September 8, 2014

Stuck in the Middle – And Glad for It

Do your commissions have enough middle managers?

I’ve talked many times about commissions and how they can be vehicles for sharing and expanding leadership in a church. But if the composition isn’t right, then they will most likely flounder.

Diversity in age, gender, and race is important. You also want varying lengths of time as members—longtime, new, and in-between members will offer different viewpoints.

But another key factor in determining the composition of a commission (or vestry, for that matter) is work experience. Commissions need executives, support staff, and stay-at-home moms or dads (which, as an aside, requires some executive-style skills). They also need some middle managers.

Effective middle managers know how to manage up—and manage down. And even though some people hate hearing business language when talking about the church, there is much we can learn from business models so that we can be more effective in our mission and ministry. 

Executives tend to be visionaries, folks who are used to setting the vision and direction but let other people do the driving and the actual work. People with these skills are valuable and an important part of the team. But they can’t be the only members of a commission. That’s true as well for support staff. Generally speaking, they are used to taking direction, not initiative. They are doers and vital to getting tasks accomplished. 

Still, without people skilled in middle management, the commissions may fail. Commissions and vestries (and other leadership groups) need members who can link the executives with the supporters, who can connect the entire team and who can articulate the vision and the needed work to the broader community/congregation. 

Middle managers know how to translate lofty goals into concrete steps. They know that setting up for a spaghetti dinner is part of the larger mission of serving the community—and they understand how to communicate that, both up and down. Middle managers are used to both rolling up their sleeves to get the work done and brainstorming on new and creative ways to reach different audiences. 

Another bonus for middle managers: they spend a significant amount of time in meetings. And let’s face it: commissions are notorious for holding lots of meetings. 

Over the course of my church involvement, I’ve served on and witnessed a variety of commissions. The ones that have been the most effective have had solid middle-manager types. 

What’s your experience?