INTRODUCTION
Since 2003 I have served as the Youth
Evangelism Director at the Baptist General Convention of Texas. In this role, I
oversee and manage a statewide leadership camp called, Super Summer. In the last 7 years, the Lord has grown Super Summer from four to six sessions
with close to four thousand youth and adult leaders in attendance each summer. Five
summers ago we started a ministry called Super
Summer Global, which has come to see over 800 students trained in missions
and sent to some of the most unreached people groups in the world. We continue
to be amazed to see how God uses the ministries of The Youth Evangelism Conference, See You At The Pole, Hot Hearts, Church Under The Tree, and City Reach
to impact the world. I am humbled to be a very small part of all that God is
doing in and through this work.
These ministries would not exist if not for
the numerous staff and volunteers working together to coordinate, plan, and
oversee implementation. This effort is most efficiently and effectively
accomplished through the utilization of quality teams. This paper will discuss five key principles of
team building that are currently being implemented to ensure the success and
productivity of the aforementioned ministries.
Two-Fold
Aim
Stanley Ott teaches that healthy ministry teams
have a two-fold purpose. The first is to minister to the team members and the
second is to accomplish the given task. For successful team building, one
principle cannot be separated from the other. Well-trained and equipped team
members are more effective at accomplishing a given task.[1]
The difference between a committee and a
real team is demonstrated by this two-fold purpose. A committee is task
oriented and does little to nurture, develop, and train its members. On the
other hand, a team’s first priority is to the discipleship of the people. Once
that principle is established, the team is equipped and ready to focus its
attention on the task at hand.
The ministries I direct at the BGCT are
heavily task driven, thus it is very easy to lose focus on people in order to
accomplish the workload. However, this course has been a good reminder that
when people are properly developed the tasks are completed more effectively. As
a practical first step to focus on building up the members of our teams I have
implemented some team building activities, discussion times, and follow up
personal contact with individuals.
Common
Goals
Keeping the purpose and goals of any given
team in the forefront is essential for success. As mentioned, I am using
team-building activities to get our staff to engage with each other and interact
with our common goals. Brian Coles book Quick
Team-Building Activities for Busy Managers provided some very practical
suggestions that have proven to be helpful in this regard.[2]
Working with an established ministry like Super Summer has the benefit of having
an already established goal; however, even well established goals can get lost
in the details. Intentionally setting aside time on a regular basis to discuss
our goals and address obstacles is essential. As the team leader, this is my
responsibility and I am now more diligent in keeping our goals in front of our
team.
Trust
Being able to depend on other’s work,
competence, and integrity is paramount for team effectiveness. Another way of speaking about trust involves
what Katzenback and Smith call, “Mutual Accountability.”[3]
For this to be established in any team there must be a means to measure
success.
This is one of the strongest aspects of our
current ministry team. We have regular evaluations and tools to measure the
effectiveness of every position within our organization. If a team member is
not holding up his or her weight it is very obvious and the appropriate
processes are already in place to address these types of concerns. I better
understand the value in continuing to highlight this principle within our
teams.
Communication
Most know the three rules of real estate
are, “location, location, location.” In the same way, if successful team
building had to be summarized into one all encompassing law it would have to
be, “communication, communication, communication.” In every assigned text this principle was
thoroughly emphasized, and rightly so. When communication breaks down in any
relationship it is doomed to fail, regardless of its other strengths.
Therefore, the aforementioned activities,
discussions, and personal contacts being implemented within our ministry teams
have the primary purpose of promoting open and honest communication. This
serves all the other principles of team building. People are equipped, trained,
and nurtured by communication. Tasks are completed more effectively through
communication. Common goals are made known through good communication. Trust
and accountability is established in a team with quality communication.
CONCLUSION
Team building must first be about ministry
to those on the team and then proper attention can be given to the task at
hand. Common goals and trust are
foundational elements, but all is for not without quality communication. With these elements now being emphasized in
our ministry teams I look forward to evaluating the effects.
Busy Managers: 50 Exercises That
Get Results in Just 15
Minutes (New York City: Amacom,
2003), 34.
