Ed. note: This is the last week of a great series on How to be a Better Office Manager and this week  she concludes with some excellent advice:

As an effective manager, you will:

• Learn all you can about the church, the denomination, office administration, management principles—every subject related to the work of the church office. Use online resources, study written materials, and attend seminars. Study communication and human relations skills.

• Communicate with others. Let your team know your standards for good work and periodically tell them how they are doing. Provide the information people need to do their jobs well. Touch base with them often; be available for questions and suggestions. Include them in decisions concerning issues affecting their work, but realize group decisions are seldom good decisions. Listen; then make the decision alone.

• Involve your team. Delegate. Trust your people with responsibilities. Effective managers do not try to do everything themselves. Turning loose of routine tasks allows you to focus your efforts on the parts of the job only you can do.

• Support your team. Show confidence in them; let them know they can have confidence in you. Pray with and for those you minister with as well as for those you minister to.

Encourage people in their efforts. As a manager you want your team to be willing to try new things. They need to know it is acceptable to make mistakes, or even to fail. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Develop mutual trust and respect. People usually live up to the expectations of others. Expect excellence, not perfection, and show appreciation for your team’s efforts. Go to bat for them for equitable pay and benefits. Be the kind of manager you would like to work with.

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For the first two parts of this series:

Being a Better Office Manager, part one

Being a Better Office Manager, part two