If your congregation is thinking about remodeling, there is a lot more to consider than just the building. Your team of church leaders needs to have a variety of important skills in order for the church remodeling process to go smoothly. Everything from the ability to delegate and mediate to preserving the good will of all the parties involved as well as keeping everything on track, will be important to the success of your efforts.
In one of our free i3 webinars, we discuss how many church remodeling projects stand or fall on the basis of good communication, at a variety of levels. Think about the really good preachers that you’ve heard in your lifetime. They know how to communicate effectively to large groups of people. You’re looking for something rather different when it comes to communication in a remodeling project, but getting the right fit is just as important for the success of your efforts.
“Say what?”
Here’s a quick example. When putting together your team, it’s always a good idea to pay careful attention to the gifts and skills of each of the church leaders involved in your remodeling project. Do you have anyone who has worked in the building industry and can communicate with construction teams in their own language? Ask that person to serve as a liaison between your church team and the building crew. Even if you don’t have such an expert, that’s not a deal-breaker. Instead, someone who knows how to listen well, is interested in picking up a new set of terms, and can be both firm and respectful, will make a good communication link between your church building team and the construction crew.
Communication Basics
It is those types of crucial communication basics that the members of your team should have. The ability to listen is an important element in communication that is frequently overlooked, but it’s very important! Your team will need to be able to listen, discuss, compromise and be respectful with each other as you craft a design that will need to meet the sometimes-competing desires of multiple groups and individuals within your congregation.
Make use of those God-given gifts
Developing a team approach will allow each of the different members to excel in what they do best. For example, if you have someone who is very good at keeping a team focused, bringing them back to hammering out the schedule when they’d rather talk about paint colors, then that person really should lead the team. Someone who naturally knows how to put people at ease in uncomfortable situations will be best suited to communicate with the architect to let them know the team needs just one more revision to the new kitchen layout.
When church leaders’ gifts are used in the right places, amazing things can happen. With the right attitude and respectful communication, some of the building professionals you work with could be so impressed that they end up joining your congregation!
To learn more about the importance of your team’s communications in church remodeling projects, check out our I3 webinars.