Who is the primary leader of your volunteer teams?
Coaches hold our highest volunteer position. Their primary responsibility is to lead a team of eight to 10 small group leaders. This includes investing relationally in their volunteer teams, communicating important information, solving problems, and training and developing their volunteer team.
Their job looks like this:
Connect
• Interacts with team to build and strengthen relationships.
• Connects with small group leaders through weekly contacts (email, phone, etc.).
• Participates in social events with their team.
• Connects Student Impact (high school) volunteers.
As we have watched our healthiest and most successful volunteer teams, they are always lead by a someone who has close personal relationships with those that they lead. This relationship gives them influence so we do everything we can to fuel healthy relationships on our teams.
Support
• Nurtures small group leaders and directs them on Sunday mornings.
• Supports small group leaders through necessary updates and accessibility.
• Works with small group leaders to ensure proper staffing in each classroom.
• On Sunday mornings, records volunteer attendance, gathers a head count for each room, assists small group leaders with any needs they have, and attends coaches meeting.
• Encourages and monitors use of curriculum.
When you have a large team of volunteers, it is impossible to be accessible to every person on your team. And volunteers are frustrated when they have a simple problem and there is no one to help them solve it.
If we want to evaluate and make simple tweaks in our environments, then there has to be a leader involved in the week-to-week workings of the small group who is able to give input and solve problems.
Train
• Oversees apprenticing opportunities in his/her classrooms.
• Observes classrooms and encourages ongoing development.
• Provides scheduled training sessions to strengthen leadership abilities of his/her team.
Many times the volunteers on our teams are at different stages and need different levels of training. Our brand new volunteers need to observe, and apprentice all of the basics. Our more experienced volunteers might need help with specific issues like handling a difficult child, or talking to parents about baptism.
It is the coach’s job to observe and jump in and give on-the-job coaching, as well as encourage their team to participate in the training opportunities provided by our staff.
As we build our teams, we are recruiting leaders. We believe that our success in building strong teams happens when every leader invests in and leads a few. Our coaches LEAD our teams with us!
Do you have job descriptions for your volunteers?
Post written by: Kendra Fleming - Multi-Campus Children’s Ministry Director
October 5th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Hi ! This is my most pressing need- to develop coaches for our preschool ministry area on a Sunday morning. Currently I oversee three different divisions, and I cannot be all places at all times. So- that will be my goal for next year- to recruit coaches and put them in place!
October 5th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Great goal Beth! That is exactly why we recruited coaches. Another reason is that great leaders want to lead! So if you want to attract great leaders you have to give them significant responsibility.
Our Coaches are some of the best leaders I know. They love ministry and bring many strengths and life experiences to the table.
Hope you find some great leaders!
K
October 6th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
I love the term Coaches - that is exactly what they do, too. We have job descriptions for our “Coordinators” that look very similar to what you have listed above. They are their volunteers’ best resource and my best resource for what is going on in their area. I don’t know what I’d do without them. I know our volunteers feel “very cared for” because their coordinator is so accessible to them. It makes a huge difference in the ministry to have them there every Sunday and throughout the week.
December 6th, 2009 at 10:58 am
I have three kids that have attended in the past.
How do I get plugged in as a teacher/coach in the sunday school?
December 8th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Guy,
You can get involved in our environments by contacting us through the North Point website or by walking up to any of our front desk areas and letting them know you are interested in serving. They will get your contact information and we’ll call you right away.
Thanks for asking!
Kendra