27 Jul 7 Ways to Build Staff Trust
In his highly influential New York Times Best-selling book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni writes: “Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare.” (p. vii) Lencioni says that at the bottom of what makes staff teamwork so rare is staff distrust of one another. The failure to trust leads to the fear of conflict and thus the absence of open debate of ideas. A lack of healthy conflict erodes commitment, which further leads to an avoidance of team accountability. And that, according to Lencioni, leads to the fifth team dysfunction, and inattention to results.
But, Lencioni writes, that with a solid base of trust in one another a healthy staff team will “engage in unfiltered conflict around ideas,” “commit to decisions and plans of action,” and “hold one another accountable for delivering against those plans,” “and focus on the achievement of collective results.” (pp. 189-190) In my three years as a church staff minister and forty-three years as a senior pastor I was blessed to serve on and help build some very healthy, high-functioning teams. And I agree with Lencioni that, just like in any relationship, the foundation for a healthy, high-functioning church staff team relationship is trust.
So, if staff trust is the foundation for a healthy, high-functioning team, how can that trust be built or rebuilt? When counseling married couples where the vows and trust had been broken I often said to them: “Trust is built slowly, and it can be broken quickly. It takes consistency over a long time to rebuild trust, so be patient.” I think that advice applies to building or rebuilding trust in a church staff team. Becoming honest, vulnerable, and willing to ask for help from the team can be slow, and hard work.
Staff members can be “turf-guardians,” looking out for our own ministry areas and not supportive enough of other ministry areas. Being competitive and protecting our reputation make us slow to share our weaknesses, interpersonal shortcomings, and mistakes. This hinders our seeking and offering needed, creative feedback.
Here are seven ways I believe help to build staff trust, but be patient! This is slow, hard work.
- It all starts with a trust-building call or hiring process. At the Center for Healthy Churches, we emphasize that a ministerial search process needs to be less like a “hiring” process and more like a “recruiting” process. Rather than solicit dozens or even hundreds of resumes be much more selective from the start. Find out the best candidates and go after them, whether or not they are “interested in a move.”
In that recruiting process be thoroughly honest. Avoid overselling. Tell the truth about your congregation. Model transparency and you will enable transparency from your candidate. If it is a hired support staff position, do the same.
Involve the rest of the staff in the call/hire process as appropriate. They can give invaluable input to the search committee. This begins the process of staff trust-building. Often clergy are anxious about a new senior pastor “bringing her/his own staff” with them. Reassurance from and involvement with the search committee is very important at such a time. At the very least clergy and staff should have some significant private time to meet potential new clergy during the “call weekend.”
The senior pastor should be heavily involved from the start in the search for all ministerial staff positions. I know some horror stories where the ministerial staff was called while the senior pastor was on sabbatical and was not involved. Distrust was baked into those callings, and they did not turn out well. Supervisors should normally be heavily involved in the calling/hiring of those they supervise.
I always felt that one of the most important things I did as a senior pastor was to get the right people – clergy, staff, and laity – in the right places of leadership. Jim Collins in his classic book, Good to Great, uses the metaphor of getting the right people in the right seats on the bus before you leave on your trip; i.e. get your leadership team in place before you even figure out where you are going. There is real wisdom in that! A great, trusting staff team begins with great, trust-building recruiting/hiring.
- Develop a clear vision and set of goals and continually work on staff alignment to those plans. It certainly is not enough to just have the right people in the right places on the bus. You need to have a map and know where you are going! A congregation that has spent the time and hard work to develop a clear mission with vision paths greatly helps staff to know where they should be leading the church.
A healthy staff can answer these three questions about their congregation: “Who are we?” “How did we get here?” and “Where are we going?” They can answer them because they have helped lead the congregation to answer those questions. Trust is built when the congregation and the staff are on the same map, and the staff members are on the same page with each other. Rigor must be given to aligning and realigning to the mission and vision paths. Staff positions may need to be reconfigured. Ministries and programs must be added and deleted to fulfill the mission. Some people – clergy, staff, and laity – who really do not want to go where the bus is going may have to get off the bus.
Since they know where they are going, healthy, trusting staff teams can focus their time and energy on the map and not on church politics and staff discontent.
- Develop good personnel policies and procedures. Distrust is rampant among staff where staff members are given different financial benefit packages. Salaries are obviously different, but the benefits should be consistent among peer staff groups.
I served congregations where individual salaries were listed in the budget. I also served congregations where the salaries were lumped together. From my experience lumping salaries is healthier for the staff and the church. Unnecessary staff tension and jealousy is avoided when individual salaries and not listed. Treat the staff fairly and generously and do not create distrust by publicly singling out salaries.
Distrust is rampant among staff where there are no clear procedures for airing grievances and handling conflict. In most churches, a Personnel Committee is responsible for developing and superintending such policies and procedures. If an issue cannot be resolved by the supervisor the staff member may have other options of redress, including the Personnel Committee. Having HR professionals on the Personnel Committee is a huge benefit to the staff, especially when conflict resolution is needed.
Some form of an annual review is also an excellent tool for giving healthy feedback. It can also help set and monitor goals that align with the church’s mission, and provide opportunities for affirming and correcting staff members. Such reviews are often neglected in churches but can be very useful in the team trust-building process.
- Read and discuss as a staff book on team building. The staff that reads together grows together and builds trust together. Read some books on team building. I recommend you start with Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Follow that with some of his other books: Silos, Politics and Turf Wars; Death By Meeting; The Ideal Team Player; and multiple others. His books are short, narrative style, and include exercises you can do as a staff. There are plenty of other good authors and books on this subject, so buy the staff some books and read and discuss together!
- Have effective, inclusive staff meetings. Prayer is a huge trust-builder for ministry teams. When else can the staff really pray together? Develop a culture that openly and appropriately shares personal and ministry needs and prays together for them.
Have a clear agenda. Expect attendance and reports. Flatten the leadership pyramid by rotating the leadership of the staff meeting. Maintain strict confidentiality. I have seen trust evaporate when a team member shares confidential information outside of the staff meeting. Develop a culture that enables dissent, and vigorous debate, encouraging each other, and apologizing when needed. Talk through tense issues that are eroding trust and teamwork. Celebrate staff birthdays, anniversaries, accomplishments, and family milestones.
Invite the entire staff, including the support and custodial staff, to attend occasional or even monthly staff meetings for a meal, prayer, calendaring and short reports from them before they leave. Support and custodial staffs often feel left out, unappreciated, and distrusted by the ministerial staff. Inclusion is a great trust builder for them.
- Pastors or supervisors should meet regularly with those they supervise. I always considered my primary role as a supervisor to provide the best possible resources and environment for the success of those I supervised. A regular/monthly supervisory session is a great tool for that. It gives each staff member quality one-on-one time with their supervisor. An open-door policy for staff to see their supervisor should be a standard operating procedure, but scheduled sessions provide even greater accessibility.
In those sessions, annual goals can be reviewed. Staff problems can be addressed. Personal, private issues can be shared in confidence. The supervisor can pray and bless the staff member. And the supervisor can also call for more accountability and alignment when needed. Careful notes should be taken as a reminder of agendas and assignments. Also, should discipline become necessary these notes are critical documents.
- Hold team-building events. Over the years staff I served with held many such events, some just for fun and others as learning experiences: meals; planning retreats; spiritual retreats; conferences; painting ceramics; cooking; bowling; ropes courses; playing games; family gatherings; etc. Do not neglect the assembling of yourselves together – not just for worship and planning but also just for fun! Trust is built when the pressure is off.
Ministerial staff should attend each other’s ministry events. When they do not, discouragement, distrust, and siloing festers. Bring in a consultant to lead in a team-building morning. Outside intervention is especially helpful if there is real team dysfunction.
Take the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator, or another such tool, and have a facilitator interpret it individually and apply it to staff dynamics. Plan some “all-hands-on-deck” ministry events that require every ministerial staff member to participate and work together. Afterward, evaluate how you did as a team.
Remember, building/rebuilding staff team trust is a slow process, so be patient! These seven recommendations can help your staff build a highly functional trusting team that possesses “the confidence among team members that their peers’ intentions are good, and that there is no reason to be protective or careful around the group.” (Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions, p. 195)
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