If I asked you what the most effective tool in your toolbox is for building a healthy staff culture, what would you say?
Staff retreats? Offsites? An open-door policy?
I'd argue it's something far more ordinary, but incredibly underutilized.
Your weekly staff meeting.
I've seen churches invest significant time and money into building a healthy staff culture while overlooking one of the best opportunities they have to shape it every single week.
Think about it. Your staff meeting is a chance to reinforce your values, celebrate wins, pray together, learn together, and remind your team why the work they're doing matters.
And there's a reason I recommend doing it weekly. Culture isn't built through an occasional big event. It's shaped through consistent, repeated experiences. A weekly meeting gives you 52 opportunities a year to reinforce what matters most.
But too often, we let urgency drive the conversation and we turn that time into a long list of updates that could've been shared in an email.
Here's a question worth asking: If someone attended your staff meeting every week for six months, what would they learn about your church's culture?
Would they see your values in action? Would they hear stories of life change? Would they leave encouraged and more connected to the mission?
Culture is never static. It's being shaped every week, whether we're intentional about it or not.
So how can you make better use of the time you already have together? Here are three things I'd encourage you to consider.
1. Make your values visible.
Most churches have a set of values, but how often are you actually talking about them? Use your staff meeting to share stories of people living out those values, celebrate examples across ministries, and remind your team what matters most.
Try this: Each week, highlight one of your staff values and share a specific example of what it looked like in action.
We used these culture cubes at Willow Creek. It’s an easy way to keep your values front and center.
2. Create space for connection and encouragement.
Your staff is busy doing ministry, and it's easy for everyone to get caught up in their own responsibilities. Make room to pray together, celebrate wins, and share stories of life change that remind everyone why you're doing this work in the first place.
Try this: Start each meeting with a story of life change or something worth celebrating from the past week. I’ve seen this transform staff meetings into deeper connection and trust.
3. Make learning part of your rhythm.
You don't need a big training event to invest in your staff's development. Set aside a few minutes each week to share something you're learning, discuss a leadership principle, or invite someone on your team to teach something helpful.
Try this: Dedicate 10 minutes of your next staff meeting to a leadership conversation or something your team can learn together.
Your Staff Meeting Is Already on the Calendar
Most teams I work with don't need to completely overhaul their staff meetings to make them more effective.
We start by looking at a few small things.
How you're currently using that time.
How much is spent sharing information?
How much is spent reinforcing culture, developing people, and connecting your team to the mission?
There will always be updates to share and decisions to make, but if that's all your staff meeting accomplishes, you're missing an opportunity.
You have 52 opportunities a year to shape your staff culture. The goal isn't to create 52 perfect meetings. It's to consistently make room for the things that help your team grow healthier and stronger.
Listen to the Full Conversation
On this week's episode of The LeadingSmart Podcast, Holly and I talk more about how to rethink your weekly staff meetings. We share practical ideas for structuring your time together, deciding what belongs on the agenda, and using these meetings to intentionally build a healthier staff culture.
Listen to the episode and get practical ideas you can use at your next staff meeting.
How LeadingSmart Helps
At LeadingSmart, we work with churches to build healthier staff cultures, strengthen leadership teams, and create rhythms that help their organizations thrive. Through consulting and coaching, we help leaders identify what's working, where they may be getting stuck, and practical steps to move forward.