Volunteer Culture: How to Lead a Laborer
This is part two of a four-part series on the types of people we find on our volunteer teams. Missed the first part? Get started here.
Defining the Laborer
In the first post of this series, I defined Laborers as the people who tend to just show up and do the work. In our lesser moments as leaders, we might view them as just checking a box … doing something they are supposed to do as a good church-goer. But once they’re done with their Sunday morning role, they’re done. They clock out, check out, and move on.
Now, don’t let that somewhat-negative definition fool you: we need laborers. Our churches often won’t function without them. But how can we lead laborers to serve in the fullness of their design? How can we motivate them, empower them, and equip them?
Motivating the Laborer
Part of motivating the Laborer involves our realization that there are a lot of potential Laborers still sitting in the pews. To get them off of the sidelines and into the game, some will be motivated by a compelling vision: “Here is an opportunity for you to serve!“ Others will be driven by a direct ask: “I’d like you to consider this spot on our team.”
Laborers are often more intrigued by the what of the job than the why of the job. Even long-serving laborers typically show up with a “Just tell me what to do” mindset. And because of that, we want to be crystal-clear in our expectations of them, the specifics of the role, and we want to give good feedback so they know when they’ve hit the target.
Empowering the Laborer
Because Laborers tend to be intrigued by the what or the completion of the task, it’s important to give them easy wins. Clear expectations and good feedback is a start, but we want them to be in a role where they can easily connect their task to the bigger picture. Busy work doesn’t work, at least not for the long-term.
And believe it or not, clear expectations can come without micromanagement. If we’re clear up front and clear in our ongoing coaching, we can then get out of the way and let the Laborer own their part of the role.
Equipping the Laborer
I believe that the what matters. Laborers should know the clear expectations. (You can do that by communicating with your entire team weekly and having a face-to-face encouraging conversation with your Laborers often.)
But if you want to invest in your Laborers, let them see the why. In our Guest Services onboarding training, we spend 95% of our time talking about why our team exists, and only 5% talking about the actual tasks they’ll be performing (they learn the majority of that the following week in their on-the-job training).
Many of our hiccups with Laborers are not people problems, but purpose problems. They check out and clock out because they were never equipped with the grander purpose, or they’ve forgotten it along the way.
Next up in the series: how to motivate, empower, and equip the Ladder-Climber.
