1. STAFF RELATIONSHIPS AND EMPLOYEE CULTURE

2. Small group exercise
Have you had experience working for and with a positive leader?
Describe the person.
What was that experience like?
Have you had experience working with a leader whose style was based on criticism or micromanaging?
What was the experience like?

3. Healthy Church Workplace
Encourages engagement
Fosters retention
Builds on strengths
Works toward the elimination of workplace silos

4. THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP
Staff meetings
Staff relationships
Communication
Professional and spiritual development
Employment relationship vs Pastoral relationship vs Personal relationship
Dealing with conflict
Resent among staff when roles are muddled

5. Leadership Function
Builds strong relationships with staff, volunteers, parishioners
Builds trust
Communicates belief in mission
Models excellent communicaion
Provides professional development
Fosters stability and hope
Is positive

6. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
“Adeptness at managing ourselves and our interactions with others. (SHRM program notes, June, 2008)

7. Levers for Engaging People
Selecting for talent
Setting clear expectations
Praise
Defining the team’s mission
MASTER LEVER is getting each person to play to his or her strengths
Stats come from a survey of 198,000 employees and further studies of teams by others. However, only 20% of those surveyed indicate that they can put their strengths to work everyday and 17% said “most of the time.” (GO BACK TO PG 24 OF BUCHKINGHAM BOOK AFTER SLIDES ON STRENGTHS FINDER AND BUCKET)
Copyright(c)2013 by Carol Fowler
3/7/2013

8. PASTOR’S/LEADER’S ROLE
Team Building
Staff Relationships
Communication
Professional and Spiritual Development

9. LEADER’S ROLE cont. Establish a leadership team
Employment relationship vs Pastoral relationship vs Personal relationship
Professional and Spiritual Development
Other…

10. Leader’s ROLE cont Staff meetings Parish meetings
Staff and parishioner collaboration
Conflict in the parish and among the staff

11. Pastors/supervisors cont:
Creating ill-defined expectations and responsibilities
Hiring right person for the wrong job
Talking instead of listening
Being judge and jury
Rescuing instead of coaching
Expectations: Using hazy terms to give what you consider clear instructions, assigning task to more than 1 person, setting expectations the person can’t meet.
Role of pastors is complicated. Pastors need to be clear abut roles, yet these delineations are not always clearly defined in any given situation.

12. Strengths and Engagement in the Workplace
The strengths revolution
You learn little about excellence by studying failure
Clifton Strengths Finder profile (Naming your strengths)
Taking action – How to use strengths to make a tangible contribution
Based in Positive Psychology rather than medical model psychology.
34 themes of talent
2,000,000 people have taken this survey
Taking action means putting our strengths to work
Copyright(c)2013 by Carol Fowler
3/7/2013

13. STRENGTHS VS WEAKNESSES
“Which will help you be most successful: building on your strengths or fixing your weaknesses?”
41% say building on strengths
59% say fixing weaknesses
Leaders need to focus on strengths
Building on strengths is not “pie in the sky or Pollyanna” thinking it is simply what works better.
Copyright(c)2013 by Carol Fowler
3/7/2013

14. SUPPORTING AND EVALUATING STAFF BASED ON STRENGTHS
Copyright(c)2013 by Carol Fowler
3/7/2013

15. Directing & Supervising
Develop reasonable expectations.
Communicate your expectations clearly.
Give negative and/or positive feedback frequently.
Copyright(c)2013 by Carol Fowler
3/7/2013

16. Directing & Supervising
Encourage employees to ask questions and get clarification when necessary.
Ensure that employees get proper training to do their jobs.
Copyright(c)2013 by Carol Fowler
3/7/2013

17. Coaching & Counseling
Help employees identify their strengths and weaknesses
Suggest ways for employees to use their strengths for the maximum benefit of the organization.
Copyright(c)2013 by Carol Fowler
3/7/2013

18. Coaching & Counseling
Suggest ways the employee can gain knowledge and skills in areas of current weakness.
Motivate employees through job enrichment and recognition.
Copyright(c)2013 by Carol Fowler
3/7/2013

19. Managing Conflict Conflict is not to be avoided
Conflict is an essential step in coming to the best decisions and solutions in planning and operations
Mine the conflict
Work past the discomfort
Always work to build trust in the midst of conflict
Avoid artificial harmony

20. Some Sources of Conflict
Micromanaging
Abdication of decision making
Overreacting
Being dismissive
Lack of clear expectations

21. SMALL GROUP EXERCISE
What are the qualities and traits of healthy working relationships?

22. QUALITIES AND TRAITS OF HEALTHY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
CLEAR EXPECTATIONS
RESPONSIBILITY AND OWNERSHIP
TRUST, HONESTY AND RESPECT

23. QUALITIES AND TRAITS OF HEALTHY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS (CONTINUED)
THE PRESENCE OF APPROPRIATE BOUNDARIES
QUALITY COMMUNICATION
ACCOUNTABILITY

24. QUALITIES AND TRAITS OF HEALTHY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS (CONTINUED)
WILLINGNESS TO ADMIT ERROR AND SEEK ASSISTANCE
PARTICIPATION
MUTUAL COOPERATION

25. QUALITIES AND TRAITS OF HEALTHY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS (CONTINUED)
INCLUSIVITY AND THE VALUING OF DIVERSITY
SENSE OF HUMOR AND PERSPECTIVE
OPPORTUNITIES FOR PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
APPRECIATION AND AFFIRMATION

26. EFFECTIVE MEETINGS

27. SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION
CHARACTERISTICS OF INEFFECTIVE MEETINGS
CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE MEETINGS

28. PRE-MEETING CONSIDERATIONS
Agenda preparation
Physical arrangements
Time needed
Clarity of purpose

29. DURING THE MEETING CONSIDERATIONS
Roles of participants and leader
Time Frame
Prayer
Agenda content and process, including the need for flexibility

30. Closure: Next steps Delegation Evaluation of meeting: What did we do
How did we do it?
Eliminate the need for the “parking lot” meeting.

31. CONSENSUS DECISION MAKING
MAJORITY VOTE
CONSENSUS AS UNANIMITY
CONSENSUS AS INCLUSION PROCESS IN A DECISION