Have you ever got a job or promotion that made you take a big gulp and say, “Wow, I just became responsible for a lot!”? There is a good chance you just jumped into a manager or director position.
Not everyone learns at the same pace, so I’ll write down where someone’s capabilities are currently at and outline the next steps that I feel that they need to take.
Perhaps one of the toughest roles in a church today is that of technical director. You now have a dubious task or balancing being a leader, teacher, ambassador, mentor, influencer, minister, and tech genius.
There isn’t another position in the church that can compare.
Perhaps one of the toughest roles in a church today is that of technical director. You now have a dubious task or balancing being a leader, teacher, ambassador, mentor, influencer, minister, and tech genius.
Being a technical director can carry the weight of multiple ministries, all in one, while also supporting nearly every ministry the church offers.
Regardless if you are in this role as a staff leader or even as a volunteer, the weight of the responsibility is the same. All the while, you may now find your phone and email suddenly blowing up, from all corners of the organization as well as from volunteers.
Even if you think otherwise, you’ll survive this transition.
You just may want to sit down and take in a deep breath and take some time to look at how to transition well.
Fortunately, you are not alone, and many have come before you. With that, we thought to write down some important items to discuss, ones that often can help or hinder your start in this very important role.
Leave your past in the past
Forget it.
Why did I start here with this topic? The reason is techs by nature tend to bear a large brunt of criticism in the church.
All too often, the reasons a tech leaves a role for another job, is because they find themselves dealing with too much criticism, that often goes with the lack in pay.
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14 NIV
We as techs think very differently than pastors, musicians, and other nontechnical church roles. If you are a leader of a technical leader, take note of this, the church tech is the last person on a pastor’s radar to be shepherded and mentored.
I challenge you as leaders, to break this cycle.
Be forward thinking …
I think we may all be guilty of hashing out former employer issues at some point in our career. Challenge yourself to place that aside and use those very things that may have hurt you, into a leadership model, valuing others around you into the future.
I like to think of my past as something that has shaped me to become a better leader and identify similar scenarios that may be holding back a person, team, or perhaps an entire organization, and steer it toward in the best way that I can, to a better result.
You may just find the employee that is about to leave your ministry staff is hurt by something you have overcome. You likely have a solution or workaround for that scenario right now.
One such example would be a team member who has always wanted to get to serve in a particular role, only to see that it is always held by a contractor or a specific staff member. In those cases, it can create an atmosphere where growth in that organization can seem limiting.
We as techs think very differently than pastors, musicians, and other nontechnical church roles. If you are a leader of a technical leader, take note of this, the church tech is the last person on a pastor’s radar to be shepherded and mentored.
Look at your team, and set a path for growth in roles where your teams know that they are valued and invested in.
Your past is your strength!
It’s a fresh start …
As you embark on your new role as technical director, you likely are coming from a place of leaving a job before this one, coming from another place, maybe stepping up into a promotion.
Leverage in every way your new position, in your organization, to plant new and positive seeds or growth!
If you have felt some areas have previously been a struggle, deliberately set plans in motion to use them as team builders. Training plans, fellowship, intentional one-on-one time with team members, delegate responsibility, and more can be many ways to fuel your start to excite your teams!
Take notes, lots of notes
Not everything can be solved in one day.
While you may solve a few things right away that have come to your attention, there are many more issues on the horizon that will take longer, and you need to remember what those were.
I have found it extremely helpful when people are discussing ideas, pointing out problems, repairs, upgrades, or just have pondering questions, that you need to be writing all these details down.
One of the first things you may encounter in your new role, is a lot of people want to know what you, the new TD, thinks.
As these discussions begin, there is going to be a lot of discussion on areas, equipment, and potentially personnel, that may be a bit foreign to you. This is where taking notes will be key, as you can begin to disseminate all these new opinions, requests, and more. I find it additionally helpful to evaluate much of this and slowly set priorities as you become familiar with areas of your organization.
I have found it extremely helpful when people are discussing ideas, pointing out problems, repairs, upgrades, or just have pondering questions, that you need to be writing all these details down.
Brainstorming needs to be a continuous conversation, with some sort of notetaking. I’m notorious for filling up my Notes app on my iPhone, as it contains thoughts relating to stage designs, volunteer development, specific individuals’ training accomplishments and where to take them next, to-do lists … you name it.
It’s often a daily note taking process for me. At some point each week, I come back to those many notes and refine the priorities of what can be applied relatively soon.
Take notes on people …
I use this specific notetaking to take notes on those that I’m working with. I love training and developing people and taking notes on each of those individuals helps me pin down some ideas to work on.
Not everyone learns at the same pace, so I’ll write down where someone’s capabilities are currently at and outline the next steps that I feel that they need to take.
If you have a school, lesson program, or a training process for your teams, a great way to apply the detailed use of note taking can aid in individual learning curves. A junior high school student, for example, might not learn as quickly as an 18-year-old. By taking notes, you can very carefully develop a plan for an individual and track their progress to not miss any training steps. By doing this, others are free to accelerate or decelerate, to their preferred tack of learning.
The best part of this is the individual will know that you have taken intentional care to really know them, the questions they have asked, and to cohesively continue your interaction.
The other area I take notes on relates to relationships amongst those that I am working with.
Some people are easier to be around than others. Use this mindset in the same way you would for that someone you are developing, to help refine positive interaction or perhaps areas that need to be clarified.
Notetaking helps you reflect …
I learned a long time ago, often your gut reaction may be the correct action, but not always the correct response. Taking time to write things down allows you to filter some of the challenging times that you encounter. Sometimes we get overly excited to jump onto a project that leadership hasn’t fully endorsed or sometimes we get frustrated with how things are going.
Go ahead, write it down. Discuss it with a trusted one, and you will find it will help you refine your response and approach to many aspects.
For the second part of this three-part series, read "I'm A New Tech Director, Where To Start? Change Without Alienating," which posted to the site on Monday, March 4. For the third part of this three-part series, read "I'm A New Tech Director, Where To Start? Relationships, Networking," which posted to the site on Wednesday, March 6.