Team Building
By Jason Noble
jnoble@ag.org

In the next few editions of our e-news, I will be writing on team building. Building an effective team in children’s ministries is vital to your success as a children’s pastor or children’s leader. It’s impossible to be successful without a good team of committed volunteers around you. In this series of articles, we will be looking at: being a good team builder, structuring your team for growth, recruiting your team, placing your team according to gifting, ways to make your ministry volunteer friendly, training your team, building relationships, how to win as a team, how to have fun as a team, and appreciating your team.

Being a leader that people are willing to follow
The success of your team rises and falls on you, the leader. In children’s ministries, there are many duties to focus on. The question you have to face is this: What should I focus on that will bring the greatest results as a leader? My answer to you would be, building an effective team. But this task rests on you as the leader. Here are some suggestions that will help you to become a good team leader. If you already are a great team leader, take a moment to evaluate how you are doing in each area.

1. Have a plan

   • Know where you are headed.
   • Be clear about where you are going. Don’t just expect your volunteers to know. It will frustrate your team.
   • In your planning, keep in mind the needs of your volunteers.
   • Be committed to protecting them spiritually, and also protecting them from burnout.
   • Less is more. Sometimes we can plan so many events and activities that we are not effective at anything we do. It’s better to plan less and be effective.
     
     
2. Be relational
   
   
   • Having good relationships with your team members is the key to building an effective team.
   • The first step in building relationships is understanding that people are more important than the job they are doing, or the program as a whole.
   • A leader’s job is to care about his team members and make sure their needs are being met. When this happens, volunteers are freed up to minister to kids and be more effective at what they are doing.
   • A team that plays together, stays together. Have fun with your team outside of church. Go and do activities. This not only helps a leader build relationships, it helps the team members build relationships with each other.
     
     
3. Have a servant’s heart
   
   
   • Don’t ever ask your volunteers to do something you are not willing to do.
   • Serve your volunteers, and make sure their needs are being met.
     
     
4. Be a good delegator—you are releasing people to ministry
   
   
   • Keep in mind that people may not do things the way that you would. As long as you get the end result, how a volunteer gets there is not so important.
   • Be clear on your expectations.
   • Think through projects so that people have clear direction.
     
     
5. See life through the eyes of your volunteers
   
   
   • Understand the demands that they have on their lives.
   • Use people to their full potential. Help them understand their own value.
   • Don’t have unreal expectations.
     
     
6. Be a problem solver, not a problem creator
   
   
   • When problems arise, deal with them right away.
   • Help volunteers with a solution.
   • Step back and look at the problem. Don’t jump to conclusions.
   • Remember, people are more important than the program.
     
     
7. Constantly be learning
   
   
   • Always be reading and growing as a leader.
   • Your team can only go as far as you can take them.
   • Grow your leadership skills.
     
     
8. Be open to listen to criticism
   
   
   • Provide ways for your team to have open and honest dialogue.
   • Be willing to listen to criticism.
   • Don’t take the criticism personally.
   • Pull out the good points and change the bad points.
   • Don’t only listen and then dismiss your team’s evaluations. Really make a change.
     
     
9. Don’t be afraid of conflict
   
   
   • Look at conflict in a healthy way, not a negative way.
   • Deal with conflict right away before it grows into something so big it’s out of control.
   • Conflict does not go away. The more it simmers, the worse things get.
     
     
10. Protect the image of your ministry
    • In everything you do, do it with excellence.
    • People want to be a part of something that’s exciting, looks sharp, and is bigger than themselves.
    • Be positive about what’s happening in your ministry.
      

We want to know what you think. Send your ideas on this topic to jnoble@ag.org.