How often do you meet?

[frokey]

Just curious. How often do your media/tech teams meet? Once a week, every 2 weeks, monthly? Posting a poll along with this thread...

UPDATE: Just realized this probably should have been in the General Discussion area. Mod, feel free to move it if you'd like to...

[frokey]

Thanks to the people who voted so far. I'm trying to establish some meeting times for our team and using this feedback to help in determining the frequency. Please keep voting and thanks again!

Also, to those that choose 'Other', could you explain?

[[Admin] osborn4]

Unless you count getting together 45 minutes before 1st service to run through a few songs, we don't meet. :-/

[KeckCreative]

Since I'm a team of one... I meet daily, unless I get into a disagreement with myself then I can go weeks without meeting.

Sorry. I know that's not what your were looking for but I couldn't help laugh a little, because many of us are a team of one.

[frokey]

Good one! Lol!!

[frokey]

Some add'l thoughts... We don't have a large team, but I'm realizing the need for more people for various reasons: avoiding burnout, spiritual and family health, development of latent gifts in members... I could probably think of more. Anyway, meeting is one way of keeping the team "together" and on the same page. It could also be a time and place of introduction for potential new members. Lastly, some training could be accomplished without the pressure of a real service. Just my random thoughts

[cw4u]

We usually only meet when we have a "work day" or something along those lines. I really would like to see meetings every month, just to see each other, eat lunch, do something non-media related, etc.

Our work days usually include:
Cable Repair
Cable Labeling
Equipment Diagnosing
Inventory Check

We started having staff lunches (which I get invited to) every month and I think they're great just because you actually get to fellowship with other people that you normally only see when you're working.

[Paris MkVI]

Currently my team has 30 members, all with very busy lives. So I seldom do an "all-hands" meeting, unless it is very urgent/extraordinary or it is a planned opportunity to celebrate together - an appreciation event.

I strive to personally connect (although briefly) with all team members whenever possible on Sunday, and have my team leaders oversee them directly. We communicate via face-to-face, phone, email and the website established for the team.

[frokey]

Derek, I'm thinking like you with just connecting with one another. Right now even though there's no question we're a team, our communication is lacking and it really feels like a barrier to new members coming on. Whenever someone is considering joining, they always ask, "So when do you guys meet?"

Paris, I feel you on the busy lives thing. I certainly don't want to meet just to be meeting and add to the busy-ness. Do your team leaders play a big part in keeping their members connected?

[Paris MkVI]

Originally Posted by frokey

Do your team leaders play a big part in keeping their members connected?

Yes indeed! The truth is, I cannot even begin to do it all. I give my team leaders a great deal of both authority and responsibility. They really stand and deliver. My goal is to just "keep a finger on the pulse", so to speak. I make sure they have what they need, try when I can to get them what they want, and move things back in bounds on those rare instances where something gets a little out of bounds.

I believe we should all be "working ourselves out of our jobs", knowing God will call us from glory to glory. I ask my team leaders, "If something happened to you tomorrow, is someone in the wings to take the reins? If not, why not?" We must be looking, seeking, finding and investing in others. I want to pour everything I know into someone else. That is how I operate and direct my team leaders to operate.

We are also a cell-based church, with about 100 community groups. These are the main family units of our church "family". So we do not depend completely on the serving teams to provide connection.

When I leave earth for Heaven, all the stuff I know will not be needed there!

[frokey]

Awesome comment! I agree 100% with "working ourselves out of our jobs". Getting to that place can oftentimes be difficult. You say you have 30 members. Have you seen that increase from a much smaller number or did you come into position with it as it is? I like to hear about and try to understand how ministry teams grow and structures change to manage that growth.

Hope I'm not taking this too far off topic and sorry for picking your brain so much. You can tell me to when to zip it!!

[Paris MkVI]

Not at all brother. I am happy to share our particular experience.

When I first came to our church, there were only two teams, sound and PowerPoint. No lighting systems and no cameras. Folks didn't even know how to insert a prerecorded video into PowerPoint. They'd minimize, then open Media Player, then take it full-screen. It was not the smoothest presentation scheme.

Circuit City shortcuts, Best Buy bandaids, and Radio Shack train wrecks lurked in every booth (we had three at the time).

As plans for growth began to take shape, and once the church discovered what my day job was, they began to engage me in the process. I recommended we hire a consulting firm to write the RFP for our buildout and let them oversee it. It cost a little more to do it that way, but actually, I believe, cost less because of reduced/eliminated problems and headaches. When we launched the new auditorium 1 in April 2008, we had systems that operated correctly right out of the box.

We planned to add to the two existing teams with a lighting team and video team. Our church has always operated structurally using the Jethro Principle, so we applied it here as well. When I was brought on as AVL Director in January 2008, my first goal was to find, train and give away the video and lighting team leader positions.

As I write this my video team leader is finishing a sabbatical. I have been covering for him; he returns next month. The AVL team started with about 20 people and is now up to 30. I am actively seeking more people. My goal is for every servant on every team to serve one week out of three. I am not quite at that mark yet, nut I am getting there. With seven services every Sunday (two with full video coverage), i have 22 tech seats to fill each weekend. Team leaders serve within the teams they lead, too.