But, before we can help a struggling team member, we must first understand what is causing them to struggle. A team member may be having difficulty in their role for many reasons. For example, they may be failing to succeed due to:

Poor organizational skills: Some individuals struggle with just getting their work organized. They are disorganized and have no system in place for managing their responsibilities. This causes them to miss deadlines and fail to complete their work.

Lack of attention to detail: Others get their work done, but they have an inattention to detail, which leads them to turn in work riddled with errors and mistakes.   

Overwhelmed: Some team members may just feel overwhelmed, which causes them to shut down. Or it may cause them to try multitasking their work, which studies show only 2.5% of people can do effectively. So, rather than getting multiple tasks done simultaneously like they are hoping, they lose focus and struggle more.

Poor time management: A few team members may be organized in keeping track of their tasks and responsibilities; they are just not good at budgeting their time. They often underestimate the time required to get stuff done. This causes them to miss deadlines or end up cramming, resulting in their work being done poorly.

Procrastination: Some are procrastinators who put things off until the last minute. As we all know, it’s hard to do high-quality work when the team scurries around trying to get things done.

Lack of clear communication: A team member may struggle because they don’t understand what they should be doing. Perhaps it wasn’t explained to them well, or they were not listening when it was, but they are unsure of what to do, leading to errors and delays.

Lack of motivation or engagement: Team members are often not motivated. There may be several reasons for this lack of motivation, which needs to be explored with them, but whatever the reason, it leads to subpar work.

Lack of training: Some employees may not be getting the task done or done the right way because they simply don’t know how.

Personal factors: One of the biggest things that may be affecting someone’s work is personal issues. These could include health problems, family issues, financial issues, or other stressful stuff that makes it hard for them to concentrate, stay organized, and get their work done.

There are many reasons a team member may be struggling, and the first step in being able to help them is to truly understand what is going on to cause their low performance. We can’t help them fix an issue if we don’t first know what that issue is.

But, once we understand the issue, as leaders, what can we do to help our struggling team member?

1. Provide clear expectations and instructions: If we are frustrated with a team member’s performance, we must ensure they understand they are missing the mark. So, ensure they know their job, the minimum standard, and where they are falling short.

2. Set realistic goals and prioritize tasks: Related to number one above, don’t just give team members the end goal but also help them break down their responsibilities into smaller goals and tasks. Then help them prioritize those tasks and focus on what is most important.

3. Offer training and resources: If they know what the standard is, and they are still failing to meet it, the next question to ask is, do they know how to do the work that is being asked of them. If not, provide them with the training they need.

4. Get them the right tools: Some people track things better with a pen and paper. Others use the basic “Notes” app on their phone or computer. Some work best with full computer programs like Todoist or Nozbe.  Have the employee find what works best for them and provide it to them.   

5. Regular check-ins and feedback: Some people work great independently and need only a few reminders and little feedback. However, most people need at least the occasional check-in to know they are headed in the right direction. Schedule time for regular check-ins with each member of your team.

6. Offer mentoring or coaching: If all the above still isn’t working, consider providing a team member with a coach who can help them with the guidance and support they need to address their specific issue.

7. Flexibility and understanding: For those facing personal issues outside work. Recognize that these stresses are likely to some degree affecting their performance. Be understanding and offer flexibility when you are able. Be accessible so that team members feel comfortable discussing personal difficulties with you that may impact their work. Treat your employees with the kindness you would want to be treated with if you were facing what they are in their life.

8. Foster a positive work environment: One of the best things we can do to help employees thrive is to create a work environment that people want to be a part of and do their best for. We create a positive work environment by doing small things like taking time to appreciate everyone’s efforts, sending people training so they can continue to grow personally and professionally, and encouraging a healthy work-life balance. This creates an atmosphere that motivates people, which leads them to be focused on doing their best.

9. Pray for your employees: As a pastor, I know that one of the best things I can do for my team members and their families is to pray for them. Pray for their well-being and success. Pray for their role on the team. Pray for their strengths to be developed and for their weaknesses to be overcome.  

10. Lead by example: As a leader, your actions and attitude set the tone for the workplace. Be a positive model and demonstrate the qualities you want your entire team to have.  

Remember, everyone is unique. Likewise, each team member’s struggles are unique, so how we help each person will differ. But, as leaders, it is our responsibility to come alongside those that are struggling and find ways to allow them to grow and thrive.

1. Stay Busy – They come with the “batteries included”, present ideas, get things moving, and don’t need someone else to light a fire under their backside.
2. Faithfully Follow – They pursue the Pastor’s agenda and not their own.  Although they initiate and take ownership, they do not get out in front of their senior pastor.  They ask for permission, not forgiveness.  
3. Think Big-Picture – They realize it’s not just about their ministry, it’s about the Pastor’s vision, the whole church, and the Kingdom of God.
4. Embrace Teamwork – They don’t operate in a silo, but actively contribute to, and care for, the whole team.  They realize that even all-star players are terrible teammates if they can’t work with others.
5. Listen Well – They realize they don’t have all the answers, so they listen and learn.  They seek advice from those with more experience and wisdom than themselves.  They are humble, not arrogant.
6. Grow Continually – They continually improve by reading, listening, and gaining experience.   They prioritize daily spiritual growth.
7. Manage Themselves – They manage their life and ministry well.  They keep a to-do list, calendar, and track of whatever else they are responsible for.  They do not require much, if any, follow-up.  They do their job without needing to be reminded.
8. Provide Solutions – When they face a challenge they don’t just come to the team with that problem, rather they come and present both the problem and a viable solution.
9. Avoid Weeds – and fires and icebergs and shipwrecks.  They are emotionally, culturally, ministerially and generally intelligent. 
10. Empower People – They develop people and work themselves out of a job.
11. Implement Systems – They work hard to develop systems, so when they are gone everything continues smoothly.
12. Choose Positivity – Although, like everyone they have good and bad days, they are generally optimistic and upbeat.
13. Rebound Quickly – They try hard things, which means they fail from time-to-time.  When they do fail, they own it, and then get right back up and keep moving.
14. Love People – They have a shepherds heart.  They care for people.  Ministry is a ministry to them, and not just a job. 
15. Take Bullets – They take bullets for their senior pastor, figuratively and perhaps even literally.

1. Pray before you arrive.  You are representing Jesus, ask how He wants to use you.
2. Sanitize your hands.  Observe signs regarding masks and other contact precautions when entering a room. If you have been sick talk with the XP about whether you should actually visit.
3. Turn off your cell phone or set it to silent.
4. Have a plan.  Know what verses you are going to read.  Always have anointing oil.  When visiting shut-ins always take communion. 
5. Introduce yourself.  If you don’t know the person, be sure to identify yourself and the fact you are from Calvary.  If the door is shut when you arrive, knock before entering. 
6. Complete the visit, but donâ€t obstruct the flow.  Let the hospital staff do their job, at the same time make sure you do yours, even if you have to be assertive.
7. Keep it short.  Being a patient can be exhausting.  Keep your hospital visits to about 10-15 minutes.  For shut-ins, a lot depends on the situation, but 30 minutes is a good rule of thumb.
8. Don’t rush out the door, or even seem rushed.  Take the time to sit down, always in a chair and never on the bed.  Take your coat off and don’t make it seem like you are stopping by just to do a job.  If you sense you should stay, then stay.  Even if that means you are sitting quietly with the person, not even talking.
9. Be sensitive, but not timid.  Ask questions about what is going on in their life, but if you sense they are being private don’t press.
10. Pray.  Always pray for the person you are visiting.  Ask permission, but always offer to anoint with oil.
11. Remember the family.  They often require pastoral care too.  A great practice is to call the family after visiting with their loved one.
12. Send your report.  You should email a report of your visits to *******@*********.***. 

1. Send it “To” the correct people, that is who needs to receive the information and do something with it. We recommend filling in who you are sending the email to last, as it saves you from inadvertently sending the email before you are done.

2. “CC” the correct people. Feel free to CC anyone who might need to know the information in your email as an FYI, but is not expected to respond. In general, we encourage you to be liberal in CCing people, as we want people in the know, but please do not go overboard.

3. Reconsider before using “BCC.” Ask yourself why you are really using BCC. And ask yourself how the recipient will feel when they find out you blind copied someone else, and how you are going to feel, when you find out, that they found out.  Itâ€s probably better to simply use CC.

4. Unless absolutely necessary donâ€t respond to an email you were CCed on. You were CCed for your information, not your input.

5. Think twice before hitting “Reply All.” There are over 20 people on staff, even if it takes the average person 5 seconds to read and delete your reply, you just wasted a minute or two of the churchâ€s time (20 people x 5 seconds = 100 seconds). Thatâ€s one to two minutes, on the low end, every single time someone does this.   Whatever you do, donâ€t reply all with an email that simply says “Great!”.

6. Use a strong, clear, informative subject line. Your subject line should not be long, but it should be clear. Some bad subject lines I have seen recently include a blank subject line, “Hey!”,  “Today” and one where the entire three sentence email was in the subject line.  People decide whether they are going to open emails based on subject lines, so if you want them to read your email, chose well.

7. Only tackle one subject in each email. Your email may be a summary of multiple things under one heading (such as Sunday Follow-Up or Funeral Info for John Doe) but donâ€t put two unrelated subjects in one email. It gets too confusing when people start replying to different parts of the email and it also causes people to miss things.

8. Be concise. Very few people respond to a massive block of text. If youâ€ve ever received an email back saying “letâ€s just talk about this in person” that is code for you just wrote too much to read, process and respond to in an email. If it requires more than a paragraph or two, then it is probably better to handle in person.  Also, donâ€t bury the lead.  Get right to the point of your email.

9. Ask for the response you want. A great way to end an email is to simply state “Can you have this to me by 5pm on Thursday?” or even, “No need to reply, but I just wanted you to be aware of the issue.” Tell the person what you want them to do with the information you have just presented. If you are not specific in what you are asking for, donâ€t be upset when you donâ€t get the reply you want.

10. Remember your tone – Email is horrible at communicating tone. You have to be over the top to get tone to come across in email. Avoid negative words like failure and wrong.  Be sure to use please and thank you.   Be especially careful with humor, as it often doesnâ€t translate.  Use exclamation points sparingly!!! Never argue via email.  Donâ€t use ALL CAPS unless you really are trying to yell something.

11. If you are upset, wait a day. We rarely say the right things, in the right way, when we are mad. Actually, this one really should be “if you are upset, wait a day, and then go talk to the person face-to-face.”  Itâ€s easy to go pop off an email in anger, itâ€s hard to deal with the relational consequences your short-tempered email will produce.

12. Do not copy other people in on someone elseâ€s email when you reply without getting the original senders permission first. Likewise, donâ€t forward someoneâ€s email without their permission.  Just so you know, I view this a breaking confidentiality which is the “unpardonable sin” on staff.  When I send something to you I am choosing the content and wording that I would say to you, not necessarily someone else.  Also, donâ€t hit reply all and then communicate a private/confidential reply.

13. Read every email. Email is the primary way we communicate throughout the week, so it is important and it is part of the daily responsibilities of your job. Neglecting email is not an option.

14. Reply to every email where your response is requested or needed. Our staff policy is to reply to every email that a response is needed for within 24 hours, unless you have a day off or vacation. It is far better to reply and say, “I donâ€t have an answer to that, but I will ask at staff meeting next week and get back to you” than to leave them waiting a week. If you know you are not going to get back to email within 24 hours then you should use your out of office assistant.

15. Proofread every email. I once heard the rule of thumb that you should proofread an email one time for every one person you are sending it to. That is a little overboard for an inter-staff email, but if it is going out to a group in the church it may not be far off. If it is an email going to a large group, have two or three other people proofread before sending it.  We do things with excellence.  Sloppy emails are not us.

16. Use your church email address for church matters, and use your personal email address for personal matters. Again, we do things with excellence and professionalism. Your old AOL email address is actually vintage cool, but it doesnâ€t work for sending church emails from.  Alf may have been your favorite TV show growing up, but ilovealf@gmail.com is not going work for sending church emails.

17. Be careful with abbreviations and emoticons. Again, be mindful of professionalism. This is especially true in mass emails and in your first email exchanges with people.   They may not appreciate all your emoticons as much as you do.  They may not even understand your abbreviations.  How many people actually know what QUE stands for?  Or NNTR?

18. Donâ€t use read receipts. First, they are annoying. Second, they do not usually work, as people decline them or block the feature altogether.  Third, they communicate a lack of trust.

19. Remember nothing is confidential. On staff, forwarding an email without permission is a breach of confidentiality. Remember though, when you email someone outside of this staff, there isnâ€t much that keeps them from forwarding it to everyone they know with a couple of keystrokes.  Assume that others, including those you may not want to, will see everything you write.  Along these lines, as a general rule, do not use email to discuss confidential information.

This one day local conference, on Tuesday, June 13th,  is designed to help pastors and church leaders create fresh momentum and energy in their ministries, promote and market their churches better within their communities, and so much more!  In order to make the conference as accessible as possible, the cost is only $30, which includes a catered lunch.

If you are a pastor or church leader in New England you do not want to miss out on this special day!  To register, or find out more information, simply go to nepastorsinitiative.org.

As a pastor, here are some of my current favorites…

• The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast: Lead Like Never Before – This podcast is designed to help you develop as a leader in your church or business.
• The ChurchLeaders Podcast – This podcast features all sorts of church leaders speaking on a wide range of topics of interest to those involved in church ministry.
• Vanderbloemen Leadership Podcast – This podcast focuses on building and leading great teams.
• Perry Noble Leadership Podcast – This podcast will stretch you as a leader and force you to think more like Christ.
• unSeminary Podcast – This podcast gives practical, tangible and easy to use ideas for ministry.
• Rainer on Leadership – Great easily applicable advice for local church ministry.
• The Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast – This podcast, obviously put out by Andy Stanley, is designed to help you go further as a leader.
• The Productivity Show – Getting Things Done – This is a great podcast full of amazing ways to save time and increase productivity.

These are some of my favorites.  What about you?  What do you listen to?  If nothing, maybe consider subscribing to one of the ones above, or something you are interested in, this week.

Visitation & On-Call Pastors - Every day there is one pastor that is assigned to do all the hospital visitation for that day. If the church is aware going into the day that someone is in the hospital, and in need of a visit, then this is the pastor that goes.  Additionally, there is another pastor that is on-call each day.  This pastor handles any pastoral care that cannot be planned ahead.  This would include anyone who is rushed to the hospital or anyone who calls or walks in wanting to talk with a pastor.

Hospital Visitation Frequency - A pastor from the church does hospital visitation every day of the week, except Sunday.  This means that someone who is in the hospital for multiple days will get a visit from a pastor every day unless they are in over an entire weekend.

Visitation Frequency for Rehab & Long Hosptial Stays – If someone leaves the hospital for rehab, or is in the hospital over a weeks time but is not in critical condition, then the parishioner will receive visits only three days per week from the pastoral staff.  If they stay in rehab for an extended period of time, then the visits may be reduced to only two visits per week.

Shut-Ins Visitation Frequency – Shut-ins, those who are physically unable to come out to church, are visited by one member of the pastoral staff monthly.  They also receive a weekly DVD of the church service so they can watch the service from their home, and if the shut-in doesn’t have a DVD player the church will purchase one for them.

Pastors Who Visit - Every single pastor of the pastoral team is a part of the visitation ministry.  The associates pastors, even the associate pastor of youth or kids, is assigned one day per week to do visitation ministry.  The senior pastor also participates in pastoral visitation but their visits are in addition to the schedule mentioned above.

Others Who Visit - The pastoral visitation team is just one layer of the visitation ministry of the church.   In addition to the pastors, there are also ministries in place that visit shut-ins, another ministry that writes cards to shut-ins, a nursing home ministry that performs services in nursing homes where some parishioners live, and more.  There are also trained lay leaders in the church that visit people when they are in the hospital, including one lady whose ministry is to walk with people as they are facing life-threatening illnesses or those who have been brought into hospice care.   There are lay/retired pastors, board members, interns and others who all participate in the visitation ministry of the church.  Finally, there is the church family.  People from small groups throughout the church visit one another when they are in need of care.

It All Works Together - All of this visitation works together to provide the love of Christ to each member of the church family throughout their time of need.  Take shut-ins for an example  Although it probably doesn’t happen this perfectly often, it is possible that a shut-in will receive a visit from an associate pastor one week of the month, another visit from the visitation ministry another, perhaps a visit from a friend in the church another and then from the senior pastor another.  In one month, even though they can’t get out to church, the church will get to them every week.  Additionally, they receive a copy of the service each week on DVD, and even receive the church’s weekly newsletter.   They could receive contact from their church three times a week, every week of the month, even though they can’t leave their home.  Whether shut-in like this, or in the hospital, this visitation ministry ensures that no one is forgotten.

It Scales – Some might argue that a church with multiple staff can do visitation like this, as they have multiple pastors for multiple days.  However, this church did visitation like this even when it was much smaller and didn’t have the staff that it does today.  When the church was smaller, there were fewer people who were in the hospital, thus requiring fewer visits and time per week.  As the church grew, no doubt because of the level of care and attention people were receiving, they were able to add staff and volunteers to keep up with the increasing demands of pastoral care.

This is how one church structures their visitation ministry, how have your seen other churches handle this vital minsitry of the church?

First, we have a formal application process.  We are only able to take on four paid summer interns, despite the fact that we always have far more apply.  To help us decide who gets to spend the summer with us, we have them fill out a preliminary application that asks them about their ministry goals, where they are at in life, and where they see God leading them.  We only allow individuals who are pursuing full-time vocational ministry to be a part of our summer intern ministry.  (To see the application that we use feel free to check out https://lccc.wufoo.com/forms/calvary-christian-church-internship-application/.)

After they fill out the application there is an interview.  If we don’t already know them well, we use this interview to get to know them a bit better and hear more of their story.  We also take the interview to go over the Summer Intern Job Description so we are sure they know exactly what they are getting themselves into.

Once the intern has been accepted, we make sure that their 10 weeks with us is chock full of both ministry experience and practical learning.  Interns are busy with church services and meetings, they are doing visitation throughout the week, following up with people, doing administrative items, heading to kid’s camp,  helping in youth group, teaching in nursing homes, serving communion, assisting with funerals, and so much more.  There is never a shortage of ministry opportunities for each intern to be a part of.  We also make sure that they are receiving practical instruction.  There is a time of formal ministry training each Wednesday specifically for the interns.  We cover a lot of topics in these sessions but here is a list of topics we try to cover at some point or another.

To ensure that every intern is getting the most out of the internship we hold them accountable.  First, we do this by requiring weekly staff reports.  Typically this is done by having them send a weekly email that lists what they did, who they contacted, how many hours they put in, questions they have, and a few other items.  Second, every intern is assigned to an associate pastor that works one-on-one with them throughout the summer.  They make sure they both stay busy and learn a lot during their internship.

Finally, we compensate our full-time interns.  The main reason we can only take on four summer interns is that we do pay them something.  We expect our summer interns to put in at least 50 hours a week, so there really isn’t much opportunity for them to have another side job.  Again, they are putting in 50 hours a week over 10 weeks, and although we do not pay them is not a lot it does help them pay a few bills over the summer.  Although we certainly do not promise anything, sometimes at the end of the summer if an intern has gone above and beyond throughout their entire internship, we will even throw a little something extra towards their school bill.

This is what we do to make sure that our interns always have a great summer where they are able to both learn and grow.  What does your church do for any interns you may have?