One question that nags all church leaders during the COVID-19 Pandemic is whether or not church staff working from home can be trusted to be as productive as they are when onsite. Despite wanting to give your staff the benefit of the doubt, as a pastor or supervisor you are likely still having trust issues. It is quite natural and... Continue Reading
Effective church staff interviewers and hirers aren’t successful just because they are a “good judge of character.” They know how to conduct an interview that asks the right questions and how to identify attributes essential for success in a given position. By following the suggestions in these free resources, your comfort and skill as an interviewer and hirer of church staff will... Continue Reading
With change permeating the church, evolving work environments, and the needs of next generation employees, maximizing the performance of church staff through effective supervision is more important than ever – for both employee satisfaction and church effectiveness. Unfortunately, Gallup Surveys indicate just one in five employees strongly agree their performance is managed by their supervisor in a way that motivates... Continue Reading
The Micromanager can be found in every organization, including and maybe especially in churches. Most every minister has a story to tell about a micromanager pastor. Why are pastors prone to becoming micromanagers? Micromanagement stems from insecurity and lack of trust, and pastors are often insecure and distrustful………and for good reason. No one is a more frequent target for criticism... Continue Reading
While there is much being written about how churches can best respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, these best practices from the business world have many potentially relevant applications to the local church as well. Gallup Managing Director Larry Emond gathered the strategies and policies of 100 members of the CHRO Roundtable, an organization that includes the Chief Human Resource Officers... Continue Reading
In the article, All I Need to Know About Being an Executive Pastor I Learned on West Wing,all we looked at the similarities of the relationships of the President and his Chief of Staff and the Pastor and his Executive Pastor. In this article we continue with that analogy by sharing insights from Chris Whipple’s book, “The Gatekeepers: How the... Continue Reading
In this second of three articles on the recent Gallup study on employee burnout, we explore the role church leaders and supervisors play in reducing and preventing staff burnout. Gallup’s research shows that a crucial element in whether or not workers experience burnout on the job is how supervisors treat their employees. Supervisors are responsible for fostering positive employee... Continue Reading
In this final of three articles on church employee burnout, we explore the environmental factors church leaders should focus on to prevent staff burnout. There is little doubt that minister burnout is a symptom of an increasingly fast-paced, complex, and demanding church environment. Add to that the reality that mobile technology has created 24 hour accessibility and blurred the lines... Continue Reading
According to a recent Gallup study, organizations are facing an employee burnout crisis. 23% of full-time employees reported feeling burned out at work very often or always, and an additional 44% reported feeling burned out sometimes. That means about two-thirds of full-time workers experience burnout on the job. My educated guess is that those percentages hold for church staff’s as... Continue Reading
In the posts, What Church Leaders Should Know About Highly Sensitive Persons and Why The Church Needs Highly Sensitive People we delved into why and how the church should engage highly sensitive persons. In this article we talk about how those who work and live with HSP’s can take full advantage of all that a highly sensitive person has to... Continue Reading
What Is a Highly Sensitive Person? The definition of a highly sensitive person is someone who experiences acute physical, mental, or emotional responses to stimuli. This can include external stimuli, like sounds, surroundings, and people, or internal stimuli, like thoughts, emotions and realizations. While everyone feels sensitive at times, and everyone reacts to stimuli to some degree, a highly sensitive... Continue Reading
We are careful to be honorable before the Lord, but we also want everyone else to know we are honorable – 2 Corinthians 8:21 (NLT) And now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful – 1 Corinthians 4:2 (NIV) Time and again we hear of pastors who feel they are above accountability, and/or... Continue Reading
Jim is a Church Organizational Leadership and Management Coach, Consultant and Trainer. Throughout his career Jim has demonstrated a passion for showing Pastors and Ministers how to use organizational tools for church and personal growth and health.
More About Jim“For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ.” Colossians 2:5