In almost every sphere of our lives, good communication is critical for happiness and productivity. When you are able to effectively share information and communicate expectations, you foster trust and confidence in your working relationships. Good communication is the foundation of any functional church staff, and if you’re managing a team across multiple campuses, the stakes are even higher.
Here are four tips for improving your team’s communication.
1. Demonstrate transparency.
Healthy communication is caught more than it’s taught. When you model it, people will recognize its value and practice it themselves. Leaders model transparency by listening, commenting, asking questions, offering constructive feedback, and welcoming input from others.
For example, when you move in new directions, you don’t just toss out directives. You explain what you aim to accomplish and why. You put in the work to get everyone on board so they understand what’s to be gained by pivoting. This kind of communication sets a tone for your team.
2. Seek out input from the entire team.
Sometimes church leaders lack visibility into the organization as a whole—especially in multisite churches. This makes it easy for leaders to assume a level of understanding they may not actually have. That’s why it’s imperative, as often as possible, to request input from various staff members and ministry heads.
Not only does this fact-finding make it easier to make informed decisions, it also communicates that you care about the ideas and input of the entire team.
3. Tighten up and lighten up on meetings.
Meetings are critical for excellent staff communication, but you have to handle them wisely. Aim to avoid scheduling a meeting unless you have a written agenda for the time together. Whoever is leading the meeting can show respect for all participants by sticking to the allotted time, covering the information that needs to be shared or the issues that need to be discussed per the written agenda, and confirming who will be responsible for each action item.
Well-executed meetings can help everyone keep moving forward, but too often, meetings become the default mode of communication when another mode would be adequate. If you don’t have to pull everyone together for something you can say in an email or private message, then don’t. By taking advantage of communication tools, you can cut back on meetings while improving communication.
4. Connect outside of work.
The best communication comes out of healthy relationships. Have you ever noticed how some leaders seem to have no problem building a healthy rapport with their staff? Those leaders have practiced the skill of making connections. If you want your team to interact well, you need to build into the relationships.
This can be harder than it sounds, because you can’t simply put “build a relationship with so-and-so” on your to-do list. When you have a legitimate desire to forge close bonds with your colleagues, you’ll seek out or create opportunities for connection both in and away from the office. If you’re an executive pastor in charge of staff, plan time to connect one-on-one or in small groups with the staff members under your care—and not just to talk about work stuff. On top of that, aim to create opportunities for your staff to kick back and just enjoy being together.
Good communication does not just happen.
Creating a culture where communication thrives changes everything. Good communication improves creativity and collaboration. It raises morale. And it makes everyone more productive. Building this culture takes effort and intention, but putting together a team that communicates well is worth it!
