(increasing your Committee IQ)
Ted Johnson (former Committee member, Young Life Foundation Director, Board of Trustee member, Chief Encouragement Officer, and interim YL President) famously described his first Adult Guest experience as when he ‘GOT DIPPED’ in Young Life. He would often mention that after seeing...
The Mission’s commitment to Christ and prayer
The genius of Contact Work and Club
The heart of Volunteer Leaders
The beauty, hospitality, and commitment to excellence of a Young Life Camp
The focus on relationships and the furthest out.
The lightness in our spirit, our freedom of theology, and humor
...and He never looked back. What he experienced was ‘ON-Boarding.’ Simply put, this is when someone acquires the knowledge, skills, and behavior to be a valued member of a group, organization, or ministry. In our view, on-boarding never stops. It is the process of going deeper through the concentric circles that go from Seeing & Understanding the ministry to Partnering & Leading.
An EXERCISE: Check the boxes below on THE STATE OF YOUR COMMITTEE
✅ We have Great people who love Christ, Kids, and each other!
✅ We have a clear set of expectations and terms
✅ We have a plan and a vision!
✅ Our Committee members have the right gifting to address the current needs of our Area
We NEED a Committee Orientation plan during the first 12 months someone is on Committee.
We NEED to have a Continuing Education plan for ‘seasoned’ Committee members after year one.
What you need is a plan to help the Committee ‘Get Dipped!’ Below is a result of some of the best practices from Committees around the Globe. These are simple experiences that up the Committee IQ of your local committee members and create a learning culture within this key volunteer group. Below are two tables. (Table 1) is a list of experiences for Committee orientation for year 1. (Table 2) Is a list of additional experiences or Continuing education for all Committee members
Since Young Life is ‘caught more than taught,’ below are 4 STEPS TO COMMITTEE ON-BOARDING
STEP 1- Print out on-boarding table #1 or #2 as is or add your own experiences.
STEP 2- Have new and current committee members pick an ambitious but reasonable # of experiences to achieve this year. (suggested 3-5)
STEP 3- Make this list part of your monthly Committee meeting agenda and dedicate a block of time for a member to ‘report’ on what they have done!
STEP 4- Get ready to have a more engaged, passionate, and informed Committee, Board or Adult Support team.
One last step- if you have an onboarding experience that isn’t listed- let me know!! Email Tank.
-Contributors (Frank Ivey, Newt and Susan Crenshaw, Blake Raney, Emily Lewis, Ken Tankersley, Valerie Morris, Dave Avramovich, Tim Hartin, Rob Anderson, Eric Protzman, Keith Dow, Jeff Huber, Jon Mueller, Gill Richard, Anneke Brown, Kimberly Silvernale)
