{"id":1624,"date":"2015-02-23T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-23T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/?p=1624"},"modified":"2015-02-23T08:00:06","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T15:00:06","slug":"10-questions-you-should-be-asking-your-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/?p=1624","title":{"rendered":"10 Questions You Should Be Asking Your Staff"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"10<\/a><\/p>\n

There are a lot of responsibilities\u00a0that a pastor\u00a0has to jungle throughout the week, but none more important than shepherding his or her staff. \u00a0No matter if you have part-time, full time or a mix of both on your staff, here are 10\u00a0questions that you should be asking everybody who works for you:<\/p>\n

1. How is the Lord forming you to be more like Jesus right now?<\/strong> – It isn’t enough to ask them\u00a0if<\/em> they are spending time\u00a0with God. \u00a0We need to ask our staff a more penetrating question that gets to the heart of what’s happening in their souls\u00a0when<\/em> they spend time with God. \u00a0God’s agenda for all of us is to make us like his son Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0We need to help our staff see that God uses everything in our lives (victories, losses, obstacles, failures, and successes)\u00a0to help our staff move from where they are to where God wants them to be. \u00a0It matters not how much time they are spending with God if they are not being transformed into the person God wants them to be.<\/p>\n

2. What do you want more of or less of from your spouse\u00a0(or friends)?<\/strong> – Help your staff build a healthy relationship away from work with his or her spouse (or with\u00a0their friends if they aren’t married) by asking them a deeper question of what it is\u00a0they want in their relationship with their spouse or friends. \u00a0Most of us find it tough to ask this question in\u00a0our closest relationships. \u00a0We think it is too self-serving. \u00a0However, when we don’t allow our relationships to be challenged to grow, we end up settling for far less in our relationships. \u00a0Accommodating relationships that aren’t supportive and life-giving with those who matter most in our lives\u00a0can create resentment and anger or discouragement and neglect. \u00a0These feelings will eventually act like poison in our souls, and lead\u00a0us to feeling alone and unsupported in our most important relationships. \u00a0So ask what your staff\u00a0want more of or less of from\u00a0their\u00a0spouse or from their friends, so\u00a0your staff\u00a0can begin building deeper marriages and deeper friendships that matter.<\/p>\n

3. What is the number one challenge\u00a0you face in your ministry right now?<\/strong> – Help your staff unload their burdens of ministry on you. \u00a0Asking this question relieves them of carrying it alone, and it also shows them that you are attune to the difficulties they are facing. \u00a0If you ask this question AND you are willing to hear their concern without giving them a solution, they will be less likely to complain about their ministry at home because you have shouldered the burden for them at work.<\/p>\n

4. What encourages you most about your ministry right now?<\/strong> – Just as it is helpful for staff to verbalize their challenges, it is also helpful for staff to tell you where they are encouraged. \u00a0Once they finish sharing their encouragement, you have the opportunity to put more wind in their sails by affirming those good things in their work and their role in bringing them about.\u00a0 Most people let the\u00a0negatives linger far longer than the positives. \u00a0So here’s your chance to brag\u00a0on your staff and their ministry, so they can hold on to the positives in their\u00a0ministry a little bit longer.<\/p>\n

5. What is the number one opportunity\u00a0you face in your ministry?\u00a0<\/strong>– Always ask this question after you have asked question number 3. \u00a0The reason is that people have a hard time thinking about new opportunities\u00a0unless they have been\u00a0heard about the current challenges they face. \u00a0The benefit of leading your staff\u00a0to think about the\u00a0opportunities they face in ministry is a way to inspire them\u00a0to hope even in the midst of the challenges\u00a0they face.<\/p>\n

6. What is your plan for dealing with your challenge and taking advantage of your opportunity this month?<\/strong> – This is a great question that rarely gets asked. \u00a0Most of the time, supervisors think it is their job to tell their staff what to do. \u00a0Instead, show that you value your staff by showing them that you believe they have what it takes to overcome their challenge and take advantage of their opportunity. \u00a0Have them come up with the plan for action this month in their ministry. \u00a0If they ask for your help, feel free to give it, but only if they ask for it. \u00a0There are two things that you want to do when you hear the staff’s plan: 1) Make sure that their plan isn’t in conflict with\u00a0another staff’s plan, and 2) Ask them how you can help them succeed in their plans. \u00a0This will really motivate your staff to own their ministry.<\/p>\n

7. How are you taking care of the volunteers in your ministry?<\/strong> – From administrators to the Lead Pastor, every staff should have volunteers in their ministry. \u00a0Volunteers are the most precious resource\u00a0in your church. \u00a0If you want to keep them, you\u00a0need to learn how to serve them well. \u00a0Help your staff not to neglect their volunteers by leading them to think through a strategy for how they can\u00a0serve those who lead alongside them in their ministry.<\/p>\n

8. Are\u00a0you in conflict with anyone (including me), and if so what what is your plan to deal with it?<\/strong> – Conflict is never fun to go through, but conflict only kills our relationships if it is left to fester like an untreated wound. \u00a0If you\u00a0don’t deal with conflict when it arises, then conflict will sap all the relational energy in your church. \u00a0It won’t go away with wishful thinking. \u00a0Because conflict is so difficult for many people, you need to ask about it. \u00a0Give courage to your staff by helping your\u00a0staff come up with a good plan for dealing with it in accordance with Matt. 18. \u00a0Again, you aren’t creating the solution. \u00a0The staff comes up with the plan of action. \u00a0Note: If the staff is in conflict with you, encourage him or her\u00a0to share with you his or her\u00a0issue. \u00a0Be open to hear the staff’s\u00a0concern. \u00a0Let him or her\u00a0know that you are willing to hear the issue he or she is\u00a0concerned about. \u00a0Make sure the staff knows that your goal is to work through the conflict in order\u00a0to build trust.\u00a0 Just know that as their supervisor, you have more\u00a0power in the relationship. \u00a0In order to create a level playing field, you might\u00a0want to\u00a0ask the staff if he or she\u00a0would feel more comfortable having someone from the board be present during the discussion in order to create a safe environment for the staff.<\/p>\n

9. Is there anything you would like to talk to me about\u00a0that I haven’t asked about?<\/strong> – This is a great question because it allows the staff to bring his or her agenda to your attention. \u00a0There are some staff that have great ideas or insight for another area of ministry outside their own. \u00a0Cultivate your staff to support one another by allowing them to share their thoughts about the big picture of the church, not just their own ministry.<\/p>\n

10. What’s one thing I can be praying for you about this month? <\/strong>–\u00a0After the staff answers this question, spend time praying\u00a0for them right then and there. \u00a0Too many times we miss a great opportunity to bless our staff. \u00a0The staff usually are the ones praying over others in their ministry. \u00a0Don’t miss this opportunity to return the blessing to your staff by praying over them in person. \u00a0Take the time to bring their cares and concerns to the Lord. \u00a0Use your prayer to encourage them by bragging on them in the Father’s presence.<\/p>\n

BONUS:<\/strong> If you want to get the most bang out of these questions, send your staff these questions a week before you meet with them. \u00a0Have them write out their answers, and then talk to them about it in person. \u00a0This will help your introverted staff be ready for the conversation, and it will help your verbal processors be focused on what they want to say.<\/p>\n

Are there other questions you are asking your staff that have been helpful in supervising them?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are a lot of responsibilities\u00a0that a pastor\u00a0has to jungle throughout the week, but none more important than shepherding his or her staff. \u00a0No matter if you have part-time, full time or a mix of both on your staff, here are 10\u00a0questions that you should be asking everybody who works for you: 1. How is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theawakenministry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/10-Questions-You-Should-Be-Asking-Your-Staff.001.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1624"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1645,"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1624\/revisions\/1645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}