Building Great Teams

In any organization, building highly functioning teams is extremely important. Otherwise, they will be limited in their ability to empower, release, and build great teams. I have been influenced by a few writers on this topic but my favorite is Patrick Lencioni, author of Five Dysfunctions of a Team and The Ideal Team Player, among many other books on organizational leadership.

For a quick overview of Five Dysfunction of a Team, click here. This is a document I have used in the past to give teams an overview and common language as we discuss team dynamics and the way a team should work. I will focus the rest of my discussion on what I believe is the foundation of a great team.

Building a great team may sound simple to say, but it's hard to do. It requires a trust that is not easily formed. This is not the kind of trust where you know someone will do what they say they are going to do, like a trust fall. This type of trust is more difficult to accomplish. This is vulnerability-based trust.

It is a trust that encourages one to admit that he has failed and ask for help.

While serving on a student ministry team, I helped build a team of teachers to present the main message on Wednesday nights. At the end of every meeting, we would gather and give feedback on the presentation. During this time, the team would critique the lesson and give constructive feedback. The feedback from some of our teachers was direct, and sometimes hard to hear. However, we all knew that the purpose was to improve our communication with the students. This was made possible because we trusted that the other people in the room had our best interest at heart. We found that we could be vulnerable with one another because there was a bond of trust between us.

Vulnerability-based trust allows the opportunity to:

learn from your failures

ask for help

hear important feedback

appreciate and take advantage of other teammates skills

have healthy conflict

eliminate "politics"

and so much more!

Churches should have the best teams because we have the greatest mission. Building strong and healthy teams is not only smart, it is what the church looks like in Scripture when each member’s gifts and talents are used for the glory of God.

Build great teams and then see what God does with His church through those teams.