Teams do Better than Individuals
Leaders who go alone are at risk.
A number of years ago I spent a very interesting week with a group of researchers from around the world at the 5th Lausanne Researchers’ Conference. One of the Australian presenters, Peter Kaldor, shared his study on church leadership. He has found that, “Around half of all leaders have difficulty finding time for recreation. A similar percentage acknowledged that they do not take holidays and days off as they should. Examination of levels of emotional exhaustion suggests these leaders experience significantly higher levels of emotional exhaustion.”1
These findings are not surprising when you consider what the traditional church pastoral role was. Pastors are expected to be expert preachers, teachers, motivators, counsellors, administrators, building supervisors, the list is endless. The expectations of church members and the system are high and often somewhat unrealistic. If pastors are going to successfully handle such an array of agenda they must learn to work with and through teams.
A significant part of the New Testament is made up of letters of advice from the Apostles to churches coaching leaders in their team practices. Scripture has a well developed theology of team work. The apostle Paul when advising one of the early churches said, “For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them…” (Romans 12:4-6) He then goes on to define some of the different functions and gifts that exist. Paul uses the analogy of the human body and how its various parts work together to illustrate how church members need to work in teams while respecting each other’s giftedness.
It has been my observations that church pastors and system administrators are more effective when they work through their teams. Developing a team approach means that leaders make better decisions, are greater motivators and simply get more done. No leader can by themselves cover all the facets of leadership, a team is required.
————— Non-balanced Teams Are Less Efficient ————-
Now it is important to recognize that not all ‘teams’ work effectively. If a team is to be successful it has to have two factors in place – good balance and be well linked. Balance occurs when there is a spread of work preferences (gifts) in team members. You don’t want a team of only visionaries, nothing will ever get done. Nor do you want a team of only doers for they will keep doing and getting what they always have got. Getting balance in the team is essential for success.
A study by Roberts and Nason, “…found that although non-balanced teams engaged in more interactions than balanced teams, quantity of interaction did not equate with quality of interaction; the balanced teams demonstrated more efficient and effective knowledge building interactions than non-balanced teams.” 2 What this means is that non-balanced teams are inefficient and frustrating to be part of.
For a number of years I have been using the Team Management Profile (TMP) to help leaders understand their ‘preferences’ and their team member’s preferences. Understanding one’s preferences helps leaders to avoid surrounding themselves with people like themselves which would result in non-balance.
If your team isn’t balanced there are three options:
- Add additional members who have the missing work preferences.
- Invite outsiders with the missing preferences to contribute as needed.
- Take more time in your decision making and work harder in the missing preference areas.
Not only is diversity in team members crucial for team success but also the ability to link members together. Teams with diversity that are linked together are high performing teams. Linking requires good leadership and facilitation skills.
Working through team does require patience and time, all of which will be repaid many times over. Leaders need to trust their teams even when they may see things differently. For ultimately it is the team that has to implement whatever decisions are made. Christian leaders need to acknowledge that they are not the head of the team but the one responsible for ensuring that the team is connecting with Christ who is the head.
T.E.A.M. Together Everyone Achieves More!
References
1. National Church Life Survey 2008
2. Roberts, Alan G and Nason, Rod (2004) Quality not Quantity: Comparing Interaction
Patterns of a Balanced and Non-Balanced Teams Engaged In Model-Building within
a Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) Environment. In Proceedings
International Conference on Computers in Education, Melbourne.