7 Tips for Improving Staff Relationships

Written by Chuck Gartman

Adapted from an article in Leading Student Ministry magazine, a quarterly resource magazine for student leaders.

To succeed in student ministry, you must learn to not only survive as part of a church staff team, but to thrive as well. That means investing in improving the way you interact and relate as a staff member. Here are seven tips you can use to help improve staff relationships:

1. Develop your own good plans. When asked about your area of ministry, have definite plans for your student ministry. Strategize with both short-term and long-term goals. Definite goals keep you fresh in your thinking and help you avoid conflicts that result from haphazard planning.
2. Set goals with the staff. While you may not be responsible for initiating church-wide goals, you can offer suggestions and share specific goals from your ministry area. As you set goals and communicate with the staff, you will end up with ministry goals and objectives that in line with the rest of the church staff.
3. Manage your time and your calendar. If you don't manage your time and calendar, someone else will. Find a resource to assist you - books, classes, seminars, electronic calendars. Have a method for guiding your weekly planning, your monthly planning, and in planning your annual calendar. Also be aware of your time. Your peers will enjoy serving with you if you value their time. Be punctual and eliminate the words, "I forgot," from your newsletter.
4. Communicate. Keep your pastor and staff in-the-know. Pastors do not like surprises. Put things in writing and distribute your plans to the staff. Also be aware of what is happening in other ministry areas. With email and other electronic avenues, you should be able to communicate and update each other effectively.
5. Play by the rules. While youth ministers are notorious for "coloring outside the lines," when it comes to church or staff-management guidelines - don't do it. If you are supposed to fill out a purchase order, fill it out. If Tuesdays are sacred for the purpose of visitation only, don't plan something that takes people away from that event. Your staff needs for you to be a team player and playing by the rules will help.
6. Have a healthy attitude about your role. As part of the church staff team, you must realize that there can be only one captain of the ship. The others are the crew that supports the forward motion of the vessel. Take your role and do the best you can with what has been entrusted to you. Work within your job description while being flexible to be a support in areas where your leadership is needed.
7. Be a professional. Keep confidences. Support others. Avoid talking negatively about other staff members. Welcome evaluation. Stay current and fresh in your field of work. Attend conferences. Go to seminars. Read, study, and surf the Net for ways to be more effective in your ministry. Get a mentor, and be a mentor. Know when to say no and when to say yes. Don't run to the pastor or your supervisor with everything that you want to do or with everything with which you are dissatisfied. Remember if you want others to take your ministry seriously, start with yourself.

Chuck Gartman is president of "Go To" Youth Ministry, Inc., a national church leadership consulting/conference firm. He is also a youth ministry professor at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas.