By NewChurches.com: In Episode 606 of the NewChurches Q&A Podcast, Daniel and Todd discuss what it looks like to build back better in regards to team development.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Why you need a structure to team development
How to create an environment that engages feedback

 Shareable Quotes (#NewChurches):

“This is a great opportunity to audit your roles and audit the individuals in those roles.” – @toddadkins
“In retooling, it is a great time to take a step back and look at everything you do from the actual ministry that you do to the strategies, systems, and structures of it, to the volunteers and people themselves.” – @toddadkins
“Having a culture of development where people are learning and growing is important.” – @danielsangi
“The key factor is simple structure and systems that will help distribute the weight.” – @toddadkins
“Something as simple as a one page job description can really help you on your way to retooling.” – @toddadkins
“I recommend that all of your volunteer roles are only one year commitments and that way it forces you to do feedback.” – @danielsangi

Recommended Resources:

Listen to Episode 602: Remote Work
Listen to Episode 604: Staffing
Learn more about Ministry Grid

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This Episode’s Sponsor:

Downline Ministries’ mission is to encourage a restoration of biblical discipleship in and through the local church by equipping men and women to know God’s Word and make disciples. 

The primary way we partner with churches is through the Downline Institute, a 9 month biblical discipleship training program that walks students through the Bible (Genesis-Revelation), biblical manhood/womanhood, and key discipleship lessons. Listeners can receive $100 off tuition cost by using the code LIFEWAY when you apply at www.downlineministries.com.

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Source: Episode 606: Team Development

The post Episode 606: Team Development appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By: UnSeminary

Welcome to this week’s unSeminary podcast. Today we are talking to Rob Deveney, executive pastor at Twin Rivers Church.

Twin Rivers Church is located in St. Louis, Missouri. It started as a small denominational church, but has grown over the last 90 years into three locations around St. Louis.

Rob is with us today to talk about what it takes to maintain high levels of trust among the staff as the church has grown.

Be responsible to each other. // A lot of responsibility comes with a large church and staff. The responsibility is not just to the congregation and ministry, but also for the staff to each other. When someone starts working for a church, that organization isn’t just their employer, but also their church family and pastoral support. Leaning too much in one of these directions or the other can cause either job performance or relationships to suffer. Build trust. // The executive team has a strong responsibility to protect the church’s culture. At Twin Rivers, it’s very important to them to be a high-trust organization. This looks like staff trusting a supervisor to be honest, believing they aren’t trying to manipulate or just trying to get as much work out of an employee as possible, but also trying to pastor and develop church staff to be the best leaders they can be. Rob wants his staff to fulfill the callings that God has put on their lives as much as he wants to fulfill the calling he has on his own life.Lead yourself first. // As a member of the executive team, Rob surrounds himself with people who lift him up and ground him in his weaknesses and strengths so he can do that in turn for his team. He is fairly opposite in personality with the lead pastor and so he can often bring a different perspective to the table. At the same time, the lead pastor makes it safe for Rob to bring his heart to the table and provides valuable insight into Rob’s blindspots.Work to understand one another. // Another important piece to navigate is how to approach different people on staff. At Twin Rivers they use personality profiles, spiritual gift tests and other resources to understand each other better. Rob approaches people differently based on how they hear things, how they process information, as well as what motivates and drives them. The lead pastor does this with the executive team as well. When an issue does arise with a team member, talk to them privately about it. On the flip side, publicly celebrate a team member’s wins.Listen to any problems faced. // When you face a crisis as a church, you learn what kind of environment you actually have. Is it an environment of trust? Do people feel safe being honest? During the pandemic, Rob’s highest stress was not about what the world was going through, but rather seeking to understand the things his staff was going through. In a crisis, begin encouraging honesty and talking with your staff early. Determine their needs and what problems they may encounter. Determine any changes that may need to be made. Really listen and ask the tough questions to understand what your staff is facing. Finally, focus on what your church’s purpose is if you feel things are getting sidelined.

You can learn more about Twin Rivers Church at www.twinrivers.church.

Thank you for tuning in!

There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they’re extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally!

Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live!

Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Ministry Grid

Ministry Grid makes it simple to train every volunteer and leader in your church. With a library of over 3,500 videos and 850 courses, you will find training for every ministry area and leadership level.

To get unlimited access to Ministry Grid for just $597, just go to? MinistryGrid.com/unSeminary?

Source: Building High Trust Teams in Your Church with Rob Deveney

The post Building High Trust Teams in Your Church with Rob Deveney appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Carey Nieuwhof: So what’s the difference between churches that grow and churches that decline?

Well, there are many, but—crisis or no crisis—one of the biggest differences I see is in the attitude of the leaders.

The leaders of growing churches almost always share a common attitude. So do the leaders of declining churches.

And the attitude has a huge influence over the results each church sees.

Attitude may or may not be everything, but it’s close.

Here are 5 attitude differences I see again and again in growing churches and declining churches.

Attitude may or may not be everything, but it’s close.Click To Tweet

1. We Can v. We Can’t

Perhaps the biggest difference I see between growing churches and declining churches is the attitude around what’s possible.

Growing churches believe they can.

Declining churches believe they can’t.

They’re both right.

One of my all-time favorite quotes is Henry Ford’s “Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you’re right.”  He’s correct.

Growing churches make a way when there’s no way, which seems to be what God specializes in if you read the Bible.

Growing churches make a way when there’s no way, which is something God specializes in.Click To Tweet

When you sit around your leadership table, do you come up with 20 ways to make it happen, or 20 reasons why it won’t work? That tells you far more about your church than you probably want it to.

Growing churches believe they can. It’s that simple. And even if they’re wrong, at least they tried.

The mission is important enough to take significant risk.

Growing churches believe they can. Declining churches believe they can’t. They’re both right.Click To Tweet

2. Them v. Us

Declining churches focus on themselves.

Growing churches focus on the people they’re trying to reach.

If your leadership table conversations are all about the needs and wants of your members, it’s a sign that your church is insider focused.

The mission of the church is to reach the world. Growing churches not only know that; they live it.

The instability we’re living and leading through makes that difference even more pronounced.

Some churches moved immediately into preservation mode. Others moved into mission.

The future in all likelihood belongs to those who moved into mission.

When the crisis hit, some churches moved immediately into preservation mode. Others moved into mission. The future in all likelihood belongs to those who moved into mission.Click To Tweet

Besides, who likes to hang out with selfish people?

And ironically, selfish people almost always end up in a very surprising place: alone. Because a life devoted to self ultimately leaves you alone. That’s also true for selfish churches.

If you’re becoming smaller and smaller, is it because you’re selfish?

Selfish people ultimately end up alone. The same is true for selfish churches.Click To Tweet

3. Principles v. Preferences

Declining churches focus on their member’s preferences.

Todd didn’t like the music. 

Allison thinks we’re not deep enough. 

Jon thinks our services are too short. 

Bill says he’ll never watch online. 

And so the leaders respond, trying to please everybody.

Declining churches bend to the preferences of their members.

Growing churches don’t.

Instead, they focus on the principles (even strategies) that will help them reach new people.

It’s not that growing churches ignore the needs of their members, it’s that they realize the needs of their members are best fufilled by making their lives about something bigger than their preferences (i.e. the mission).

Is your leadership team principle-driven or preference driven? There’s a world of difference between the two.

Declining churches bend to the preferences of their members. Growing churches don’t.Click To Tweet

4. Proactive v. Reactive

This is a close cousin of points 2 and 3 above, but the difference is deadly or life-giving depending on where you land.

Growing churches are proactive. They choose their agenda and immediately take action on issues that can impact their future.

Declining churches are reactive, letting members determine the agenda and reacting to problems as they arise.

In fact, most declining churches are so busy reacting to problems other people raise that they never get around to charting a course for the future.

If you never get around to charting a course for the future, you will have no future.

Growing churches have a strong bias for setting their own agendas, not in the selfish sense, but in a way that determined leaders see what the mission requires and decide to deal with it.

The leaders in a growing church simply refuse to yield to the agenda of others that would take them off mission.

And as a result, they are far more effective.

If you never get around to charting a course for the future, you will have no future.Click To Tweet

5. Today v. Someday

Growing churches act. And they act now.

Declining churches don’t.

Declining churches don’t actually say they won’t act, they’ll just say they’ll get to it ‘eventually’, or someday, or ‘when the time is right’—which means never.

By contrast, great leaders and great teams banish the word ‘someday’ from their vocabulary, because they realize that someday usuallyequals never.

If you want to be effective, you act.

If you want to be ineffective, you don’t.

Talk without action has little value. And too many church leaders specialize in talk.

Talk without action has little value. And too many church leaders specialize in talk.Click To Tweet

In addition, too many church teams meet for the sake of meeting.

If you can’t remember the last time you made a major decision that changed the course of your church, your leaders are wasting their time.

If you talk about the same issues meeting after meeting with no resolution, you’re spinning your wheels.

Does that mean you have to act on everything? Well, yes and no.

If you’re not going to act, strike the item off the agenda and move on.

If you are going to act, act. Now.

Don’t get stuck in the no man’s land of believing the lie that talking about things solves things.

Action produces traction. So act.

By the way, this simple framework will help you break the habit of talking with no action for good.

Action produces traction. So act.Click To Tweet

How Agile Are You? Take The New Agility Quiz.

Some organizations and churches are thriving and will thrive in the new normal.

Others won’t.

Over 70% of the 700+ leaders who took a recent survey predict that the future for their organization is going to look very different than before the global crisis.

While the future is uncertain, there are clear indicators and characteristics of which organizations will fail which ones will thrive in the new normal.

Not sure whether you and your team have the attitude that will move you strongly into the future?

I created a free, 14 question Agility Quiz that takes almost no time to complete. You’ll get the results immediately.

You can take The Agility here.

How’s your team?

What attitudes do you see in you and around you?

Leave a comment below!

The post 5 Big Attitude Differences That Separate Growing Churches From Declining Churches appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: 5 Big Attitude Differences That Separate Growing Churches From Declining Churches

The post 5 Big Attitude Differences That Separate Growing Churches From Declining Churches appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Carey Nieuwhof: Ever wonder if your team’s heart is in it?

Well, it’s probably a good idea to figure out the answer to that question.

According to Gallup, 70% of US employees are disengaged at work, meaning they don’t show up to your organization bringing their best.

For 18% of employees, it’s even worse. Almost one in five employees, in Gallup’s words, are:

emotionally disconnected from their companies and may actually be working against their employers’ interests; they are less productive, are more likely to steal from their companies, negatively influence their coworkers, miss workdays, and drive customers away.

It’s easy to think that most people are lazy, don’t care and nothing can be done to engage them more deeply.

Not so fast.

While it’s true that the passion of the team will never exceed the passion of the leader, it’s also true that a passionate leader can have a passionless team. The challenge is to get your passion for the mission to transfer to the team.

While it’s true that the passion of the team will never exceed the passion of the leader, it’s also true that a passionate leader can have a passionless team. Click To Tweet

Four Bad Strategies

So how do you motivate people? Well, here are four bad strategies:

Hype everyone up

Yell a lot, showing everyone how passionate you are

Get angry (those thankless, lazy…)

Fire everybody and start over

I tried all those approaches over the years (except for firing everyone and starting over).

Any lift you get from hype, passion or anger at people’s indifference only lasts for minutes, if it helps at all.

Anger (which is actually quite common among senior leaders) usually just sets you back further. It damages everyone involved, not to mention your cause.

A leader’s anger never motivates anyone except the leader, and then only for ten minutes.

So what will get your team to lean in and engage the mission?

I’ve found that how you handle your one-on-one meetings with your direct reports makes a huge difference.

I’ve been fortunate to see the teams I’ve led engage deeply in the mission, often going far above and beyond what’s expected, throwing their heart enthusiastically into what the mission.

So how do you get people to lean in?

A leader’s anger never motivates anyone except the leader, and then only for ten minutes. Click To Tweet

Try This At Work

The key for me as a leader has been a simple shift.  I ask my team how they’re doing before I ask them what they’re doing. (Hat tip to my friend Jeff Henderson for that idea).

As a result of that shift, I saw my team lean in like I’d never seen.

I’ve adopted that approach into a set of 5 simple but powerful questions you can ask your team. Use them when you meet with them one on one.

I’ve put these questions below in the post, but also into a free printable Coaching Guide called The 5 Questions Every Great Manager Asks.

You can download it for free here. The free guide will give you a permanent version of this post if you find it helpful and get additional coaching that isn’t in this post.

Here are the 5 questions great managers ask:

If you want to motivate your team, ask them HOW they’re doing before you ask them WHAT they’re doing.Click To Tweet

Question 1. How are you doing?

How are you is one of the most basic questions we humans ask each other, but it’s so often missed at work. Particularly in manager/employee conversations.

The purpose behind this question is to see how the employee or team member is really doing, personally. And yes, that’s a great starting point to a one on one meeting. It shows you care about them, and that’s a major factor in employee engagement.

Once your team sees you’re sincere when you’re asking them (you may have to ask for a while before they know you really care), they’ll usually open up.

Don’t be frightened if at some point a team member breaks down or “dumps” on you. Often people never talk about this kind of thing. Isolation and loneliness are epidemics in our culture, and people have few to no outlets to talk about what’s really going on.

But here’s the principle: when your team knows you care about them, they’ll care more about you and the mission.

When your team knows you care about them, they’ll care more about you and the mission.Click To Tweet

Question 2. Is there anything I can to help?

No, you’re not their therapist and that’s not your role. Your role is to listen, empathize, show you care and let them know you’re for them.

Surprisingly, 99% of the time, your team member will answer this question with a simple ‘no.’ That’s normal.

Of course, you probably can’t help them with their marriage or with their sleepless infant, and reasonable people realize this.

But what this helps the employee see is that their issues (a tough relationship or marriage, being out socially night after night, not making it to the gym lately) have little to nothing to do with work.

Occasionally, they may suggest things like “just letting me talk about this has already helped” or “if I could take Friday off to sort some things out,” and you can respond as appropriate.

Caring about the person really matters, and often your interest in them can be the impetus for them to take the action they need to sort out their issue.

And—don’t miss this—the organization benefits from that. Why? Because people bring who they are into what they do. Ultimately, your personal well-being impacts your performance at work.

People bring who they are into what they do. Ultimately, your personal well-being impacts your performance at work.Click To Tweet

3. What are you working on right now?

After spending the first few questions on their personal well-being, flip to talking about work.

Often managers can find it hard to track who’s working on what. This question helps you and the team member clarify what their priorities are.

A helpful, normal work-related conversation that unearths the tasks and projects they’re working on.

In addition, if an important project doesn’t get mentioned, you can bring it up and check in on how it’s moving along.

4. What obstacles are you facing?

Sometimes the answer to this question will be none (they just need to keep going), but other times challenges surface.

You may learn that your team member can’t get someone to call them back, or that they’re out of budget, or something as basic as their computer keeps crashing.

Phrasing the question this way separates the person from the problem and gives your team members a chance to succeed. They emerge as the hero, and your job is to help them tackle the challenges ahead of them.

Obviously, if the challenges are something company-wide (a bad culture, bad equipment, or a bottleneck in senior management), you have some work to do.

But at least you now know how your employees feel and whether conditions are working for them or against them.

This is also your best moment in the meeting to coach, encourage and problem-solve with your team member.

5. Is there anything I can to help you accomplish the goals we set?

One of your chief jobs as a leader is to help your team win. This question sets you and them up to do that.

Often the answer will be no. But if their computer keeps crashing or they can’t get the client to call them back, you may be able to help them accomplish that.

One of the best things you can do as a leader is to remove the obstacles that stand in the way of your team’s success.

One of the best things you can do as a leader is to remove the obstacles that stand in the way of your team’s success. Click To Tweet

Motivate Your Team With The Free Coaching Guide

If you find those 5 questions above helpful, I’ve put them into a nicely designed, free printable PDF that works across all devices called The 5 Questions Every Great Manager Asks.

Using these five questions, I’ve seen motivated people lean in even harder, lazy people start to engage, and disengaged people come alive and really care about work again.

You can download it here for free.

I’m giving the coaching guide away for free to everyone who joins the waitlist for my brand new course, The High Impact Workplace: How To Attract and Keep High Capacity Leaders in a Changing World.

The High Impact Workplace is a brand new online, on-demand course that will help you deepen employee (and volunteer) engagement. And, even more importantly, it will help you attract and keep high capacity leaders in a marketplace and culture that’s changing rapidly.

Sign up for the waitlist, get the free coaching guide, and you won’t miss a thing.

Got Any Questions You Love To Ask?

What helps you deepen employee engagement? Got any questions you ask that help?

Scroll down and leave a comment!

The post How to Motivate Lazy, Disengaged and Disconnected Team Members appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: How to Motivate Lazy, Disengaged and Disconnected Team Members

The post How to Motivate Lazy, Disengaged and Disconnected Team Members appeared first on Passion for Planting.