Chapter 7
MINISTRY TEAMWORK
GROWING TEAMWORK
Any experienced gardener knows that the key to a good crop is fertile soil. Prepare the soil well and Mother Nature will do her part. So it is with teamwork—create a fertile organizational climate and teamwork will follow.
Perhaps the hardest thing for many ministry managers to realize is that teamwork can’t be forced to happen, any more than a garden can be forced to grow. Teamwork is the by-product of a healthy, well-managed organization where employees work cooperatively toward achieving ministry goals. These fertile conditions enable teamwork to "happen."
Gardeners foster fertile growing conditions through cultivating and fertilizing the soil, watering and weeding—and waiting patiently. Ministry leaders can also do much to cultivate fertile circumstances for teamwork. Four interpersonal processes are crucial: interaction, influence, self-control, and trust.
The first "seed" of teamwork is interaction. Interacting on and off the job, team members get to know one another and share common agendas: feelings, aspirations, frustrations, problems and so forth.
When team members have something in common, they are usually open to team influence in such crucial areas as goal-setting, maintenance of high standards, and performance evaluation. Openness to influence is a second seed of fertile teamwork.
The third seed to germinate is that of self-control. In submitting to the group’s influence, team members will eventually internalize ministry goals, making them their own. This reduces the need to control behavior through external means (rules, budgets, time clocks, procedures), because team members control themselves.
The teamwork cycle is completed with a fourth seed, that of trust. People who fall in step with the team, exercising self-control on behalf of their colleagues, quickly develop trust for one another. They act in mutually supportive ways and forge group cohesiveness.
The team leader serves as the catalyst for this four-stage cycle of teamwork, promoting interaction and consensus, encouraging commitment, and buildings bridges of rapport.
SITUATION REVIEW 7.1
How Fertile is Your Garden?
1. On an individual basis, team members should state how much they agree (2 = strongly agree, 1 = agree, 0 = disagree) with the following statements.
1. The members of my team interact frequently on-the-job.
2. We interact frequently off-the-job.
3. We interact productively.
4. We interact harmoniously.
5. We share our feelings openly and honestly.
6. We generally find it easy to reach consensus.
7. Few hidden agendas (secrets, undisclosed feelings, disguised motives) exist on my team.
8. The members of my team have a lot in common.
9. My team is cohesive and unified.
10. We know what we’re trying to accomplish.
11. We agree on how to accomplish things.
12. I am willing to be influenced by other members of my team.
13. They are open to my influence.
14. Members of my team cooperate with one another more than they compete against each other.
15. I have strongly internalized the goals of my team (made them my own goals).
16. Team members are strongly committed to our goals.
17. Team members are strongly self-motivated to achieve goals.
18. We rarely mistrust one another’s motives or intentions.
19. Team members work hard with little external pressure or direction.
20. I strongly identify with membership on my team.
2. The following questions based on Part 1 should be answered by the ministry team as a group.
A. Are you interacting with team members regularly and supportively? Check one: yes no
B. How well do you know one another, both professionally and personally?
C. To what extent are you open and honest with one another?
D. To what extent is it a struggle for team members to work together cooperatively and enthusiastically?
E. Do you tend to do things by mutual consensus or begrudging compromise?
F. To what extent does each member of your ministry appear to be well-integrated onto the team (aware of and supportive of team goals)?
G. To what extent have members voluntarily subordinated themselves to the group and its influence?
H. To what extent do team members compete against each other?
I. How strongly do team members appear to trust one another?
J. How strong is team member self-control?
ACTION PLAN 7.1
Tilling the Soil
Have the team discuss how the following might be used to generate greater teamwork and a more fertile climate for teamwork.
1. Annual planning retreats
2. Off-the-job recreation
3. Weekly meal together
4. Weekly prayer session
5. More frequent business meetings
6. Brainstorming sessions
7. Interaction and “cross-pollination” with other teams
TEAM HEALTH
Health is much more than the absence of sickness, especially in teamwork! Healthy teamwork accomplishes more than merely getting people to work together. It produces synergy: accomplishment beyond the sum of individual team member contributions. Teamwork enables people to achieve the extraordinary through cooperation.
Team health is gauged by the team's capacity to: 1) set and internalize goals; 2) make decisions; 3) implement decisions; 4) resolve conflict; 5) change; 6) maintain accountability; and 7) satisfy team members.
When the team vision excites members, they readily "buy" into ministry goals. Decision-making consensus is readily reached because the goals are so strongly shared, which in turn facilitates smooth implementation of the decision.
Because trust runs high on healthy teams, conflict is easily resolved. Members want what's best for the team, so they respond positively to change, seeing it as an opportunity for progress. Because the team is open to change, it is accountable to other ministry groups which may see the need for and benefits of change.
Healthy teams also have satisfied members, who rely on one another for a sense of uniqueness, belongingness, fellowship, and accomplishment. Membership on the team should help each member feel, "I'm needed," "I'm unique," "I'm productive," and "I'm appreciated."
These seven ingredients of team health generally move in unison, either undergirding teamwork or unraveling it. This explains why team health rarely stagnates--it tends to improve or deteriorate over time. The factors of team health or atrophy are thus mutually reinforcing. The strong teams get stronger and the weak teams get weaker.
SITUATION REVIEW 7.2
Team Health Check-Up
Members of the ministry team should state how strongly they agree with the statements below (2 = strongly agree, 1 = agree, and 0 = disagree).
1. Team members freely speak up about what they think.
2. We discuss decisions until a general consensus is reached.
3. New or nontraditional ideas are given a fair hearing by the team.
4. Major issues are given major time by the team.
5. Minor issues receive no more attention than they deserve.
6. We interact with mutual supportiveness and encouragement.
7. People often bring hidden (self-serving) agendas with them into team meetings.
8. The group seems afraid to change much of the time.
9. Team members more often display an attitude of independence than interdependence.
10. Initiative and responsibility are rarely shared equally by members of the team.
11. We tend to avoid issues that generate group conflict.
12. Most of our goals are “givens” and not established by group deliberation and consensus.
Score the inventory by subtracting the total for statements 7-12 (unhealthy team circumstances) from the total for statements 1-6 (healthy team circumstances). If most team members have final scores above 6, teamwork health is probably high. If most scores are below 6, or scores vary widely across the team, a “reality-orientation” meeting would probably be of benefit. Action Plan 7.2 can be used as a framework for discussion.
ACTION PLAN 7.2
Team Renewal
How can each of the following enhance the capacity of team members to interact productively and harmoniously?
1. Better definition of team mission and goals.
2. Arranging agenda items for team meetings in order of importance.
3. Listening to all the strong points of a new idea before discussing any of the drawbacks.
4. Establishing a written list of criteria by which to evaluate team ideas and proposals.
5. Providing team members with information before meetings to facilitate advance “homework” preparation for the meeting.
6. Composing the minutes of team meetings around what was beneficially accomplished rather than what agenda items were discussed.
Team-building is an ongoing process that is never really completed--healthy teams just keep on changing, maturing, and adapting. Teambuilding involves knowing team members, catering to them, and facilitating member interaction. The team leader must be at the helm of all three processes. Teams can't develop themselves without leadership!
The team leader must stay in close touch with member needs, wants, and idiosyncrasies. Which members take initiative? Who are the talkers and the listeners? Who are the risk-takers, the dreamers, the practical traditionalists? Who is open-minded? Who lacks boldness and self-confidence?
The better the team leader knows team members as individuals, the better he or she can cater to them--utilize their capabilities, shore up weaknesses, and build the job around them. Knowing team members as unique individuals allows the team leader to treat them distinctively.
When team members know one another well and occupy a unique niche on the team, productive, harmonious interaction is easily facilitated by the leader. Nothing stimulates enthusiastic cooperation more then the sense of individual belongingness, acceptance, and uniqueness.
SITUATION REVIEW 7.3
Getting to Know You
The following questions should be answered by the team leader.
1. Which team member exerts the greatest influence on the group?
2. Who is the group’s peacemaker and conflict-resolver?
3. Who is the discussion catalyst?
4. Who are the most cooperative, compliant team members?
5. Which team members have a tendency to be negative, cynical, or critical?
6. Who is generally best-prepared and organized?
7. Which members are domineering and strong-willed?
8. Who is most likely to take initiative?
9. Are there any loners on the team who hesitate to interact?
10. Are they any cliques within the team? If so, who’s “in” and who’s “out”?
11. Who are the most objective, open-minded team members? The most biased and inflexible?
12. Who are the discussion “hogs” (dominators)?
13. Which members express their feelings and who bottles them up?
14. Which team member is most respected? Why?
15. Who do you like most on the team? Why?
ACTION PLAN 7.3
Niche-Picking
1. Based on Situation Review 7.3, identify who on your team should probably occupy the following niches.
1. Sparkplug (making things happen)
2. Analyst (rational deliberator)
3. Dreamer (optimistic idealist)
4. Peacemaker (conflict resolver)
5. Engineer (project organizer)
6. Traffic cop (project controller)
7. Friend (developer of social interaction)
8. Helper (cooperative follower)
9. Maverick (non-traditionalist)
10. Bridge-builder (reaching out to other teams)
TEAMWORK QUICKSAND
Teamwork is built on interpersonal relationships--the ability of people to interact productively and harmoniously. When interpersonal relationships deteriorate, so does teamwork. Team leaders must be keenly sensitive to warning signals--"handwriting on the wall"--of interpersonal problems developing on the team. The five most common warning signals are:
1. Poor communication: result of the failure of team members to understand one another; focus on talking rather than listening; verbal hostility, etc.
2. Sloppy implementation: "the-right-hand-doesn't-know-what-the-left-hand-is-doing" syndrome.
3. Avoidance: members show a pattern of avoiding disagreement, avoiding accountability, or avoiding one another.
4. Chronic dissatisfaction: occurs when certain members acquire a negative, pessimistic, or critical spirit that casts a shadow of gloom over team activities.
5. Loss of trust: team members doubt one another's motives, submerge agendas, and begin to question the ministry vision.
The five items cited above do not actually cause team problems. They are merely symptoms of the problem of poor interpersonal relations, which is itself a symptom of a deeper problem: spiritual immaturity. Spiritually immature people inevitably encounter difficulties in working together, because they often act and move out of self-interest and pride. A little bit of true Christian humility can go a long way toward correcting the problem and promoting healthy interpersonal relationships and teamwork!
SITUATION REVIEW 7.4
An Ounce of Humility
Team members should answer the following questions on an individual basis.
1. In what different ways are you dependent on other members of your team?
2. What strengths do other team members possess which you lack?
3. In what ways have team members helped you excel on your job in the past?
4. What team niches are filled by other members?
5. Consider your role in your church or organization. How does being a team member help you make more contributions to the ministry than working independently?
ACTION PLAN 7.4
Developing Interpersonal Finesse
All team members, including the leader, should address how each of the following could enhance their interpersonal relationships on the team:
1. Criticizing the act, not the person.
2. Giving relationships daily maintenance.
3. Helping others to help themselves.
4. Striving to change oneself as the basis for changing others.
5. Listening more, talking less.
6. Praying regularly for and with others about ministry matters as well as personal concerns.
7. Focusing on the personal qualities of colleagues more than their productivity.
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21)
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Colossians 3:13-14)
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. (Romans 15:1-2)
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
(1Thessalonians 5:11)
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:10-11)