Unfortunately,
a team of people committed to a common task or cause can be so focused on that
task that they forget they're doing it together. Mark Beeson has reminded us
often at Granger that we want to keep some kind of "balance" between
task and relationship. It probably looks something like 49% relationship, 51%
task, and maintaining that balancing act requires diligent intentionality.
Any task
worth accomplishing requires focus. Greeting guests, serving beverages in a
cafe, feeding the poor, teaching children, performing the arts - these and more
require attention. It's easy when the pace is fast and the need is intense to
put your nose to the grindstone, relentless on just "gitten' 'er
dun." The risk is that we miss the people with whom we're serving and miss
half the benefit of serving in team.
Here are
some quick thoughts about maximizing relationships in the process of
accomplishing the tasks of ministry:
- build "connect" time into the serve time
- expect volunteers to arrive early enough to eat
together, pray together and prepare for the serve
- if you're the leader of the team,
make sure you're "free" during the serving time to talk, invest,
and celebrate "wins"
- if you allow yourself to get "stuck" in a
task role, you'll not be available to do so...
- extend the conversation beyond the
serving component
- using email, phone, Twitter, Facebook and personal
visits, encourage the team to share life by supporting each other outside
the weekend or other serving times
- initiate a mass-email follow-up to
the serving time
- send emails, listing prayer concerns, praises, news
about team members and the next gathering
- remember birthdays, anniversaries,
and other important high points in the lives of your team members
- bring in a cake, send a card, allow time for people
to talk to each other about their other interests
- celebrate the "wins" of the
task
- acknowledge
that the team accomplished "x", celebrate stories you've heard
from guests and members to mark the effectiveness of the team
What else
are you doing to balance the tension between task and team?
