Normally when we think about doing an in-person volunteer training, we think of a big meeting with team-building games, ice-breakers, lots of food, decorations and an extended time of teaching.
Those times can definitely be beneficial. Most churches do these type of trainings 2-4 times a year.
But have you thought about the benefits of bite-sized training as well?
Each week, there is a small window of time when you can do bite-sized training.
When is that?
It's during a pre-service volunteer meeting.
Are you currently doing a pre-service meeting with your volunteers? If you're not, I would encourage you to start doing so. It will make a big impact on your team.
The meeting should last for around 8-10 minutes. Here's what to cover during this meeting.
- welcome / announcements (1 min)
- training (3-5 min)
- prayer (2-3 min)
You will notice the time allotted for training. This is your opportunity each week to bring a bite-sized training to your team. You should be very intentional about what you use that bite-sized training for each week. Don't wing it. Come into the meeting knowing exactly what you will be talking about during the training.
Personally, I have always used the bite-sized training time to accomplish three purposes.
- help them grow spiritually (1st weekend of the month)
- help them grow in their ministry skills (2nd weekend of the month)
- motivate them / remind them of the why (3rd weekend of each month)
I rotate through these three topics.
Think about it with me. When you do this, you have the opportunity to bring 52 bite-sized trainings to your team. Think about what you could cover in those 52 weeks and how it could help grow your team.
If you will be consistent with this, I promise you it will make a big impact on your volunteers.
You turn. Do you do pre-service huddles? What do you cover during these ? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comment section below.
You can get tons of ideas and insight about volunteer team meetings and other relevant subjects in my volunteer book - The Formula for Building Great Volunteer Teams. You can get it at this link.
