A year ago my family and I picked up and moved to a new city and a new church. It’s been a crazy good year for us, and we’ve loved every second of it! However, the transition didn’t come without it’s challenges.

     One of the biggest challenges was learning how to work on a multisite team. Our church has five campuses with student pastors and staff at each campus. It’s awesome to be part of a large team moving in the same direction, but it also comes with some challenges.

     Over the course of my first year in multisite ministry, I have found three must-haves for any growing team. No matter what kind of team you’re a part of, these are three must-haves for your team to grow in a healthy and sustainable way!

3 Must Haves for a Growing Team

#1) Clear Values

The more your team grows, the more you will need clear values. Your values are what drive your organization They are the guiding force when everything else gets fuzzy. Essentially, your team’s values are the things you believe to be most important. So if your values are unclear, your direction will be as well.

Without a clear sense of direction and values to guide you, your team and volunteers will all seem to pull in different directions. On the other hand, a team with clear values has everyone pushing together in the same direction at one time. This kind of alignment will move your ministry forward further and faster. Healthy teams will always have clear values.

#2) Clear Communication

After a decade in ministry, I’m convinced that the quality of your team is determined by the quality of your communication. The larger a team grows, the more difficult communication becomes. It’s easy to leave people out or under-communicate. Not only that, but it also takes much longer to communicate than it used to because the size of your team has grown!

If you don’t communicate clearly and consistently, someone on your team will always get lost. When the people on your team get lost, so does your vision! Clarity is kindness, and one of the most loving things you can do for your volunteers is communicate clearly. According to John  Maxwell, a leader is someone who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. You can’t lead well without showing your people the way to go, and the best way to show them the way is to communicate clearly!

#3) Clear Goals

The final must-have for a growing team is clear goals. Clear goals provide synergy to a team and get everyone pulling in the same direction.

The teams with the clearest goals make the most progress. Your team’s goal will drive you to success or into a ditch. Their clarity and quality will determine which destination you end up at. If your team lacks clarity in its goals, the odds are team members will end up inadvertently pulling in different directions!

Your goals are where you want your organization to go and how you plan to get there. Does your team know the goals you have for them?         

Clear values, communication, and goals are vital for the health of a growing youth ministry team. Where does your team stand with these must-haves?