RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

Trust.  It's a must have if you want to develop a high capacity team.

If you've ever been on a team that didn't trust each other, you know how difficult it is to function properly.

In fact, I would go so far as to say without trust, all you have is a bunch of individuals trying to nudge other team members out and striving to get "first place" on the team.

But when you do have trust on a team, cooperation happens which leads to each member becoming stronger and more effective.  Goals get met.  Average turns into extraordinary.  Good becomes great.

So how do you build a team that trusts each other?  Trust doesn't happen by accident, it has to be build into your team's DNA and that takes some time to accomplish.

Let's look at some steps that can help you build a team that trusts one another.

1. Trust is relying on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone else.  When there is trust, team members feel safe with each other.  They feel comfortable opening up and taking risks, leaning on collaboration and protecting each other.  This results in team members sharing knowledge and communication.  It also helps confirm that no one has any "hidden agendas."

2. Let trust start with you.  Show your teammates that you trust them.  Give them assignments and then don't come behind them and try to control or micromanage their steps for completing the assignments.  Give them the big picture and the trust them to figure out the steps to get there.

And when you have important information, don't hide it or try to use it as leverage.  Share with the team the pertinent information and trust them with it.

3.  Get to know each other personally.  The more you know about a fellow teammate, the more you
will trust them.  Have team members share about their family, hobbies, life highlights and everyday struggles and challenges.  A great time to do this is at the beginning of team meetings. Set aside 10 minutes at the beginning of the meeting for team members to share about their past and present life situations.

4. Direct communication.  Team members must be committed to open, straight-forward, meaningful conversations.  Issues must be addressed and talked thorough face-to-face.  Trust isn't built by email, text messages or by second-hand conversations.  It happens by direct communication.  It sometimes happens through hard conversations.  But that makes sense does it not?  Because trust is earned, not given.

5. Have clearly defined expectations.  Give team members specific assignments they are to complete.  Encourage them to collaborate and work together.  Be very clear about who will be accomplishing what during the project.  Everyone on the team should know who is responsible for the different assignments being completed. 

Remember...it takes time to build trust...and you get there 1 small step at a time.  Why not let today be the day you take a step toward team trust?

Lead the way with establishing trust. 

Get to know your teammates. 

Use direct communication. 

Set clear expectations.

Trust me. Follow this and it will bring trust for you and your team.

This post is from my friend Justyn Smith.  Justyn is the children's pastor of River Valley Church in Minnesota.  Justyn and I recently partnered together to write the book If Disney Ran Your Children's Ministry.

This is an except from one of Justyn's chapters entitled Culture Like Disney.

You’ve defined your values, chosen the right people, trained them well, are actively caring for them and communicating your vision.  How will you know if the healthy culture you’re cultivating is thriving?

If you want to gauge the temperature of your culture, take a look at the people who work with and volunteer for you.  You can tell a lot about your culture by continuing to monitor “cultural thermostats” on your team.  I encourage you to grab a journal or note-taking app and be on the look out for the following:

TEAM COUNTENANCE
Take a look at your team’s body language and countenance.  Body language says a lot about how a person is feeling.  Sometimes you can say the right thing, but your actions, both intentional and unintentional, speak volumes.  I believe people can “fake it until they make it” only for a while.  Eventually, a person’s lack of enthusiasm and joy will show.  Their fatigue will be obvious.

Ideally, as you walk around, you’ll notice that your team is energized.  It will show in their facial expressions and in their interactions with kids, parents and other team members.

TEAM SPEECH
What your team says about your church and ministry says a lot about the culture you are intentionally or unintentionally creating.  Your team should be saying positive things about leadership and the church, whether you are close by or not.  They should be consistent.  What are volunteers saying when you’re not around?  Are they speaking life over kids and to parents?

Unfortunately, negative speech can plague even the best of teams.  When you begin to be aware of the type of speech your team is using, you may hear things you don’t want to hear.  You may find your team gossiping, speaking negatively about families who attend or using inappropriate sarcasm.

While it’s uncomfortable to do, as the leader you must stop all negative speech in its tracks or like a slow moving disease, those negative words will seep through your ministry, giving birth to cynicism, sarcasm and other negative traits.  If you’re hearing positive things said, reinforce what you are hearing by thanking your team.  Be specific about what you are thanking them for.
    
TEAM COMMITMENT
If you notice that your team is showing up late consistently or that you have less participation than normal, you may have created an unintentional cultural norm that says it’s okay to be late, or even not show up.  Not following up with those who are late or absent tells them that their presence wasn’t missed.  Make them feel valuable by connecting with them each time this happens.  Show concern
for them, rather than criticizing.  When they know they are valued, they’ll be more likely to commit fully to your ministry.  If your team is always on time or even early, that’s a good sign of a healthy culture.

Consider these questions:

What is our current culture?

What are our core values?  What would our pastor say?  What would our volunteers say?

Do we have a healthy children’s ministry culture?  What would parents say?  What would children say?  What would our volunteers say?

Can our volunteers articulate why they volunteer?  Better yet, can we articulate why our volunteers serve?

Do we need to make any changes to our current mission statement to line up with our church’s mission statement?

What culture “killers” in our ministry can we identify by using a cultural thermostat?

Does our team feel comfortable sharing ideas and feedback with us?

How do we train our volunteers?

Are we communicating the vision and values of our ministry effectively?

What plans do we have to care for our volunteers and staff?  Do we have room in our budget and schedule to bless them?

What information do we need to share with our team?

How are we sharing that information? Is this the best way of communicating with our team?

How are we evaluating our culture?  Who can we count on to give us honest feedback?

You can get this and much more about creating a great culture in your children's ministry in the new book If Disney Ran Your Children's Ministry.  It is available now at www.kidminmouse.com.

How well does your children's ministry team work together?  Take this test to find out.  One answer per question.

Team members are provided feedback about their performance.
0 - Not at All
1 - Rarely
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
4  - Very often

Team members work together for the common good of the organization.
0 - Not at All
1 - Rarely
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
4 - Very often

There are many complaints and morale is low on the team.
0 - Not at All
1 - Rarely
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
4  - Very often

Team members don't understand the decisions that are made and or don't agree with them.
0 - Not at All
1 - Rarely
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
4  -  Very often

Team members are encouraged to be good team members and build relationships.
0 - Not at All
1 - Rarely
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
4  - Very often

Team members are provided with growth opportunities.
0 - Not at All
1 - Rarely
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
4  - Very often

Meetings are inefficient and there is a lot of overlap.
0 - Not at All
1 - Rarely
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
4  - Very often

Team members are asked to commit to the team's values and leaders help them see how their role fits in.
0 - Not at All
1 - Rarely
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
4 - Very often

Team members are often given a chance to work on ideas that stretch their thinking and ideas.
0 - Not at All
1 - Rarely
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
4 - Very often

The team understands what it is supposed to accomplish and has the resources needed to be successful.
0 - Not at All
1 - Rarely
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
4 - Very often

Conflict between team members is a pervasive issue.
0 - Not at All
1 - Rarely
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
4 - Very often

Team members feel that good work is not rewarded and they are not sure what they are responsible for.
0 - Not at All
1 - Rarely
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
4 - Very often

Team members balance the need for autonomy with mutual dependance.
0 - Not at All
1 - Rarely
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
4 - Very often

Working relationships  are poor and there is a lack of commitment for the vision.
0 - Not at All
1 - Rarely
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
4 - Very often

We spend time together as a team outside of work.
0 - Not at All
1 - Rarely
2 - Sometimes
3 - Often
4 - Very often

Add your points:
46 to 60 - You're a solid team working well together.

31 - 45 - Your effectiveness as a team is patchy.  You're good at some things but need improvement in other areas.

0 - 30 - This is something to be concerned about.  The good news is you've got lots of room for improvement.