Building an Effective Team: Part II

As our ministry began to grow, one of the hardest hiring decisions for me was hiring a bookkeeper. As a former CPA, I can do bookkeeping.

But there were two questions I had to ask myself. The first was, “Is bookkeeping the best use of my time?”

The second was, “Where does God want me to spend my time?” After finally hiring a bookkeeper, I learned that bookkeeping had distracted me from more important work.

God used me in far more effective ways after releasing the bookkeeping role. I discovered that time, when invested in content, teaching, or building our donor base, produced far greater results than me managing bookkeeping activities.

Paul ranked certain spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 when he wrote, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?”

Then Paul challenged the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 12:31 with, “Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.”

In business, we can find plenty to do, but the key to success is identifying your personal gifts, and the gifts of each of your team members, then encouraging them to invest their time in their area of greatest usefulness.

To build an effective team, your job is to determine what is the best use of your greatest gifts, then use those gifts accordingly. Then hire or place people who have the gifts to fill the remaining necessary roles in your business.

Questions for Reflection

• What is most essential to your job? What do you spend most of your time doing? If you are having a hard time deciding what is most important, what unfinished task would most immediately cause problems? Which would cost the most money? Which would most directly hurt the goal of your business?
• What is most essential for your business, task wise? What task or tasks feel more like a chore? How might you outsource it? Or could you potentially automate the unwanted task?