Issues in managing church based lay workers


These scenarios were written for a training workshop run by what is now Livability Community Mission, they seek to identify some of the main traps fallen into by churches running community projects. 

Scenario 1

Manager "Our worker's wonderful.  She's really committed and completely trustworthy.  I don't see any need to meet with her on a regular basis, it would only be a waste of time for her and me.  We meet on an ad hoc basis and have a good relationship of trust.

Worker Nobody seems to care about what I do.  They say that I'm wonderful and don't know what they'd do without me but our meetings are always cancelled at the last minute and I never have the chance to raise issues.  Things were better early on but now I'm looking for another job."

You could call this scenario the Competent Worker Trap.  The worker is so good, popular and efficient that managers back off any involvement -- certainly anything which would question the work that the worker is doing.  This leads to the worker gradually feeling more and more isolated and that no one is really interested in the work, or understands it.  There is a lack of boundaries in which the worker can operate and feel secure.  This might lead to them taking advantage but more often they continue working hard but feeling increasingly ignored.  A certain amount of criticism and challenge is necessary in order for praise to feel genuine.  Managers being committed to regular meetings with staff makes them feel valued, especially if they are genuinely attentive during the meetings and don't let them be interrupted or postponed.  Of

Scenario 2

Manager "I don't see my role as being a manager.  I'm called to administer the sacraments and preach the word.  The church has got too concerned with management, we should trust more in the Holy Spirit and not concern ourselves with secular ideas of management.

Worker I feel frustrated at the lack of efficiency in the project.  It's taken me two years to get a job description and I still don't know who my line manager is.  No one seems interested when I suggest training, even though I know the local CVS training is excellent -- and its free!"

This illustrates the Is Management Spiritual? dilemma.  Certainly there are problems with the uncritical application of management theory to churches.  Charles Handy's Managing Voluntary Organisations gives a good example of the havoc caused by a personnel manager who becomes a vicar and tries to make his church more 'efficient'.  I often feel uneasy when churches take on too much of the 'targets culture'.  Nonetheless lay workers often suffer from an over reaction to secular management practice.  Especially if they come into the church from a background in the voluntary sector they can find working in the church traumatic -- especially if they had unrealistic expectations of the benefits of working with Christians!  There needs to be a critical engagement between Christian theology and secular management practices -- especially as they are expressed in the voluntary sector, if a chasm is not going to open up between trained lay workers and churches.

Scenario 3

Worker "He drives me crazy.  He's completely chaotic.  No one has any idea of what's going on -- it's all in his head.  I just don't see why he finds it so difficult to be organised -- I'm sure he'd be much less stressed out if he was.  I tried to talk to him about it but that was not well received.

Manager Although our worker is good at her job I feel she has made the project too 'professional'.  Everything seems to be about having the right policies rather than getting alongside people and caring for them.  People are much more reluctant to volunteer now -- the project has lost its heart."

This illustrates the Power through Chaos syndrome.  Leaders often resist any institutionalisation of their power because an informal method of management means that they are the only people who really know what's going on.  Around them is chaos but this chaos is seen as being more spiritual or human than more bureaucratic procedures.  This has some truth in it, people are beginning to understand the creative value of being on the edge of chaos -- but there is a difference between being on the edge of chaos and completely enveloped in it!  Chaotic situations tempt us to try and control them.  Clear but rigid procedures are put in place which make volunteers disillusioned and this affects the quality of the work that can be done.  So the procedures are dismantled and chaos reigns once more.  There is an unhealthy oscillation between chaos and rigid control.  In this situation everyone needs to become more aware of their own desires for power and control and what strategies they use to achieve these.  Chaos can then become creative and boundaries clear but flexible.

Scenario 4

Manager "I just turn up to the meetings because the Minister asked me to.  Our worker knows everything, we're just here to support her.  I'd like to understand more about what she does but I know she's got more important things to do.

Worker Everything is going really well.  What is disappointing is that the management committee are so passive.  I try to get them involved but they never have anything to say.  I don't really know why they turn up to meetings"

The situation is symptomatic of a Worker Dominated Organisation.  The organisation becomes completely focused on the worker's interests and needs and no effective management is applied.  This can happen for a variety of reasons -- sometimes the worker likes the control, sometimes managers lack confidence.  Often there are a complexity of reasons.  But at the heart of this situation is the desire of the worker to gain control and shape an organisation in his or her image.  It is not uncommon for people to let this happen -- if not conflict is inevitable!  This can lead to the project losing its original vision -- especially becoming less theological in its motivation and uncritically taking on board the values of the voluntary sector.  It is not always easy to distinguish when a natural healthy change is going on and when an organisation is losing its way. 

Scenario 5

“When I first came to the church it was very unclear to me what our community worker did all day.  Now I have established a few clear procedures I think he is much more accountable to me and the PCC.  There were a few teething problems but generally I think everyone is happy that there is more control over the situation”

“Since the new vicar has come I’ve really felt like leaving.  I used to be encouraged to get on and do my work but now I have procedures coming out of my ears and spend half my time doing paperwork.  Frankly I think the vicar is a control freak who wants to micromanage every hour of my day”

This is the problem of Over Directive Management.  In this scenario the worker has, perhaps, been undermanaged and has lost any sense of accountability but the new vicar has over reacted, worried about the lack of control over 'his' worker and is stifling the worker.  These problems often come about because the manager has uncritically tried to apply techniques and values from another work culture into the normally laissez-faire world of church based community work.  It may well be necessary to increase accountability but this will go awry if the underlying motivation is the desire to control.  A worker may also find it difficult to give up his 'freedom' and work in a genuinely accountable way even though this is ultimately a more empowering way to work because it encourages people to genuinely grasp the nettle of management.  Projects need to have clear systems of accountability which involve the management committee in the worker's work but don't stifle the worker and his particular gifts.

Conclusion

I'm sure that there are other common scenarios which could be identified but these are 5 which seem important to me.  Some common themes are identifiable:

·         Power -- who has it and how it is gained

·         Problems in achieving honest and open communication

·         Tension between the culture of the church and the culture of the voluntary sector

·         The need for self-awareness and personal development

·         Getting the balance between efficient control and creative freedom

·         Conflict created by different expectations

September 2004