Scripture says, “You have not because you ask not.” But in ministry leadership sometimes we have not because we’ve failed to effectively manage our volunteer assets.
My son’s junior high tennis team is predominately volunteer-driven. The 50-plus kids are organized, scheduled, trained, and developed by a variety of parents and others, who assist the sponsoring teacher. When the coordinator contacted me to be part of the program, I volunteered, even though it meant starting work at 6 a.m. so I could be at the clinic by 3:30 p.m. and not short-change my employers.
The good news is that when I showed up at 3:30, there were already plenty of volunteers. The coordinator, a good leader, had recruited a number of other parents. I spent a few minutes watching the kids and providing some suggested ratings, but after that I just stood around. Finally, I decided to leave and work on this week’s Leading Ideas article—maintaining proper “need tension.”
Need tension is that precarious balance that people require in whatever work they do, especially as volunteers. When need tension is too high, people tend to burn out because they get loaded with more and more work. They end up feeling pressured to perform and don’t enjoy the experience anymore. Most of us who’ve led in church and ministry understand this because we’ve “been there and done that.”
But there’s another issue that can bite us as leaders without us even knowing it. What happens when you recruit too much help, so people who’ve taken off work early or forfeited family time show up only to be under-utilized? While they’re not apt to say anything, next time you stand up front and say, “All hands on deck,” they’ll say to themselves, “Nah, I volunteered last time and wasn’t utilized well, so I think I’ll pass this time.”
That’s what makes leading volunteers so difficult. We have to maintain an adequate amount of tension in the responsibilities we give people. Too much and we’ll burn people out; too little and they’ll not feel needed. Either way we lose some very good people as a result. We always need to make sure we have something of significance available for people to do if we’re going to retain their services when needed.
I know people who are great leaders in the marketplace but are asked to hand out bulletins or park cars. There’s nothing wrong with this, and we all need to learn servanthood. But what can you do to find ministry placements that create proper need tension in those people who can multiply our ministry not just add to it? Some of us as leaders might do well to volunteer for other organizations so we can understand this need for proper tension. Life is full of opportunities—good people want to be good stewards and use these opportunities well. We want to follow leaders who understand the concept of need tension and who strive to avoid overwhelming or underwhelming us.
Consider where you may be overusing and underutilizing your people. Ponder the possibility that when you seem to lack volunteers, part of the problem might be that in the past you or your predecessors have failed to make people feel they were really needed, more than likely without even knowing it.
Alan Nelson is the executive editor of Rev! Magazine, the author of a dozen books, and has been a pastor for 20 years. Email him at anelson@group.com or visit his blog, Rev! Unplugged.
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