Team Ministry – General Resources
Part of the ministry resources on Team Ministry
- Introduction
- First Read
- Ken Blanchard – Teamwork Principles in Simple Language
- Patrick Lencioni — Practical Team Principles and Strategies
- John Maxwell on Teamwork
- Related Ministry Resources – including Team Ministry – Church Leaders and Church Staff, Team Ministry – Church Member Involvement, Team Ministry – Personnel, Church Staff Evaluation, etc.
- See also my other site on using the DISC Profile for Ministry Team-Building
Introduction
Leadership is relational. In today’s climate, the relational dimension is often played out in teams. The ministry environment is a natural fit for the team concept, allowing church leaders to elevate the theology of the Trinity as a missional community of Father-Son-Spirit who “send” the church into communally shared mission, accountable relationships, and stewardly exercise of spiritual gifts.
By nature, teams seek to empower others in a way that transforms both the participants and those impacted by their work. As such, they are more effective than individualistic efforts that can lead to silos, politics, and turf wars. On the other hand, they are not necessarily the most efficient way of handling things. They are complex organisms that require a high degree of intentionality to achieve and maintain an optimum level of performance. In other words, team functioning is hard work.
The resources listed below are not targeted to ministry but discuss universal team concepts.
First Read
- Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith, The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization — The standard primer on best practices regarding the team concept. Academically sound and readable with discussion questions and exercises. Has sold more than 400,000 copies.
Kenneth Blanchard — Teamwork Principles in Simple Language
- Kenneth Blanchard, Donald Carew and Eunice Parisi-Carew, One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams: Excellence Through Team Building. Revised and Updated Edition — A very readable introduction to the benchmark practices of team building, especially in describing Bruce Tuckman’s (1965) model of forming, storming, norming, and performing.
- Kenneth Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles, High Five! The Magic of Working Together – A parable about teamwork based on a fictional character who loses his job because he is not a team player and then learns the lessons of team building from a retired school teacher/coach.
- Kenneth Blanchard and Jesse Stoner, Full Steam Ahead! Unleash the Power of Vision in Your Company and Your Life– A parable about a how a team reshapes its vision.
Patrick Lencioni — Practical Team Principles and Strategies
- Patrick Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable — Explains the five fundamental causes of team failure and targets specific leadership strategies to address each.
- Patrick Lencioni, Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars: A Leadership Fable About Destroying the Barrier That Turn Colleagues Into CompetitorsOffers strategies in overcoming the barriers that come between different parts of an organization which cause people who should be on the same team to work against each other.
- Patrick Lencioni, Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business — Discusses the reasons why meetings are boring and ineffective, and how to conduct four regularly scheduled meetings that help teams function optimally.
- Patrick M. Lencioni, The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else – An excellent, usable tool to help church staff and leadership teams anchor a newly established (strategically planned) congregational culture. Provides a simple “Organizational Health Checklist.”
John Maxwell on Teamwork
- John Maxwell Leadership Library — From the most widely read author in leadership today. Two examples below focus on teams.
- John Maxwell, The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork: Embrace Them and Empower Your Team
- John Maxwell, The 17 Indisputable Qualities of a Team Player: Becoming the Kind of Person Every Team Wants
- Essential Managers Series – This is a European-produced set of guides to all areas pertaining to leadership and management. They may not be top consults for church leaders, but the checklists, charts, diagrams, and bullet-lists will simplify common managerial tasks.
Related Ministry Resources
See Other Resources on Ministry Team, Ministry Staff:
- Team Ministry – Intro
- Team Ministry – Church Leaders and Church Staff
- Team Ministry – Church Member Involvement
- Team Ministry – Personnel, Church Staff Evaluation
- See also the extensive section on using the DISC Personality Profile for Ministry Team-Building
See Other Resources on Ministry Involvement:
- Church Involvement, Spiritual Gifts in Ministry
- Greeting, Church Welcome, New Members
- Managing Volunteers in Christian Ministry
- Team Ministry
- Spiritual Gifts
See Ministry Resources on Church Administration:
See Resource Guides on Over 100 Areas of Christian Ministry: