Sunday church services happen every Sunday like clockwork. Sound operators must immediately function as well as possible. The success of the service is intertwined with the successful orchestration of several practical and spiritual aspects.
However, a poorly executed technical service distracts immensely from the power and impact of the other ingredients. It is important that the sound operators are given the information they need in order to provide transparent technical support—support that doesn’t call attention to itself while providing excellent communication of music, media, and ministry.
On the other hand, the team leader should train the team so that the members are self-sufficient. If the leader has to do all the thinking for the sound operators at a large church, he or she might look very intelligent and feel very important, but, in the long run, he or she will burn out quickly.
The energy involved in training a crew to be independent is very front-loaded. You’ll have to spend considerable time to develop materials that show people why things are done a certain way, rather than simply how they’re done.
It’s worth your time and effort to produce this type of training. It is useful in many ways:
• It produces a team that can work their way through problems without calling the leader.
• The collective knowledge accumulates quickly as team members build on the knowledge they receive.
• The church has documentation of the leader’s responsibilities and how they’re accomplished.
• The leader can spend more time building more efficient systems and procedures, instead of spending hours and hours hand-holding unknowledgeable team members.
• It is much simpler to include new sound operators because the system is already in effect.
• The team members become much more intellectually involved in the ministry—the knowledge they get intensifies their desire for even more depth.
• Everything runs efficiently, and the entire team lives a more stress-free life.
Training others well is sometimes uncomfortable for the leader. There is an inherent fear that the leader will lose importance and influence if the team members get too good at their jobs—the church could realize that they don’t really need the leader after all.
In reality, a good leader is highly valued by any intelligent organization. Developing a strong, highly skilled team is the mark of an excellent executive. A strong leader with excellent people skills, the emotional security required to help others succeed, good administrative skills, and a heart for ministry is powerful for the kingdom of God.
When it’s time to train new sound operators, follow a very simple and time-tested prescription for success.
Work through the process following this simple order:
• I do. You watch.
• You do. I watch.
• You do.
If you’ll simply let them watch you do sound, they’ll pick up many things before you even need to tell them. Be focused and attentive when you run sound for them. Avoid any passive actions at all.