Every church tech team faces both positive seasons of excitement, growth and energy, as well as slower seasons of having to strive towards improvement. Through every season, encouragement is what will keep your team moving and growing to a higher level.
Here are 4 simple ways to encourage members of your team:
1. Celebrate Individual Wins
At your next team meeting, or perhaps in a Facebook Live video in your team’s Facebook group, give out awards for results you’ve been wanting celebrate on your team.
These don’t have to be expensive trophies or prizes, and sometimes a few cheesy purchases from the dollar store, or some chocolate bars will do the trick. The purpose is not the prize, but to celebrate the results on the team, and encourage them to be repeated.
What results have you seen that you’d like to be repeated?
- Someone has invited 2 new people to join the team in the last month
- Your lyric tech has developed a written set of standards for font choices, number of lines and background choices for your screens
- Your sound guy has made a checklist that he uses every week to be sure his supplies are topped up and batteries checked
- A camera operator made a “how-to” manual for turning on or off the cameras each week that others can use
- A team member has perfect attendance on the schedule for the past year
Whatever these results are, and in whatever way you choose to celebrate them, do it publicly. The person receiving the recognition will appreciate the acknowledgement and the rest of the team will pick up on the cues.
2. Celebrate Team Wins
What results have you worked towards as a team that can be celebrated?
- We had our first live broadcast with over 100 viewers
- Here’s a song from worship this week where every camera cue was perfectly in rhythm with the music
- The lighting and lyric person worked together at rehearsal on Thursday so that all of the backgrounds and lighting cues were the same color for each song.
- We had a full service where we kept Pastor in frame, even when he stepped down off the stage unexpectedly.
The value of “I’m part of something bigger than me” plays a role in sports, live theatre, successful work environments AND on your tech team.
3. Ask for Feedback from the Team
Nothing makes you feel more involved on the team than when the coach lets YOU call the play. So, which results are you currently working on as a team, and can ask your volunteers to chime in for feedback?
- We’re wanting to reach more people on Facebook Live broadcasts. Ideas?
- We’re going to be buying another camera for the auditorium. Where could we position it?
- We’re going to try something new with the lights this Sunday. How can we highlight that effect with proper camera angles?
- CMG’s new pack was just released. Who would like to look through and pick out backgrounds for Sunday?
Helping your volunteers get hands-on in creating the results lets you come back later and give them a shout out for their contribution. “Shout-out to Steve for choosing the new backgrounds for this past Sunday. They looked great!”
In most cases, and especially if you’re trying this for the first time, have your volunteers contribute ideas, not vote on decisions. Ultimately, the decision still rests with you. Something like, “We had 3 suggestions for where to position our new camera. We’re going to try position 1 this week and then see what the results look like after Sunday.”
4. Send a Personal Note
Depending on the volunteer, you’ll know whether text, email or a phone call will best serve that person, but make a point of contacting at least five team members a week in one of those ways.
For you, this might look like one per day first thing each morning, or all five on your Tuesday lunch break. For some team members a simple “Hey, thanks for being part of an incredible team” is what they’ll love to hear. With other team members, you might be more specific to their personality or the results they’ve helped the team accomplish. “Just wanted to say thank you for figuring out the lighting board and running it this weekend. It was incredible to see it in action.” Or, something like, “Thanks for running switcher on Sunday. We had over 50 people watching on Facebook, and you represented our church well.”
Set a reminder in your phone for each team member’s birthday. Be sure to send them a personal note on that day. Also mention upcoming birthdays in your team’s Facebook group, or in your Sunday morning meeting.
The key is to show that you care for each team member as an individual. Choose a method that will best connect with that person, and write a message that considers what would be meaningful for them.
As you’re celebrating individual wins, celebrating team wins, asking for feedback and sending personal notes, focus on using results as the tools to encourage your volunteers.
New Backgrounds Make Every Sunday Fun
Choosing backgrounds for your worship songs is one of the easiest (and most fun) ways to get new volunteers involved. New motions immediately give your worship space a fresh look, so it’s easy to celebrate and give credit to your team member for contributing to the project. Church Motion Graphics makes it simple to keep a fresh look with a new pack of motion backgrounds released each month, plus a growing library of backgrounds from past packs.
See Our Motion Backgrounds
