Written by Charles Galecki
A positive, strong staff culture requires ongoing meaningful investment from school leaders and staff members.
The devil works tremendously hard to create and tear open cracks in our schools that distract us from our mission. We need hard work and God’s blessings to keep our strong foundation. The goal of this blog is to equip the reader with practical tools to invest in their staff culture to better serve the Kingdom. Staff culture is divided into three areas:
- Spiritual Foundation
- Fellowship Foundation
- Professional Foundation
Spiritual Foundation
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39
Body of Christ
Every year I start out with a devotion on the Body of Christ. This is a wonderful reminder of how the Lord has blessed our ministries with diverse gifts and talents. Each and every member has been placed in our ministry and has a purpose. Each person is to be honored. Strengthsfinder fits in great with this theme as well!
Intentional Devotions
I would guess every ministry has weekly, if not daily, devotions. Do we crack open a book and go through the motions to check another thing off our daily to-do list? Certainly, all Scripture is useful and beneficial, but I would challenge all to look hard at our staff devotions and see them as the blessing they are. I know too often I am guilty of not putting my best foot forward when it comes to planning intentional staff devotions. My challenge to you is, once a week, plan a timely, focused devotion with direct applications to your staff’s needs and ministry.
Pray for One Another
It is so hard to be frustrated with someone who just prayed for you. Don’t just have the leaders pray—get everyone involved! Pray out loud. The school I serve has themes each day.
- Ministry Monday – Pray for something specific to your individual ministry
- Teacher Tuesday – Pray for another teacher
- Thankful Thursday – Pray only a prayer of thanksgiving for the blessings we receive
- Family Friday – Join hands in a circle prayer, praying for whatever is on your heart
Additional Spiritual Investments
- End-of-day prayer
- End-of-day devotion
- Accountability partners
- Wednesday partner-up Bible study
Fellowship Foundation
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20
Scheduled Team Building
Every school would benefit from dedicating time and money toward monthly staff team building. Go mini-golfing, have a game night, grab some snacks at a local restaurant, anything! Teachers thrive off the encouragement, and schools benefit from the synergy (Sparks, 2013). It would be wise for school board leaders to see the benefits and set aside some budget funds to support this effort.
A Little Fun
Studies have shown that having fun at work increases engagement, creativity, and purpose (Nelson, 2022). Fun takes on many different forms and varies from person to person. Music, games/competition, and location are some simple ways to sprinkle fun into anything.
Faculty Retreat
Each July we take three days to escape, bond, and plan. We purchase an overnight Airbnb. We buy food, cook meals, go out, play games, fellowship, and get a little work done. This past year we reflected and rewrote our discipline philosophy and how it is implemented. I find that when teachers know each other’s hearts and motivations for ministry, it is much harder to become divided. The focused time you get at a retreat to do team building cannot be rivaled.
Additional Fellowship Investments
- Holiday gatherings
- Secret encouragers
- Dedicated time to get to know each other
- Staff shoutouts
- D-day staff breakfasts
- Monthly treats by staff
Professional Foundation
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31
Collaborative Norms
Norms are shared agreements about how a group will work together. Some examples are “actively listen” and “start on time, end on time” and much more! These norms increase productivity, team morale, and team authenticity (Boudett & Lockwood, 2019). It is important to note, these norms require accountability to be effective.
PLC Teams
One model of professional development is to partner teachers up to create their own professional learning communities (PLC). They learn and grow in this community. It encourages collaboration. Teachers come together and learn from each other and share the blessings and challenges in their ministries. This model is the most effective professional development model for schools (DeFour, 2014).
Critical/Crucial Conversations
There will be times throughout the school year where there is frustration among the staff. Crucial conversations need to occur when opinions differ, the stakes are high, and the emotions are high. Teach staff how to navigate and communicate through this process. My staff is full of harmony and empathy strengths, and this is really hard for them, but it is crucial. When we hold these emotions in, they will come out and manifest themselves in unhealthy ways. Communication is needed in a strong staff.
Additional Professional Investments
- Consistent observations & feedback
- Peer observations
- Ongoing professional development
- Effective meetings
- Distributed leadership
- Customs, traditions, and happenings
Building a strong culture with the faculty takes time and effort. With hard work and the Lord’s blessings, a positive faculty culture leads to a powerful Lutheran school ministry.
Charles Galecki (MLC ’15, MS in Ed Admin-Principal ’21) serves as principal at St. Paul-Columbus OH.
References
Boudett, K. P., & Lockwood, M. (2019). The power of team norms. Educational Leadership, 76(9). https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/the-power-of-team-norms
DuFour, R. (2014). Harnessing the power of PLCs. Educational Leadership, 71(8). https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/harnessing-the-power-of-plcs
Nelson, B. (2022, May 2). Why work should be fun. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2022/05/why-work-should-be-fun#:~:text=Is%20having%20fun%20at%20work,employee%20retention%20and%20reducing%20turnover.
Sparks, D. (2013). Strong Teams, Strong Schools: Teacher-to-Teacher Collaboration Creates Synergy that Benefits Students. Journal of Staff Development, v34 n2 p28-30.