Years ago I was sadly surprised when I found out that some of our key volunteers who had been serving as small group leaders next to other small group leaders for 40 weeks of a school year didn’t know the name of the person sitting right next to them. I was abhorrently disappointed in my [...]
I stumbled upon a fantastic strategy that not only works for me but is also in keeping with sound brain research. The brain is an interesting thing. The brain is seeking to solve problems and tasks. Have you ever had an “out-of-the-blue moment” – when you are trying to think of something, it is on [...]
Are you good with handling the details of paperwork? What about keeping up with current and complicated tax laws? Taxes are complicated. Since I am not the greatest individual to entrust details of paperwork with, the responsibility of filing my taxes gets outsourced to a tax professional. Years ago, I called my tax guy with [...]
Walk with the wise and become wise. A companion of fools, however, suffers harm. Have you ever noticed that when you spend a lot of time with an individual, you begin to say some of the same phrases and have some of the same jokes? You begin to carry out some of the subtle rhythms [...]
Underutilization of key volunteers is as dangerous as overworking and burning out volunteers. In Children’s Ministry, we often think that the worst possible scenario is to overwork a zealous volunteer. We definitely need to be cautious and conscious of overworking someone, but there is something far more sinister and far deadlier then overworking a volunteer. [...]
Delegation must include details. Help others succeed through clear direction. Have you ever handed off a project to a volunteer with little to no instruction? Do you delegate duties on a volunteer simply because they are willing? There is a difference between delegating and dumping. Handing off projects to another person without providing clear details [...]
The most powerful form of recruiting is done in person. Nothing replaces a tap on the shoulder. Right before Bill Hybels, from Willow Creek Church in Chicago, took the stage at a national Children’s Ministry conference, I sat and thought to myself, “Wow, it must be easy to work at a church this large. Think [...]
The harvest is plentiful, the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers. Have you ever felt under the pressure of your workload and the mountain of volunteers that you need to find? What do you do in that situation? I honestly, and shamefully must admit that at times I [...]
Create a culture of switching, not ditching. Your phone rings with the dreaded Saturday night phone call. Even as you answer the phone, you know how this conversation will go. One of your volunteers is canceling. That inevitable phone call or text or email that says “I’m sorry…” followed by the reason and rationale for [...]
Do you want staff in the next five years? Begin right now to create the structures that would support a staff member if in fact God blessed you with one. Everyone thinks that their problems would be solved if they just had a staff person. And in some ways, that could be true. An extra [...]