BETTER BY SUNDAY
[ HOW TO SCHEDULE YOUR WAY TO A MORE ]
COMMITTED TEAM, PART 2 | Jon Nicol
“I can’t wait to work on the worship team Now, to make the expectation of blocking out to rebuild a once-thriving worship ministry, I
schedule.” Said no worship leader. Ever. dates stick with your team, you need the next found the administrative assistant using three
element of a great scheduling system. different forms of communication just for
Scheduling is potentially the most ulcer-
the schedule.
producing activity for worship leaders, so 4. A PREDICTABLE RHYTHM last month we started exploring a couple of Early on in ministry, I used to create a schedule She’d mail a hard copy of the monthly roster.
different ways that a good scheduling system for three or four months at a time. Then, I’d Then email a PDF of the same thing. Then,
or process can build a more committed team. scramble for several weeks to pull a team each week, several email reminders would go
together each Sunday. Eventually, I’d go on out, along with an automated phone call.
Let’s pick back up with the third critical element another administrative bender and schedule that can help you raise the “all-in” level of four months out. (Yes. Yes, I was a very stupid That system essentially begged the team
your team. 20-something.) members to ignore most of the messages.
You can’t expect people to take ownership and Once we moved to PCO, I determined that
responsibility for an unpredictable scheduling each communication form would have a
process. People need predictability. primary purpose. Texting and phone calls
6
Elements
of
a
Commitment-Building
Scheduling System, Part 2
3. SHARED RESPONSIBILITY & A SENSE OF
are for immediate, urgent, or last-minute
OWNERSHIP For my team, we’ve established a rhythm for communications. Snail mail is for important,
In Part 1, we talked about creating an scheduling one month at a time, two months “everyone-please-read” communication (like
expectation of response. That is, when I out. So in mid to late January, I schedule March. policy changes or an upcoming training
send the schedule out, my team is expected In February, I schedule April, and so on. Each event). And email is our mode for the
to accept or decline via PCO. If they decline, month around the 15th, we send a reminder to routine dissemination of schedules, setlists,
they are required to give a reason and attempt the team (via PCO’s email system) to block their reminders, etc.
to find their own replacement. That creates dates out for the upcoming schedule.
responsibility. But expectations of responsibility
are just rules unless there is genuine ownership.
And with PCO Services app, those emails can
Speaking
of
making
schedules
out
for
multiple weeks, that’s the next element of a
To deepen the sense of responsibility and build
now be instant notifications for the smartphone
users.
commitment-building scheduling system.
ownership, we use the “Blockout” feature
Now, you might have someone who says, “I
inside the PCO Services app. Team members 5. THE ABILITY TO BATCH PROCESS don’t check my email” (or have a smartphone,
can mark inside of PCO any dates for which It takes less time to schedule four Sundays at or whatever). But it goes back to creating
they’re unavailable (for both weekend services one time than it does to schedule four Sundays expectations. Firmly. and with love, tell them,
AND our rehearsal night). If I happen to at four different times. That’s batch processing. “If you’re committed to this team, you need to
schedule someone on a blocked out weekend, It’s grouping similar tasks together to streamline check your email (or turn on the Services app
that’s on me, but if a team member doesn’t the operation. With the PCO Matrix feature, notifications). That’s our system that runs this
block and I schedule him, he’s required to which allows me to see multiple weeks part of our ministry.”
look for a replacement. Now, do I help team altogether, batching becomes a no-brainer.
members find a fill-in? Sure. I’m happy to do
Bottomline: systems create behavior. Good
that. But what we’ve (almost) eradicated on my Now, with all these characteristics of a great systems produce good behavior, and bad
team is the nonchalant declining with no sense scheduling system, the capstone holding it all systems produce, well, ulcers.
of personal responsibility. Blocking dates is a together is the next one:
simple way to give team members a sense of
(healthy) control and ownership.
6. PURPOSEFUL MODES OF COMMUNICATION
Years ago, when I arrived at my current church
26
January 2018
Jon Nicol
The founder of WorshipTeamCoach.com, a resource
that helps worship leaders build strong teams and
lead engaging worship. He lives in Lexington, Ohio
with his wife Shannon and their four kids.
WorshipTeamCoach.com
WorshipMusician.com