Could it be that we've overplayed the 'Chemistry' card?
Recently, Google did a study of what makes teams effective. The big finding: the KINDS of people (a.k.a. the individual personalities) in your team are not nearly as important as first thought.
What?
Abeer Dubey, the leader of the study said this: "“We had lots of data, but there was nothing showing that a mix of specific personality types or skills or backgrounds made any difference. The ‘who’ part of the equation didn’t seem to matter.”
Really?
This is interesting.
What DOES matter then?
Here's what they found:
- Psychological safety: Everyone feels safe in taking risks around their team members, and that they won’t be embarrassed or punished for doing so.
- Dependability: Everyone completes quality work on time.
- Structure and clarity: Everyone knows what their specific expectations are. These expectations must be challenging yet attainable.
- Meaning: Everyone has a sense of purpose in their work (i.e., financial security, supporting family, helping the team succeed, etc.).
- Impact: Everyone sees that the result of their work actually contributes to the organization’s overall goals.
OK.. I get it. These five things are important.
But so is chemistry.
Not surprisingly, this study is causing some controversy. Seems that not all researchers agree on the notion that personalities and chemistry don't matter. You can read more here for a fascinating thought on left-handed brain vs. right-handed brain leadership teams.
At Chemistry Staffing, we've done our own study with hundreds of churches. We've found that to build a great staff and leadership at your church, each person really needs to align around four main areas:
Theology: You have to BELIEVE the same things. (at least on the essentials of the faith.
Culture: You have to be on the same page culturally (philosophy of ministry, how to engage culture, etc.)
Personality: You have to have stable, likable, people on your team.
Skills: You need to have competent people that are gifted in their area of ministry.
But, we've found that there is one thing that has to be layered on top of these four characteristics: CHEMISTRY.
- Chemistry means that WANT to work with this person.
- Chemistry means that you WANT to do life with this person.
- Chemistry means that you both are ALL IN with the ministry of the church.
- Chemistry means that this person is FAMILY.
- Chemistry means you don't EVER want this person to leave your church.
When churches hire for theology, culture, personality, and skill, but miss chemistry... it is not a good match.
When churches hire for chemistry only (when they become easily infatuated with a candidate), and ignore Theology, Culture, Personality, and Skills, the hire is also doomed.
How is your team?
How do you hire?
At Chemistry Staffing, we get to know your church before we start your search. Our process helps us screen and find candidates that meet the first four criteria. The last one (Chemistry) is something only you can determine.
What we bring to the table for you: great candidates that fit you the theology, culture, and personality of your church with the skills you need. What you need to determine at that point is whether or not this person has the 'chemistry' needed to be a great team member at your church.
Is your church getting ready to hire a new team member? Let's chat about how we can help you make a great, healthy, long-term hire that will work well in your church and community for years to come.
