Find Your Administrative Assistant Today…You Big Baby
As I’m working with staff leaders in churches across the country, one of the more frequent complaints I hear is the frustration that they don’t have adequate administrative support. I get it. Details, numbers and administrative responsibilities wear me out too. I can do it. I have gifts in that area. It’s just not what fulfills me. The administrative tasks are just the means to an end.
But, I’ll be honest. If I hear one more “leader” complain about the lack of administrative support, I’m going to start ridiculing them mercilessly. I have no more grace left in me for this issue. If that’s you, you are a big baby.
Here are a few options that have worked with me through the years…
- Find a volunteer…or two. In my early days at Granger Community Church, we couldn’t afford to hire an assistant for every pastor. Because of that, I advertised an opening for an unpaid administrative assistant position. It was a volunteer role. Create a job description. Define expectations. Establish a schedule. There are people in your church with the flexibility in their schedule and the gift mix for this volunteer role.
- Hire a remote assistant. My assistant, Regina, doesn’t work in my office. She handles my schedule, travel arrangements, communications, etc. and, though we live in the same neighborhood, we rarely see each other face-to-face. Again, I’ll bet there are stay-at-home moms or dads looking for opportunities to use their experiences and gifts to support someone like you.
- Outsource your executive assistant. There are a number of options for this service as well. I know many guys in ministry using the Miles Advisory Group (MAG) for this service. Give them a call. It may be a much better solution compared to paying a full-time salary with benefits.
- Share an assistant. Tim and I did this for years. Then Brian and I did this at West Ridge for a time. It’s my opinion that most people in ministry leadership roles don’t really need a full-time assistant unless that assistant also has some other significant ministry role. (I’m just calling it like I see it.)
If your organization ever does get to the point where they can afford to offer you a full-time assistant, you will have had experience to know what you need. You’ll know the best personality that fits your leadership style. You may even have found the volunteer who could ultimately become your paid assistant. Remember, it’s always easier to fire your assistant before you pay them to do the job.
Here’s the bottom line. If you have a problem and you’re the “leader,” fix it. Stop whining. No matter who you are and what your leadership position is, you can have an administrative assistant today. It’s your choice. Stop being the victim and do something about it.
Tony,
Love the brutal honesty and last 10%! We leaders need that. Thank you.
I’ve had a volunteer doing admin for me and she recently had to give it up to focus on some family things. I’m in the process of finding another one now; we’re looking into MAG. I’l try not to whine anymore through the process. If I do, you have my permission to shove a bottle and pacifier in front of me.
-Danny
Great post. Our church has about 40 hours of admin staff (3 people) for our 8 FT / 2 PT staff. Hiring admin help is probably important for us to break 1000 but we have amazing volunteers now who are doing so much. You just have to be a little more organized and planned out ahead of time when using volunteers since they’re not usually “on call”. That’s been good for our staff to learn.
It has taken me 10 plus years to find the right admin person. She handles my schedule, the team schedule and all weekly and monthly repetive tasks. It was a great lift off me and has allowed me to grow and take the team to new levels. She gives me 15-20 hours a week in between home schooling her 5 kids. Pray for the right person to approach you, that is how I found my admin.
Wow! Stark but on target! I’m the only staff person in a church of about 100. The admin stuff can get ya bogged down. As you said I can do it but don’t find fulfillment in it even though I feel good about getting more organized than ever before. It’s part of being a leader. Our vision is seeing our church become a church of ministry teams. I am putting together an admin team and will use your suggestions to recruit and train. Great stuff!
Great advice. I also think that a clear evaluation of priorities could cut back on what a Pastor would need an assistant for, thus reducing hours, and cost. Additionally, creating automated process via web or computer technology can reduce their workload also.
When I started serving as a pastor at my current church a few years ago, it took me a while to get used to how we used administrative assistants, because I had never seen such a set up. I had been used to “The big pastors in the church get an assistant, and if you’re not up high enough, you don’t have one.”
On our staff, administrative assistants are assigned to different ministries or areas of need. So, our youth (where I serve) and children’s team (there are five of us) share an assistant. I also have responsibilities in heading up a new initiative that seeks to streamline the process of getting new folks connected as soon as possible, so I work with the assistant in our “Connections” area. In addition, they work with one another on teams to help us stay organized and make sure everything runs smoothly “under the hood.” It took a while to get used to, but it’s the best set up I’ve ever worked with.