Our Creative Planning Team is taking a sabbatical for the rest of the year. This wasn’t something that I had planned on happening but in retrospect I see a lot of benefit from this break. Over the last week or so I’ve done a lot of thinking about teams and sabbaticals.
I’ve come to the conclusion that teams need to take a break every once in a while. Here are the reasons why:
1) Everyone needs a break to rest. Whether it be busyness in schedule, extra busyness around the holidays or summer, or just being heavily committed in other areas of life, team members appreciate the chance to catch their breath.
2) Being involved in a group with at least moderate expectations and demands can be taxing on team members in their creativity and enthusiasm. It’s no different from driving with your foot constantly on the gas pedal: after a while you run out of gas if you’re always on the go.
3) As a leader you can use the break to re-evaluate the overall purpose and strategies of your team. Pray, pray, pray for God to give you a clear vision of what He wants from the team. It’s His team and you just happen to be the one He’s put in charge of it.
4) Now’s the time to go back to the drawing board and ask yourself the tough questions. Have we lost track of the overall goal? Where have I dropped the ball as leader? What are we doing well and why? What are areas that we need to improve on? Answer these questions first in your mind, let God make the changes in you, and then ask the same questions to your team.
4) You have the chance to re-evaluate the structure and make-up of your team. Is there a cancer in the clubhouse? Do you need to rearrange some of the team members in their roles? Which team members have pushed the team for a more excellent and effective ministry?
5) This is also the time to look for new recruits. Who is in your scope of vision that fits the description of a great potential team member? By the way, they may not be who you’d expect. Also, if you don’t know what criteria to use to evaluate potential team members, stop everything and get that ironed out now.
What do you think? Did I miss anything?
Sounds very wise, Jon. I remember a while back you posted a link to a talk given by an int’l businessman (can’t remember his name). He talked about the benefits of taking a sabbatical year and the creativity that flowed as a result of that time off.
Lately, the topic of Sabbath rest has been reiterated again and again in my life – through discussions in class, books, sermons. God is shaping and changing my perspective concerning Sabbath.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Jon!
Thanks Rebecca. It did connect fairly well with Stefan Sagmeister’s TED Talk (the one you were referring to). Sabbath is such a foreign concept to a lot of believers, especially here in America. We feel that a Sabbath means a Sunday afternoon nap but we forget so many of the other parts of what it means to rest. I’m glad to hear that you’re getting a new perspective on it.
Thanks for your encouragement, hope all is well with you.