Reaching consensus: Affinity exercise

After engaging in listening prayer, identifying core behaviors, and sorting them into categories, it’s time for your team to begin reaching consensus on what your core values are. I find the affinity exercise helpful for this purpose. It allows all people to have an...
Good teams take time

Good teams take time

Good teams take time to build. Do you want good, solid team relationships in your ministry? Building an outstanding team requires a considerable investment of time and energy, but it’s well worth it. One thing you can proactively do is take time to be together...

Clarifying direction: achieve, preserve, avoid

You know that to get anything done, you need to cast vision. But once you do, it’s time to get more specific about precisely what you are trying to get done.This clarification process is best done together with your team. For example, say your church has a...

Why staff meetings are mostly a waste

Consider the average staff meeting: some catch up, coordinating of calendars, maybe a bit of support. Usually when you walk away, you haven’t accomplished much, and you’re generally you’re not in a place where the team had enough time for focused thinking about the...

Responsibility and contribution

One of the most helpful things I’ve found for building solid teams is to make a distinction between responsibility and contribution. Responsibility is their job– what that person is responsible for. If it doesn’t get accomplished, they are held responsible...