Burnout in Churches and Christian Faith-Based Organisations

Tips for Success:
1. Understand which types of power you habitually use and why.
2. Regarding specific contexts, understand which types of power are available to you and
anticipate those you are likely to face. Be prepared to act so that you can appropriately exercise
influence.
3. Invest time and energy in developing your ability to use all types of power appropriately when
needed.
4. When chairing a meeting identify agenda items in respect of which participants may hold
strong and or differing views and be prepared to intervene to ensure people are heard, that
behaviours that distract, annoy or in any way reduce proper participation are challenged.
5. Periodically talk with your team and individuals about how well they feel able to meaningfully
participate in discussions and decision making. Be prepared to talk about the appropriate use
of power within your team or organisation.
6. Challenge inappropriate use of power and provide developmental support to those wishing to
improve their ability to influence others.
7. Periodically consider whether any organisational changes are necessary to make the use of
power consistent with the recipe or culture.
Systems, Control and Routines
Systems, controls, and routines are vital to a well-run organisation, the absence or poor quality of
which can lead to chaos, poor performance and leave the organisation vulnerable to a multitude of
risks associated with safeguarding, industrial tribunals, fraud, etc. Overly complex bureaucratic systems
and controls are little better, causing delay in decision making, frustration and may tempt leaders to
find ways to play or beat the system.
Systems, controls, and routines that leaders work with arise from a variety of potential sources.
Outside the influence of organisational leaders are systems and controls set or framed at a societal
level, for example employee taxation, data privacy and safeguarding. Leaders operating in a wider
organisational structure will normally be required to work within systems and controls that are
imposed at national, regional or group levels; collecting and submitting data, and subject to
inspections and institutional audits to ensure compliance. Finally, at a local level, leaders also design
systems and controls.
Along with formal systems and controls, organisations also create and maintain routines, most of
which are determined locally. Some of these, for example supervision, team meetings and morning
briefings play an important part in organisational life and can be both problematic and stressful. Ask
people who attend team meetings about their experiences and, rather than tell you how much they
appreciate the opportunity to hear of latest developments, be listened to and involved in decision
making, they are more likely to complain about lengthy meetings that lack focus, where a few loud
members dominate and even fewer decisions made.
Typically, routines evolve over time, are not written down and can be a source of disproportionate
aggravation and stress, as for example with an office ‘coffee club’ where members pay a monthly sum
to cover ingredient cost. All very straightforward other than where individuals are ‘slow to pay’, there is
a mix of part and full time staff, a variation in the extent to which individuals are in/out the office and
people who generally ‘over-consume’. Not to mention catering for ever-widening preferences regarding
drinks, washing up, cleaning kitchen areas, etc.
If systems, controls, and routines are well designed, they help efficiency, balance consistency and
flexibility and protect service users, members of a congregation, donors, public, staff and volunteers
and leaders, as the example in Figure 7 illustrates.
31