3 Ways to Recruit Tech Volunteers
No matter what size church, it always seems like there aren't enough tech (or any other) volunteers. Often it feels like no one can take a weekend off or everything will crash and burn. The leader is often asking themselves “ how would this work without me?” Church leadership is often ignorant to what the leader does to the point where they either assume everything is going to be fine until it service times comes and things they are used to having aren’t there, or they panic ahead of time and don’t allow the technical leader to take time off. Both of which are unhealthy and lead to major disappointment and stress. This is why it is so crucial to build teams of solid people that can cover for each other.
So, before we get to recruiting volunteers, we need to look at what the onboarding process looks like and the culture that needs to exist for people to successfully grow.
The Culture
First and probably most importantly, failure MUST be an option. People, especially in the learning process, make mistakes. The trick to learning is how those mistakes are responded to. If the leader/teacher (or higher-level leadership) loses it and says “that can never happen again! whose fault was that?" then the team can’t grow. We have to be willing to allow people to be human and learn through their failures. We all started somewhere and made mistakes as we learned, others deserve the same grace we were afforded.
Onboarding Pipeline
In any apprenticed learning process (which is exactly what learning technical skills is) there are 3 phases.
Phase one is: I do, you watch. This is where the teacher performs the skill while the learner can closely observe and ask questions. This is where the basics are learned and the foundational knowledge is formed. How quickly a learner can move through these steps largely depends on their aptitude for it and the complexity of the skill. Everyone will move at a different pace and that’s ok.
Phase two is: You do, I watch. This is where the learner performs the skill while the teacher offers coaching and steps in where needed. There are often many more questions asked at this stage. This is where the skill begins to be developed and moves from head knowledge to muscle memory.
Phase three is: You do on your own. This means that the learner has reached a point of proficiency where they no longer need dedicated mentoring. This doesn’t mean they know everything. (news flash: we are all still learning) There is always more to learn and ways to improve and for a learner to reach this stage it doesn’t mean they have to be as good as the teacher. The teacher should also be constantly learning. The only direction things coast is downhill.
Once the clear onboarding process is in place and an environment concussive for leaning is in place, we can now look at recruiting people.
Recruitment
The following are 3 ways I've found effective at not only recruiting people but also recruiting people who have a higher potential to become leaders on your team
#1 Stage announcements This has the greatest potential when communicated well. “God is calling you to serve and has gifted you to do so. You don’t have to know everything upfront, we will teach you everything you need to know. This area is more than (insert typical stereotypes about being a computer nerd), rather we need people who (list common interests like music, design, and photography).” Getting up and only saying “we need help” may get a couple of people but it would be out of obligation instead of being inspired to serve the kingdom through their interests, gifts, and passions.
#2 Friends of team members The people you already have probably have friends who are somewhat like them and share the same interests. Sometimes those friends don't go to church and we can both get help on the team and get someone in the building to hear about Jesus who otherwise might never have set foot in a church. What's the worst that could happen? Maybe the com chatter gets a little colorful a couple of times.
#3 Your core circle of people You have people in your life that will want to help. Family, Friends, people in your small group. Sometimes all you need to do is ask. More often than not, your relationship with them will be enough for them to be willing to try it out. This has proven to be a great option for me, especially when it's then paired with the second way.
Bonus: Don't forget about the next generation. High-school students are often eager to learn and have more free time than many adults. I often find that large chunks of my teams are students and they are an absolute joy to work with. Often they are far more mature and responsible than you would think, they just need a chance to prove it.
If you’d like to talk more specifically about your volunteer onboarding process, send me a message, I’d love to talk with you.