A631.2.5.RB_RuggerioSteven

The Challenges of E-Teamwork

Famous NCAA basketball coach John Wooden said, “Some of my greatest pleasures have come from finding ways to overcome obstacles.”  Persevering through an aggressive academic program at a brick-and-mortar institution is very challenging and it requires great discipline and tenacity to complete the program. The National Student Clearinghouse Center reported that, “Just over half—or 54.1 percent, to be exact—of first-time college students starting school in 2006 graduated within six years.”  Many give up, move on, or check out.  The sleepless nights, endless reading, and high-pressure tests can be too unbearable for many. 

As difficult as it, taking classes at a university, it is equally if not more challenging to pursue an online education.  It requires a whole new level of self-discipline.  When the curriculum adds team-based assignments, the stress increases yet again.  With that said, the faculty and team at Embry-Riddle have produced a program that fosters effective teamwork in an online environment.  It is only fitting that the largest team I’ve been assigned to in an online community is in my current course: Leading High Performance Teams.  We spent the first two weeks of class producing a team charter—essential for direction, accountability, and defining responsibilities.  Here are a few lessons learned:

What behaviors seemed to help your team successfully complete its task?

The key to online teams is flexibility and communication.  Interestingly, we started this course with two teams of 3-4 people.  At the end of the first week, a few students dropped out and the instructor combined two teams into one.  When I was notified of the merger, I had already stepped us as leader of my initial team by creating a document and sending an introductory email.  When the teams were merged, I noticed they had drafted a charter.  It wasn’t long before they welcomed a fellow student and I from the defunct team into the fold.  As stated earlier, by remaining flexible and consistently communicating, we were able to get everyone on the same page and begin our new journey together.

What factors inhibited decision-making or problem solving?

Fortunately, there were no glaring weaknesses or hurdles early in our team development process.  Obviously, there are time constraints and everyone has other challenges in their life from family to work to children.  With military deployments, home emergencies, and technological issues, combining efforts and producing quality work will require great effort from everyone.  When I entered my new team, it seemed Charles had taken the lead by compiling student submission for the charter.   This proved to be a great help as I was predisposed this weekend and out of pocket Friday through Saturday. 

How much time was spent on decision-making and problem solving? How was information shared among team members?

Prior to starting this degree program, I forecasted the availability of approximately 15 hours per week.  On average, it requires closer to 20-25 hours each week to remain caught up.  Since we are still in the early stages of team development and forecasting our upcoming assignments, there was not a significant amount of time requirements.  We passed information back and forth a few times and discussed personal responsibilities necessary to produce quality work.  After a few iterations of the charter being passed back and forth, we all had a chance to provide the necessary input and finalize the report. Up to this point information has only been shared over emails and file exchanges. In the future, we hope to share thoughts and input through a telecom.

How did issues of authority or power affect the team? How did collaboration and competition influence the outcome? Did team members make process interventions?

Everyone on the team seems to be open to share leadership for each assignment.  There are no power struggles or authority issues at this point.  The responsibilities will be distributed week to week to allow each team member an opportunity to compile inputs from everyone and submit the assignments. The team collaborated together very well.  Email request for information were requested with great respect and patience.  Competition was nonexistent and every one was willing to help each other with busy schedules and deadlines. As stated earlier, the team is still very early in the development stage and the initial assignment did not pose any initial personality problems or lack of responses.  With that said, the team was able to initiate some of the process interventions; such as, clarifying and summarizing.  Each member submitted his or her forecasted responsibilities and Charles—as team lead—summarized everyone’s input into a collective document.  Based on our first two weeks of contact, I believe it is going to be a great semester of collaboration and teamwork. 

Steve 

A632.7.4.RB_RuggerioSteven

Ministry Collaboration: A Divine Exercise

Leading a men’s ministry designed to challenge and encourage men in their spiritual life can be an exercise in patience and perseverance.  Unlike women, men are not prone to seek-out relationships where openness and vulnerability is the norm.  In fact, just the opposite is true.  Men have a tendency to hide behind an image projected and protected.  However, underneath the thin veneer, behind the curtain, lies a plethora of problems, issues, insecurities, and fears that influences every decision made.  The purpose of each man is buried deep within and often hidden behind a camouflaged masculinity.  My goal is to facilitate the freedom of their true selves; to open the door of purpose and creativity.  

As co-leader of a large men’s ministry, my colleague and I sought to create an atmosphere where men can authentically connect with other men and hear true stories surrounding common, real life challenges.  We selected a group of ten trusted men and asked them to act as a leadership team to serve the needs of over 1,300 men at our church.  We asked each individual what helped him grow relationally, emotionally, and spiritually?  We titled our ministry R.E.A.L. Men.  The acronym Relevant, Eternity-minded, Accountable, and Loyal provided a starting point and mantra that we would carry throughout our relationship.

Rather than two men initiating a large ministry division designed to serve the needs of such a large number of men, we solicited input from these men by creating a diverse leadership team.  Each man had a distinctive church experience.  They were from diverse ethnic backgrounds, different age groups, and various economic means.  We selected married, engaged, and single men.  By seeking the collective experience of these men, we believed the congregational needs could be identified and subsequently satisfied.

Stewart Levine (2009) in his book, Getting to Resolution said, “Tight collaboration and a shared vision allow the miracles of teamwork and collaboration to occur.  Clear agreements with others build teams that can experience an exponential expansion of power” (p. 188).  These ten men helped my co-leader and I make critical decisions about the future of the ministry and the mission of our church in five crucial ways:

1.     Deepened our understanding

2.     Widened our perspective

3.     Clarified our commitment

4.     Strengthened our resolve

5.     Synergized our mission

Understanding your client and customer needs is critical to an organization’s success; in our case, we knew understanding what men wanted from church would be the starting point for all ministry initiatives.  As we questioned each of our leaders, we “heard and learned” new temptations and trials men faced.  We found respect, confidentiality, encouragement, and authenticity to be key desires in their lives.  The more questions we asked and the more we listened, our understanding of the spiritual goals of men became clear.  We began to understand the depth of their desires.

Along the same lines, we became aware of the differences and expectations that exist across cultures.  African-American, Caucasian, Hispanic, Native-American, and other nationalities widened our perspective of men’s experiences in a church setting.  These discussions introduced us to new styles of worship, teaching, and relational expectations.  We began to understand the challenges men face growing up in poverty versus affluence.  By listening to every man in the room, we were exposed to new and exciting possibilities.

As the men shared, our commitment became clear.  In step two of Levine’s cycle of resolution, he talks about sharing stories.  He states, “Getting everyone’s story out on the table defines the problem space, validates everyone’s position, and reveals everyone’s interest” (p. 122).  Hearing the heart of each man reminded us why we started the endeavor in the first place.  Connecting men to each other for spiritual growth solidified our commitment and removed ambiguity. As our commitment became clear our resolve strengthened.

Leading men’s ministry can be discouraging.  Oftentimes men commit to lead church initiatives, community outreaches, and participate in small group fellowship events.  However, emotions wane and life gets busy.  As men prioritize their responsibilities, the spiritual component of life is often relegated to leftovers.  This common occurrence can cause leaders to give up or pursue an easier ministry function.  Why pursue the elusive hearts of men when there are other areas less challenging and frustrating?  As the men spoke of their dreams and desires, we were empowered to persevere regardless of the difficulties faced along the way.

There is great power in joining your vision with others.  The synergy of teamwork is extraordinary. Levine provides an example using Clydesdale horses.  He said, “One Clydesdale can pull 7,000 pounds; two can pull between 18,000 and 25,000 pounds” (p. 187).  Yoking our hearts with other men from different backgrounds created a leadership core capable of reaching men not only in our circles and our church but also in our community, and eventually our country.  We realized the twelve of us; my co-leader and I with the ten other men could achieve significantly greater ministry feats than any of us could ever do alone.  Collaboration was the key to our ministry success.

By instituting R.E.A.L. Men ministries, our leadership team achieved its initial objective of reaching and connecting men in the church and local community.  We were able to combine resources with other men’s ministries in other churches by sharing lessons learned and individual testimonies.  In retrospect, I realize there is another well of information available on the struggles of men: Women.  The ones who live day-in and day-out with men have a front row seat to the desires and disappointments of the men in the church.  By asking questions and valuing their input, we could have encouraged the mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters to positively influence the men as they connected in our ministry.

Finally, because of the success of R.E.A.L. Men, I’ve instituted these collaborative principles in other areas as well.  At work, when decisions affect coworkers and customers, I consolidate with an integrated process team.  Collecting insights, asking questions, and facilitating discussions have enabled me to make wiser decisions with more information.  At home, I’ve encouraged more open dialogue with everyone in the family about present and future decisions that will affect them directly.  Times have changed and Father Knows Best has been replaced by Father Facilitates Best by seeking input from everyone involved.  Lastly, I’ve used the collaborative concepts learned from the R.E.A.L. Men scenario in how I make personal decisions.  We all have blind spots in our lives.  By seeking advice and guidance from others, I believe I’ll avoid making regrettable decisions and can build upon the knowledge and experience of others.

In his book Start With Why, Simon Sinek said, “Our need to belong is not rational, but it is a constant that exists across all people in all cultures. It is a feeling we get when those around us share our values and beliefs. When we feel like we belong we feel connected and we feel safe. As humans we crave the feeling and we seek it out” (p. 53).  Our men’s ministry created an environment for men to connect and to belong.  As a result, men have rediscovered their passion and their purpose.

Legacy is bigger than one.

Steve

Reference

Levine, S. (2009). Getting to Resolution. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Sinek, S. (2009). Start With Why. New York, NY: Penguin Group.