Category Archives: Professionalism

8 Things You Can Do To Facilitate Change Effectively

Ministry, Professionalism

Everyone dislikes change to some degree — and some dislike it to the extent that it actually strikes fear or bad behavior in people. The idea of doing things differently leaves employees wondering whether their job function will be eliminated or change beyond their understanding or desire. Change can leave your group members in fear that their skills are no longer needed, or invite the notion that people will be inconvenienced in some way. It never fails, when I facilitate workshops for tech modernization, a participant will always ask some form of the same questions:

“Am I going to have to learn something new?”

“Will my department no longer be needed?”

“What will happen to my job?”

This challenge is not unique to the workplace. The thought of changing processes brings out the worst fears in people in volunteer organizations as well. One time, I had to work with a group who made coffee and refreshments regularly for a large crowd. When the crowd showed up, lines to get coffee were lonnnnng. But the coffee wasn’t the problem. Just before the coffee pots on the same counter were platters of grapes, cheese cubes and crackers, arranged in a manner that people had to serve themselves ONE GRAPE AT A TIME. So I suggested a change to their process: do some prep work with the refreshments to pre-package them in cups, so each person could grab a cup and move on, thus making the line move more quickly. The volunteers who had been serving in this capacity for years were completely against even trying the idea! I heard everything from “You just don’t understand how the kitchen works” to “You do realize that is a lot more work for US?”

Fear of change is rampant, especially among long-time employees and members of organizations. These folks are not necessarily “old” as far as age goes, either… they just have been in their particular role long enough to be very comfortable in it… and change makes them very uncomfortable! Here are some great things to do to help facilitate change in an organization.

1. SOCIALIZE.
Communicate clearly the WHAT and the WHY, before a decision is made. Explain WHAT changes are needed and WHY they are needed. Answer the question: What problem are we trying to solve? In my example, I kept pointing to the people in line. We needed to help the people! If you can, have these conversations before you make a decision about what to do. This is not always possible — sometimes, you have to implement something quickly — but if the timeline allows it, taking your time and having conversations with the team will go a long way toward socializing the solution.

2. ASK.
Solicit feedback from members of the organization. Most of your employees/volunteers/stakeholders know a LOT about what works, and what does not work. Leverage their experience. Seek input on how to facilitate the change, and how to effectively implement it. Not every suggestion can be implemented, but your staff members and/or volunteers have thought of things you would not. In my example, I spoke to some of the leaders in the kitchen to float my idea. They did not exactly welcome it warmly, but I listened to their feedback. I addressed their concerns, and worked with them myself to ensure the process I had proposed actually worked. They reasoned that if someone as young and inexperienced as me could pull it off, well, maybe they could do it after all.

3. MODEL.
Be willing to accept the proposed change yourself. Change is really hard for people to swallow if your decisions impact them, and you clearly are not impacted at all. Serve with them, and prove that your idea is workable. In the kitchen example, I stood there with the team in my high heels and put thousands of grapes and cheese cubes into hundreds of cups. In another example, I needed to facilitate a group and get them to share their organizational plans in a web-based program. They had always used email, and frankly, had no desire to change their process. By working directly with them for several weeks and implementing some of the plans online myself while guiding them, I was able to show them that the change was not only possible, but the outcome of online sharing was preferable to the old way of doing business.

4. TEACH.
Educate your team members. Often, the greatest resistance to change stems from a lack of knowledge about the new process. If someone is not great with computers, they may resist a web-based file sharing or scheduling system. Design a training guide, hold a class, or create a video to illustrate how to accomplish things the new way.

5. THANK.
Thank people for making the change with you. Once people are on board, genuinely thank them. This will be hard, because if you are a change agent, you will be completely irritated with some folks who did not get on board with you right away. You are human and you are allowed to feel that — BUT — you are NOT allowed to show it! Put a smile on your face, and thank them. Keeping things classy and polite will go a long way to keeping the team moving forward.

6. SHARE.
Illustrate success for the team. Be sure to communicate out to your team some measurable success stories. You could say or write in an email something like this. “I wanted to share with the team some of the terrific feedback I have heard from our visitors. A newcomer told me that she has never seen a food line handled so efficiently for such a large group. Not only that, we now are getting people into the meetings in a more timely fashion because they are not waiting in line. Thank you so much for being willing to serve!”

7. ADMIT.
Be willing to acknowledge when a change does not work. Every once in a while, your bright idea (or the bright idea that was not yours, but you were charged with carrying out) just does not work. You have choices here: you can keep jamming the change down everyone’s throat because you are in charge; you can tweak the process to see if that works; or you can just admit to everyone that the solution did not work, and solicit feedback for what to try next. Obviously the first choice is a bad one. Sometimes, the second is optimal. Just remember, you have to be willing to admit when you were wrong. Doing so, and being honest and gracious with your team, goes a long way to establish trust.

8. ACCEPT.
Understand that even with your best efforts, not everyone will like it. Some people just cannot handle change. For some, it is a lack of control that they have a problem with. For others, the problem is fear. Still for others, the problem may lie in their specific relationship with you and their opinion of your leadership. Regardless, if the change was successfully implemented and the rest of the organization is working well under the new process, this attitude needs to be addressed with the team member in question. At this point, it is not a problem with you or the new process, it is a problem with them as an individual, and you will have to handle it accordingly.

Working with Negativity in Ministry Professionals: It starts in your head!

Book Reviews, Ministry, Professionalism

People are messy. Humans are humans, and we all have flaws. In a field full of people anointed with incredible talents and gifts, we work with people who have passions (tempers), alternate scheduling tendencies (disorganized and unreliable), introvert awkwardness (antisocial behaviors), extreme self confidence (arrogance). Yep. Even just downright jerks. The negativity in some, despite incredible talent and anointing, can cause a level of dysfunction that drags down the efforts of the entire ministry team. Dysfunction leads people to quit – or worse, turn their backs on the Jesus they have worked so hard to promote. So, how do we deal with these difficult personalities?

Consider this biblical passage from the book of Philippians:

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. – Philippians 4:8-9 (NIV)

The trickiest part of the passage is those last few words: “think about such things.” The ultimate “think positive” verse… it all starts – and ends – in our heads. Ultimately, what causes people to give up on a ministry really isn’t any one particular event, but how we think about and react to that event in our brains.

How do you handle it when someone loses their cool with you, lets you down, or isn’t being cooperative? For me, a self-described “Polly Positive,” such behavior from other people, especially professionals, can be derailing. Here are some methods that I have used successfully to ward off the negative thoughts and negative consequences of bad behavior:

1. Pray for the person who irritates/insults/annoys you. Remember the title of this blog post — it starts in your head. It starts with YOUR thoughts. Pray that God would help them with their shortcomings, as He helps you with yours. Pray for heart change, either in their heart, or in yours. Remember that you have faults, they are just not as annoying to you as someone else’s faults are.

2. Be honest and constructive with people who are dragging down the effort or the team – or you. Don’t avoid conversations or interactions because someone is difficult. Be prepared with specifics, and have a direct conversation in private.

3. Identify the positive in the project you are working on. That’s right – define your task according to Paul’s criteria. What about the task you are trying to accomplish is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy? Share these characteristics with the team. Be sure the mission is clear. Lack of clarity breeds negativity.

4. Think positive, but stop being surprised by a person who consistently acts badly. At some point over that last few years, while struggling with a particularly negative person, I had to admit to myself that in being shocked by their negative or rude reaction, I actually got personally hurt. Such behavior really knocks me off the tracks. This realization was huge. I needed to expect the behavior and be prepared for it. Rather than take it personally, or hope that this time when you deal with them that they will somehow be different, use strategies (in the next step) to prepare yourself for the situation.

5. Craft your message ahead of time. Take a factual, cool, calm, collected approach. STICK TO THE FACTS. Know what you want to accomplish, get it done, and don’t get dragged emotionally into the conversation. Don’t react in the moment, it only fuels the negativity.

6. Prune. Sometimes, it really is time for people to move on. A team cannot flourish — and God will not bless a ministry fully — when there is negativity brewing. Negativity is neither honoring nor respectful to God. He is patient and loving with our flaws, but does not expect us to wallow in them. Encourage, or insist, that someone with an incurable negative attitude find another position or way to serve.

For further reading on this topic, I recently completed Joyce Meyer’s bible study called “Battlefield of the Mind.” In it, she explores overcoming negative thinking and using scriptures to realize that God loves you and wants the very best for you. The bible study is FREE and is available at YouVersion, also a free phone app. The bible study is based on Myers’ book of the same title:

Thinking positive, and understanding the good that God has promised, are huge factors in being able to succeed with a team of humans. Starting in your own head will go a long way toward how you approach, and accomplish, those tough tasks and win over those tough people.