How I Recruit New Team Members

The Five Faders is Ad Lib Music’s development system that gives you language and awareness to unlock your team’s potential to be its best version. We are all driven by one of five motivations: Artist, Shepherd, Priest, Educator, and Producer. They are why we do what we do

• Artists notice nuance.

• Shepherds consider the individual.

• Priests overflow with simple love and pure devotion to Jesus.

• Educators bring out the best in people.

• Producers plan to exceed usual limits.

Today begins an 11-week series to teach you how each of the Five Faders accomplishes the tasks in our to-do lists. You can think of the Faders as, well, faders on a soundboard that you slide up and down to achieve an appropriate balance.

We’re starting with recruiting because we all need more people on our teams.

While every team has people, what kind are on your team is up to you.

The dysfunctional team is infested with:

• Rock Stars who are Perfectionistic and Contemptuous

• Gatekeepers who are Oversensitive and Mistrusting

• Judges & Juries who are Critical and Isolating

• Know-It-Alls who are Lecturing and Debating

• Dictators who are Micromanaging and Controlling

But the Five Faders team is full of:

• Craftsmen who create Beauty and Usefulness

• Pastors who develop Community and Belonging

• Prophets who foster Devotion and Depth

• Mentors that embody Wisdom and Capability

• Architects that design Excellence and Transcendence

This series will teach you how each of the Five Faders accomplishes the tasks in our to-do lists.

We will cover:

• How I Recruit New Team Members

• How I Audition New Team Members

• How I Schedule Team Members

• How I Choose Songs

• How I Create Chord Charts

• How I Prepare For A Rehearsal

• How I Prepare To Lead Worship

• How I Lead Worship

• How I Debrief After Leading

• How I Disciple My Team

• How I Help My Team Be More Musical

As we begin exploring how to recruit, let me give you this disclaimer: This is not “best practices for recruiting,” but “How each Fader thinks about recruiting.” Let’s dive in!

ARTIST

I look for the exact kind of musician we’re missing and describe their skill and approach in detail until we’re all clear about what we’re praying and looking for. Then we invite that kind of player to guest with us on a Sunday.

Because I’m always thinking about how we can create a beautiful and powerful sound, I listen “in tracks” to songs. In other words, rather than just taking in the recording as a whole, I listen to instruments in solo mode to see what they are doing and how they affect the whole. I can tell if there are one, two, or five electric guitar parts and can rank them in their level of importance to the overall sound.

So, I get really specific when thinking about my team and who I need to recruit. Suppose I’m looking for an electric guitar player. Do I want one that can play a steady, chunking rhythm with power chords, one that can articulate those soaring leads, one that can mimic pads and play underneath everything, or one with a vast chord vocabulary and can add lots of color?

(I know, many of us would be happy with just one decent electric guitar player who doesn’t sound like a 70’s blues player, but remember, we’re learning to think like an Artist!)

So once I determine the precise kind of player I’m looking for, where do I turn next? I may invite one of my friends I’ve played with over the years (outside of church) to join the team for a week. He or she may not stick, but it gives the rest of my team a better idea of what we’re looking for.

SHEPHERD

We talk about it as a team and decide who we want to invite to consider joining our community - friends from work, acquaintances from our kids’ sports, garage bandmates from college.

We do recruitment as a team, and if we’re adding new people, we must make sure the chemistry will work. After all, we’ve worked hard to create a culture that is honoring, fun, and offers each person a true sense of belonging.

Just because you’re a good player doesn’t mean you’ll fit. You need a similar approach, shared values, and a common vision to genuinely help the team.

As part of our connecting time at rehearsals, we pray and discuss who we’ve been thinking about that could be added. Then, we decide what the next step could be in bringing them along to a rehearsal. We create opportunities for new relationships to develop and get curious about getting to know them.

If the team feels like it’s a good fit, we take the next step.

PRIEST

I’m always watching for the expressive worshipers in the congregation and, after praying for direction, casually open conversations with one of them to explore their interest in learning an instrument.

The essential qualifier to me is that we are a team of worshipers. Of course, quality and skill matter. But I want my team full of people who authentically and expressively love God.

That’s why I keep an eye out for them in the congregation. I’m guessing that God is stirring something in their hearts, and if they desire to serve and the capacity (or desire the capacity) to play or sing, I open a conversation with them.

EDUCATOR

Since I work with the youth to develop their worship bands, I’m always inviting ones who seem ready for the next level of learning and have them join a team to shadow a more seasoned musician.

Rather than trying to recruit out of thin air, I develop a “farm system.” In baseball terms, the minor leagues prepare players for the majors. I create opportunities for untested musicians to build in situations with appropriate pressure that match their skill level.

The best way to recruit is to grow them internally!

PRODUCER

I’ve created a chart of how many singers and instrumentalists we’d have when our teams are “full.” I use this to systematically work on looking for the players we lack to fill all the teams. I occasionally leave “gaps” in the schedule so folks will notice a need and coordinate it with an announcement inviting people to audition for that role.

Sure, I’d welcome a musician who isn’t “next in my chart,” but being intentional in who I’m looking for produces excellent results.

We didn’t have a drummer when we started, and I had two keyboard players, a guitar player, and two singers. My goal was to reach four complete teams with drums, bass, electric 1 and 2, acoustic, keys 1 and 2, an aux instrument (like violin, mandolin, flute, etc.), and three singers.

We’re only six people away from being full. How? Put a Producer in charge of recruitment. :)

Next week, we’ll learn how each Fader thinks about auditions!

-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)

How I Recruit New Team Members (Nº 322)