’ll start working closely with them to help them find more healthy rhythms.
Thanks for your reply. I actually experienced a situation where burnout occurred and the person ended up resigning. To this day I think it’s a shame that this happened, and continues to happen in ministry.
And I forgot to tell you, I think those are all great ideas to prevent it from going that far! Have a great week!
txmom4,
Anne Jackson has a book coming out soon on the problem of burnout. You might want to check it out. It’s called “Mad Church Disease.”
Thank you Tom! I’ll definitely look into that one!
these are such relvant and important questions for the church, especially as most churches do not have an HR department and younger and younger staff are coming into significant roles.
this means less training on the front end and more of a burden on the church to train on the job.
what better way to transfer DNA than to show concern, walk a staff member or servant through the personal development process, offload where necessary and teach them how to leverage their maximum potential.
it is time the church realizes the remarkable value of our young staff and pours into them in every way possible, not forgetting the older folks as well (personally, I’m a tweener…)
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