How is the Health of Your Team: Starting Up Without Slowing Down?

It’s that time of year again when summer ministries—mission trips, sports camps, vacation Bible schools, art weeks, etc.—come to a close while we’re simultaneously planning and preparing for Fall programming. It’s also the time when some church staff and volunteers may be feeling stretched while others in the congregation are returning home rested from vacation.

 

The other day, I was asked by one of our ministry areas to do a mini-debrief of that team’s StrengthsFinder results. Before easing into that conversation, I suggested a one-word check-in. Just a word that said something about how each person was at that moment.

 

These dedicated folks are usually positive (one even has Positivity as his top Strength) and are all relationship and execution focused (by Strengths as well). However, as we went around the circle, the check-in words they shared included:

·         Fried

·         Pulled

·         Tired (x2)

·         Overwhelmed

·         Thankful

·         Emotional

·         Floaty

·         Torn

There were tears. There was a palpable sense of exhaustion and overwhelm. The moment was poignant. And instructive. Of the nine words offered, eight are on the negative or worn out or “used up” side.

 

Don’t get me wrong. These faithful servants continue to be enthusiastic about and committed to their ministry and to the people they impact. They had also just finished up a newly-designed camp week that involved countless moving parts, many new and existing volunteers, lots of ramp-up and engagement and tear-down and processing. They are also one week from the early start of school (some have school-age children to ready for the year) and two weeks from the beginning of their ministry’s year (that follows the academic calendar). So, basically lots to do with no real break.

 

They all were faithfully prepared to do this mini-retreat and had completed the Gallup Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment in advance. And yet. If we had not paused to checked in, we might have just rolled through the discussion of individual strengths and team communication and collaboration without noting nor acknowledging the ebb of energy throughout their team. Praying for them in this moment felt like a privilege—hoping and asking for the Lord to grant them His favor and blessing and peace and rest and wisdom.

 

From the outside, others in different ministry areas might think that these colleagues have had some down time. After all, the parking lot isn’t full of parents dropping off their kids like during camp week, the building isn’t decorated from top to bottom in colorful children’s artwork, and after the video shown in worship two Sundays ago, most seem to have moved on to the next thing.

 

How do we care for our people during these times of continuous demand—and help them with the self-care necessary for their own souls, their rest, their recovery—all while still forging ahead with ministry efforts that care for our congregation?

 

For teams, are we as leaders and team members aware of how people are showing up—perhaps taking what seems like precious time to check-in—so that we have a better understanding when someone seems “off” or has an emotional moment or an inexplicable outburst?

 

Having said this, it’s key to have psychological safety on a team before people will be perfectly honest about the check-in words they choose. As a team leader, you can do many things to help create that sense of safety over time (as well as many things that create the opposite effect). Contact me if you wish to have a coaching conversation about leadership and psychological safety.

 

If you happen to be the one who leads the entire church staff, how are you spending regular staff meeting times? Do you do most of the talking instead of using it as a time to listen to your people? Is there any room for your team to meaningfully connect with one another? Is there a place for the honest sharing of how each one is doing—in a non-judgmental context?

 

Increasing your awareness of how you are showing up, how others are feeling, and paying attention to if people are in an ebb or a flow state is key to effective leadership—inside and outside the church. What are you doing to get better at these things?

 

Important ministry resources:

 

 

Shirley Giles Davis, author of the God. Gifts. You. Your Unique Calling and Design workbook, Your Unique Design Class Guide, Your Unique Design Facilitator Guide, DIOS. DONES. TÚ.: Tu llamado y diseño único (Spanish Edition), and Gifts-Calling-Purpose blog, is a consultant, coach, facilitator who has worked with hundreds of faith-based organizations, nonprofit agencies, and executive leaders in a diversity of fields for four decades. She currently serves as Catalyst for Equipping at her church.

 

Photo © Shirley Giles Davis. 

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Shirley Giles Davis