“Next Saturday, we are having a training session for all of our Sunday School leaders. We hope everyone can attend.” How would you feel if you heard someone say this to you? Would you plan to attend? Does the training sound fun and exciting? Here are ten tips to improve your leadership training!
1. Communicate your expectations regarding training when you enlist people. People live up to your expectations. If you do not expect people to attend, THEY WON’T. Expect it!
2. Make training fun and worth attending – Make the training relevant to the people’s needs. Keep the training time enlightening and entertaining.
3. Provide childcare! Make it easy for people to attend.
4. Feed your leaders! People love to eat!
5. Provide door prizes and other give-aways. Ask local restaurants (and church members who own businesses) for gift cards.
6. Leave the leaders wanting to know more. Don’t tell them everything you know in one training session; develop a long-term approach to training.
7. Schedule and PUBLICIZE the training! Publicize some more! When you think you have publicized it enough, PUBLICIZE it more.
8. Enlist trainers! Invite people outside of your church to lead the training. (For some reason someone outside your church can say the same thing you have said 100 times and people will act as if it is the first time they have heard the concept.)
9. Begin and end on time. People like for you to honor their time.
10. Provide training in non-traditional ways. Look for new avenues of training—use email, Web sites, notes, individualized training, and other creative ways to train your leadership.
Remember – training is not a one-time event, but is an ongoing process. Invest in your leaders and they will invest in the lives of the children they teach.
Leave a Reply