Jill spoils our visitors. Mike organizes the sound system. Gayl practices with the praise band. Sandy teaches a small group. Nick sets up our activities. Jack runs the games. Lori seeks out the timid. On and on the list goes. This is my team; my volunteers; my staff. My team makes me look good. My team makes our youth program successful. The team enables us to grow. They facilitate learning. They touch more students and change more lives than I ever could do on my own.

I have utilized my adult leaders in this capacity whether the youth group was 12 or 80, big church or small, city or rural. The team reproduces my influence to touch those I cannot reach and to help those to whom I cannot relate. These team members are my closest friends, my most loyal supporters and my biggest fans.

To use a sports analogy, attention to your coaching staff is as much a part of your success as is attention to your players. I believe the same is true for a successful student ministry. In fact, in ministry this can be the difference between a fired-up youth program and a burned-out pastor. In order to achieve this success and to build up your dream team, you need to ensure that your team knows the answers to four questions: What do you need? What should I know? How did I do? Do you love me? Properly executed, this information readily will attract, retain and reward your volunteers.

Detailed Expectations: What do you need?
What is your plan for utilizing volunteers? What strategy do you have for placing your team in specific roles? How will you make the best use of each person’s unique gifts and abilities? How are you ensuring that all your needs are met and all the holes are filled? The youth leader must have detailed expectations for their volunteers and a well-communicated plan on how volunteers can serve. Everybody is attracted to a great plan; this is certainly true in youth ministry. If you do not have volunteers, it’s because you do not have a plan. People follow a leader who has a plan.

Through the eyes of a volunteer, picture the following: You rush to get to the church because the youth leader needs you, only to discover he evidently needed 10 other adults, as well. Together you stand against the wall like a bunch of misfits at a middle school dance, not sure what to do and too embarrassed to ask. You’ve taken time from your day. You’ve made the effort to be there. You’ve offered your help. You were told you were needed. Now that you’re here, you don’t feel needed at all. Instead, you feel somewhat abused and taken for granted. Frustration sets in, and you wonder why you agreed to volunteer.

A well-developed and communicated plan will avoid this situation. The youth leader is responsible for the creation and implementation of this volunteer strategy. On any team, each member plays a specific role. Upfront or behind the scenes, in the spotlight or out, there are roles needing to be filled. The roles are made clear during practice where it is the coach’s job to place each person in the correct position, then prepare them to play that position. This is true for sports, drama, orchestra and even your job. You are in the role because somebody thought you were good enough to be placed and trained for the position. The same is true for volunteer teams.

Every person on your dream team should be allowed to play a specific role. The point is to have your staff arrive at an event knowing why they are there and exactly what is expected of them. I tell my team members I don’t want or expect them to do everything or to feel guilty about what they’re not doing or the events they don’t attend. What I want is for them to feel confident they’re doing exactly what I need them to do. The team-building potential is wrapped up in having each member play a specific role and is a powerful tool youth leaders should utilize.

Effective Communication: What should I know?
Volunteers know enough to want to be involved, but that does not mean they know everything they want to know, should know or need to know. Our communication does not end when a person joins the team. Rather, it’s just beginning. One of the keys to developing a dream team is clear communication.

Knowing what needs to be communicated is a matter of knowing your team. To those who thrive on details, I give details. To those who want the big picture, I lay out the entire scheme. To all, I communicate the essentials necessary for success. Before an activity or main night, I make sure my team is “in the know.” This can include the schedule, specific roles and an overview of the entire event. I want my volunteers arriving, certain of what is going to happen, confident of their role, and knowledgeable of what needs to be done.

It is impossible to over-communicate, but that must be our goal. One of the biggest frustrations on a team is the lack of communication. I long for the day when I relay information to my volunteers only to have them roll their eyes and say, “I know, we got it, you’ve told us before.”  I dream of the time when I again cast the vision and have my team finish the sentence because it’s been so repetitive and visible.

Instant Feedback: How did I do?
Ken Blanchard says the leading motivator of people is feedback on results. I find this true because volunteers are giving their time and energy, not for a paycheck but for a cause. They want to know they are making a difference and serving in a significant way. While as leaders we may think the results are obvious, to say or do nothing is a mistake on our part. Even if the results are obvious, which they are not always, our team needs us to give feedback and affirmation. There is great team-building power when players hear from their coach, “Well done!”

Feedback provides the accountability necessary to give our volunteers knowledge and understanding of how they served. It provides a prime opportunity to encourage and lift up our volunteers because many times their tanks are low and our affirmation goes a long way toward filling them up.

I provide instant feedback for my team because even if they do not verbally ask, their eyes and body language give it away, “How did I do? Did I pull my weight? Were your expectations met?” Answering these questions is extremely important because when our team members know we are going to take notice, they will be more likely to fulfill their commitments to the best of their ability. By providing feedback, our volunteers realize we care enough to observe and know enough to respond.

Individualized Treatment: Do you love me?
While the first couple of questions focus on what the volunteer can add to the leader, the last two deal with what the leader can add to the volunteer. Above all else, your volunteers need to know you not only value them, but also love them. This requires us to know who they are on more than just a professional, working level; we must also know them on a personal level.

By displaying interest in the personal lives of our volunteers, we are showing genuine care for them as individuals. This should be a natural happening because in many cases the youth leader functions as the pastor and shepherd to the volunteers. Personally, I operate my team as a small group where life is shared together and friendships are developed. In doing so, I get to know my volunteers, their families, their prayer requests, and their needs.

The benefits of knowing my team at such a personal level is extremely rewarding. Not only do I have the opportunity to create great friendships, I also have the privilege of catering to their unique personalities and situations. One of my volunteers, Sandy, has a brother who is fighting cancer. Knowing she was struggling, I called her to say I was praying for her. She responded by crying and saying this phone call showed her God still cared. All I was doing was making contact, but to Sandy it was much more important and meaningful. The call showed Sandy I value her, know her and love her.

Individualized treatment assumes we know our volunteers as individuals, allowing us to provide personal treatment and give specific encouragement to each person. Individualized treatment communicates clearly that you not only need your volunteers for the job they do, but you love them for the people they are. Individualized treatment helps build your dream team because members realize you care more for who they are rather than what they offer.

Conclusion: My Dream Team
Your volunteer team is your lifeblood. Without them, there is no student ministry. Your mind should search for ways to reward and thank team members for their service. You cannot give them a paycheck, the typical incentive for work, but you can give them a role in something that makes a difference in eternity. What you can offer is a knowledge and understanding of how they fit into the big picture. What you can provide are your thoughts and insights about how they’re doing. What you can do is love them as individuals. The result will be an effective, efficient, healthy, helpful, God-honoring dream team.

Jamey loves student ministry and has spent 15 years teaching and training students in the local church. He currently serves as the student ministries pastor at Calvary Church in Fruitport, Michigan, and enjoys coaching high school football and flying kites at the beach with his family.