Peter Drucker said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” You cannot underestimate your church staff culture and its significance. More than your strategies, culture is the thing that determines the success of your team. The church staff culture can be as simple as how you treat each other and make decisions. Culture determines so many things. So, if you want to improve your church staff culture, try these 9 proven ways.
1. Have an Accurate Assessment of Your Current Church Staff Culture
What is currently working? What is not working? How would you describe the current culture? What would you like to see changed or improved? You can ask your staff for feedback and listen to their honest perspectives without getting defensive. This is a helpful step so you can know where you are and where to go next. Take the opportunity to make this an honest assessment. Don’t try to sugarcoat things, but really take inventory of your church staff culture.
Repeat this step many times throughout the year. Culture is something that is developed over time, so you’ll want to get a pulse check on your culture many times and not just once a year.
2. Determine the Church Staff Culture You Desire
What kind of church staff culture do you want? Fun? Collaborative? Results driven? Serious? Empowered? What are some things that define what you’re hoping to see in your team? Spend some time praying and allowing God to show you what these things should be. Culture, after all, can’t be a string of good words put together. It has to be who you are and who you will be. Remember, culture isn’t only taught; it’s caught. So as you put words and definitions to the culture you’re looking for, make sure it aligns with who God has called your team to actually be.
As you define your church staff culture, keep it simple. Have 3-5 things and make sure they’re short and memorable. This is really important for your team. The culture has to be clear and easily applicable to someone’s life and leadership.
3. Make It about People
Never forget: People are why you exist! If people are not at the center of your culture, they will be undervalued in your church. Your church staff culture is there to serve the people. It is not the other way around. If your environment overlooks people, you’ve already failed. Your team should be able to say, without hesitation:
- We are FOR the people we serve!
- We are FOR each other!
Making culture about people creates an immediate sense of unity of heart. Your team is in alignment on why you exist, and then the how of the ministry flows from there.
4. Look at the “Top”
Culture has to come from the Lead Pastor. While other team members can greatly influence things, the Lead Pastor is the one who sets the tone for the rest of the team and church. So, if you want to improve your church staff culture, look first at the Lead Pastor. What’s the culture around them? How are they portraying the culture? If there are adjustments needed from top leadership first, make them. In improving culture, you will never lose by starting to adjust at the top first.
John Maxwell said, “Don’t tell them what you’re going to do – that’s vision. Do what you are going to do – that’s culture.” Culture comes from who you are, not who you say you are. Let your doing flow from your being.
5. Talk about It Often
As we’ve already established, culture is caught, not taught. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t and shouldn’t talk about it a lot. Talk about who you are and how that impacts your behavior as a staff. Keep it simple and make it clear. The more you reinforce your church staff culture with the words you use and the words you don’t use, the more your team will grasp it.
6. Recognize It When You See It
This may seem elementary, but we all want to be acknowledged, praised, and celebrated at our core. When you see your small kid doing something at home that reflects the culture of your home, you praise them! Do the same for your church staff culture. If someone is modeling it, acknowledge it! You can recognize it both privately and publicly.
The things you praise and celebrate, you will get more of. One of the quickest ways to improve your culture is to see it and celebrate it. Remember to notice your team and how they represent your culture well.
7. Get Outside Input
Never underestimate the power of outside input. Invite someone to come sit with your team and observe your church staff culture. Bring a close ministry friend or a leader that you trust. Allow them to talk with everyone from various team layers to get a full picture of the strengths and weaknesses of your culture. This can occasionally feel like a safer space for your team to share their honest experiences.
Outside voices will be able to recognize things that are in your blind spot. They’ll be able to help bring perspective to things that you may otherwise never notice. It’s not to hurt you or expose your team, but to help! Welcome these kinds of voices often.
8. Be Consistent
Culture requires consistency. You aren’t developing church staff culture by saying it once or twice in a meeting. You have to say it and display it often and consistently. Your team will zero in on the inconsistencies and believe them to be “normal.” Inconsistency will happen occasionally but work hard to aim for as much consistency as possible.
9. Make It Fun and Life-Giving
Your church staff culture should be life-giving and a joy. It can’t be a dread or pain for your team. If it is, you have already lost your staff. People want to be a part of something that matters to them personally, that adds value to their lives, that brings a smile to their faces, and that helps them feel a part of something making a difference. Your culture should ooze that everywhere. If it’s not fun, it’s not good!
The culture of your church staff can make or break your church. If it is struggling, try some of these tips to improve it, as well as checking out this article, “5 Ways to Honor Your Church Staff and Volunteers”. If it’s already good, some of these suggestions may help make it even better. You can never go wrong by spending extra time working on your team culture. As you lift culture with the team, the church’s culture as a whole will be impacted, too.
