People Spots
Online
Produced by James W.
Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants
Provided as a service by New Life Ministries
Delegating
by James W. Moss, Sr.Do you remember this commercial from another generation? A mother is frustrated because her child is slow in learning a new task. The mother screams, “Would you get out of here! I am just going to have to do this myself.” Another version of this plaintive plea is, “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”
People are smart. I will never forget a farmer’s wife in a parish I served many years ago. Her husband asked her to help with the farm work. She said, “I played real dumb. I pretended not to know how. I asked him to explain it several times. Finally, he said, ‘Get out of here. I will do this myself.’” Does this have a familiar feel?
So many pastors in their work style resemble these opening remarks. There is a significant problem. Pastors who do all the basic pastoral work of the church will limit their church to an average attendance of 75. If pastors work really hard, they might sustain an average of 100. That was how pastors were trained to function in my generation. We were to be providers of ministry and not equippers. We need to multiply our efforts by involving others in ministry.
Why are so many ministers “Lone Rangers?” “Lone Rangers” are persons who believe they must do the work themselves. They frequently feel that way because they don’t trust their subordinates to do the job right. On occasion, they take this role because they fear competition from their subordinates. Pastors who lack self-confidence will fear they will lose recognition and control if they turn tasks over to others. Some are afraid their own personal weakness will be exposed if they don’t do everything. Others believe they just won’t have time to train others to do various jobs. Some unhealthy pastors believe if they do everything, they will become indispensable and the church just can’t get rid of them.
Are you dumping or delegating?
There is a difference between dumping and delegating. Dumping is just giving a job to another person and then turning your back on them to sink or swim all on their own. That is quite unkind.
Delegation is the careful, supervised assignment of tasks to other people. You are faced with a job. The first question to ask is, “Why me, Lord? Why should I do this task?” The answer may be, “Yes, you should do it.” If the answer is clearly “someone else can do this,” then here are some careful steps to follow in delegation:
First, prayerfully consider who might be the best person for this job.
Second, dialogue with the person and carefully explain precisely what is expected of him/her. That is so very important. It is difficult to meet your expectations if the volunteer doesn’t know what is expected.
Third, establish various due dates.
Fourth, point to resources that will help. You may cite individuals or written resources that will help them to do things the way you want them done. You might also cite some resources to be avoided.
Fifth, publicly assign this person to the task. Let everyone in the church know it is their responsibility.
Sixth, turn over the whole task. Let them have the whole job. Please don’t take the job back. Don’t rescue them. Don’t let them give the job back to you unless it is obvious they simply can’t do the job.
Seventh, give advice without interfering. Share your best insights without interrupting what is going on.
Eighth, establish the methods and dates for progress reports.
If the volunteer has successfully completed the task, then give them the credit for the win. If the assignment fails, then it is your responsibility. Always remember that you praise in public and criticize in private.
Multiply your time and your church’s ministry by effectively delegating various tasks to others.
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July 11, 2002. Volume 5, Issue 8. People Spots Online is prepared by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants. It is provided as a service by New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org. Articles may be duplicated and reproduced in any way with proper credit. A new article is produced about every two weeks. To be added to a list to receive these messages directly by e-mail, send a request to churchconsultants@yahoo.com.