The Best Ways to Lead and Recruit Volunteer Teams: Part 2 BY ALLEN FARR

Last month, we delved into the crucial steps of identifying your needs and promoting volunteer positions within your church community. If you missed that article, I highly recommend starting there for valuable insights. You can access it by clicking the July cover icon.

Picture this. The service is just 20 minutes away from starting and a man approaches you with an intriguing request: “I’ve been pondering how to get more involved in church, and I’m really drawn to those mesmerizing lights. Is there a way I could learn how to handle them?” Wow, talk about the perfect problem and the worst timing!

When it comes to recruiting new team members, you’ve got to have a plan in place. Don’t wait until someone shows up to figure out what to do—be prepared beforehand and be ready to adjust along the way. Remember, “perfection is the enemy of progress.” Trying to make your plan perfect before implementing it will only delay your progress. Embrace the fact that course correction will be necessary and roll with it like a pro.

Have a Plan

Now, let’s break down the elements of a solid plan, starting with onboarding. To help new volunteers get acquainted with your team, have a clear and simple process in place. Start off with a friendly chat, invite them to attend one service and let them know you’ll have a chat before or after the service they attend. This will help you gauge their commitment. In a more in-depth conversation, you can dig into their background, experience, and preferences. Based on their interests, you can assign them a suitable position. If they’re not sure, start them on something forgiving, like handling a camera or whatever your simplest position might be. Keep the onboarding process straightforward and simple. Give new members the chance to shadow someone or dive in and get involved quickly.

Create a Schedule

Once you’ve had your discussion and know where they’re going to serve, you need to get them scheduled. It’s a crucial aspect for both new and existing volunteers. There are various software options out there that can help you with scheduling services. Even if you’re on a tight budget, you can still create a scheduling system using free tools found on the internet. Just make sure you stay organized and keep track of your team’s availability and assignments. Plan ahead and find strategies that work for you, such as rotating teams (ABC teams), having teams serve specific services, or even having teams serve the whole day. Flexibility is key and finding what works for you is the way to go.

Once you have your volunteers scheduled, the next crucial step is providing them with effective training to seamlessly integrate them into your team. Begin by having them shadow experienced team members, allowing them to observe and learn the ropes. An excellent approach is to adopt the “Five Steps of Leadership Development” training method:

I do. You watch. We talk.

I do. You help. We talk.

You do. I help. We talk.

You do. I watch. We talk.

You do. Someone else watches.

Encouraging cross-training among volunteers is also valuable, enabling experienced team members to train new recruits. Consider organizing quarterly training days that combine fellowship, devotionals, and focused training sessions into an exciting package. You can even implement a lanyard system, allowing volunteers to progress through different levels as they gain experience, eventually becoming trainers themselves. Additionally, leveraging specific intensives and video training materials can work wonders in equipping volunteers for their respective roles.

Having a well-defined plan for onboarding, scheduling, and training for new and current team members is key. Don’t wait for the first person to show up before scrambling to create a plan. Be prepared, adjust as needed, and embrace the journey of progress rather than chasing after perfection.

Eliminate Frustrations

But wait – we’re not done yet! You’ve gone through the whole process—evaluated, recruited, scheduled, and trained—but now it’s time to take care of your precious volunteers.

When it comes to giving people a place to serve, make sure you do your best to smooth out any rough edges in their position. It’s not just about telling someone to press the red button when the pastor shows up on stage (although that red button might be the most crucial button in the whole service—so go ahead and let them press it!). What I mean is, assign them a meaningful job, but try to eliminate the frustrations that can come with it.

Take the graphics position, for example. Let’s say your graphics person shows up every Sunday and loads songs and content into the computer. Before they arrive that morning, make sure all the content is there and ready to be loaded. Double-check everything so they don’t get caught off guard by a misspelled word or a wrong image. Set them up for success. Make their job fulfilling without unnecessary frustrations. I know, it’s not an easy task, but give it your best shot. There are likely steps you can take to make things better than they currently are.

This is possibly the trickiest part of all because now they’re like owners. They’re invested and eager to make things better. They’ve caught a glimpse behind the curtain and realized that even the folks working in the church are human—just like them. They might see frustrations or even have frustrations of their own; it can be challenging, but you’ve got to do your absolute best to take care of them, nurture their growth, and keep the spirit of camaraderie alive.

Take Care of Your Team

Create a fun and inviting atmosphere. If you show up all frustrated, they won’t be thrilled about being there either. Talk about things other than production. Try to get them some team shirts or lanyards that show they’re part of something awesome. Treat them to some food, like snacks or breakfast goodies. Let me go off on a tangent for a moment: I’m convinced there are people who would love to serve on the production team, even if they’re not directly involved in production tasks. For example, find someone who loves to cook and let them prepare breakfast once a month for the team. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just something warm and delicious. Trust me, if you have warm bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits along with hot coffee on a chilly morning, you’ll have people lining up to join the team in no time.

Pray with your team and for your team. Consider finding someone known for their prayer warrior skills to be part of the production team. Their role could be praying for the team before services start and during rehearsals. Send them a text. Give them a call. Write them a note. We’ve got to take care of our teams.

Remember Proverbs 14:4 ESV: “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.” Basically, when the stable is ox-free, it’s tidy and spick-and-span, but there’s no productivity happening either. It’s all squeaky clean and no farming going on. But when those oxen are present, oh boy, they bring the muscle and hard work needed to cultivate bountiful crops. The catch is their presence might make the manger a bit dirty due to their diligent labor.

This may seem like a lot, and you might be thinking, “I can’t do all that!” Some of you have full-time jobs and are volunteering as leaders of other volunteers. I totally get it. This isn’t a walk in the park. But take heart and be encouraged. The fact that you’re even reading this shows that you care and want to do more for your church and the people you lead. Keep going. Keep pushing. Take baby steps. Like I mentioned earlier, remember this is a process—a journey filled with tension. As you navigate this process, things will improve, and when you look back a year from now, you’ll be amazed at how far you’ve come and where you’re at. You got this!

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Allen Farr is an accomplished Production and Media Director with a proven track record of success in the church industry. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Worship and Leadership from Liberty University, which has equipped him with the knowledge and expertise to excel in his field. Currently, Allen serves as the Central Production Director at Liberty Live Church, a dynamic multisite church located in Hampton, VA.