I suggest a weekly, 30-minute meeting with each of your staff members. Here is a good plan for how to use this time:

Greeting: 0:00 to 3:00

     Informal time to get coffee and greet one another

Input from your staff: 3:01-10:00

     Ask open-ended questions like: What did you enjoy most about last week? What was the most difficult thing? What are you looking forward to doing? 

     LISTEN carefully to what is being said. Ask follow-up questions. Let your staff member talk. 

Report Review: 10:01-20:00

     First, ask this question: “Sometimes things get recorded incorrectly. Is this report a correct representation of what you did last week?”  If there are corrections, write them on your copy. 

     Second, review the report. I like to give feedback in this pattern: Encouragement/Challenge/Encouragement

In other words, start with positive feedback and affirmation. In the middle, offer correction or challenge, if necessary. To finish the review, return to encouragement and affirmation. 

 Here are some things to consider as you look over the report to prepare for this meeting:

      1. Check the “social/solitude” balance. In other words, how much time is used alone (for example, study/event preparation/admin) and how much time is spent with people?

     2. Compare what you would do in this position to what your staff member actually does.

     3. Does this usage of time support the church’s vision?

Finally, give lots of encouragement and only one, or at most two, challenges. Finish the Report Review with encouragement.

Prayer: 20:01-27:00: Pray together 

Conclusion: 27:01-30:00: Say your farewells. Encourage your staff member.

While it is good to have a weekly 30-minute meeting, do not let this meeting go beyond 30 minutes. If there are issues that need to be addressed, ask staff members to call or email you in a few days. Often issues take care of themselves.

Make sure to pray. Shorten or stop other sections, but always pray for at least 7 minutes. If your meeting is ahead of schedule, pray more. 

Plan to spend 45 minutes per staff member a week. 15 minutes to review the report and 30 minutes for the meeting. 

But here’s the beauty of such a commitment. A full-time staff member will now give you 40-50 hours of helpful ministry every week. Think about that.