Stages of Research in Team Development

Research serves an important role in the development of a ministry team. This article will describe the contribution of research to each stage of a team's development.

Stage 1: Pre-Field
When a country is being considered for a resident team, pre-field research provides an information base for needs assessment and establishing initial objectives. This focuses on both basic Harvest Field and Harvest Force information. Research activities here will involve library research, a initial field visit, and interviews of church leaders. The information gathered in this stage is primarily for internal decision making needs of the organization.

Stage 2: Initial Field
As the country team is in the first few years of resident ministry, research focuses on adequate orientation to the culture and the Church. It also helps form the team’s platform for ministry and concentrates on building the team's credibility. It is likely that the team will design and implement several field research projects during this stage. The information gathered in this stage (1) assists the team to set objectives and develop relevant ministries and (2) serves the Church in its mission to make disciples of all peoples.

Research also assists the ministry team in these ways:

• Development of Strategic Plan and ministry objectives
• Evaluation of ministry activity,
• Networking and Partnership Develpment
• Identifying Partners
• Understanding the Harvest Field and the Harvest Force
• Identifying Resources
• Identifying contextually appropriate methods

Stage 3: Established Field
Once a team has established its credibility, research can then serve to guide the team in refining focus of on-going ministry or in innovative forms of new ministry, ultimately passing the research responsibility on to the Church. Research will periodically update initial field research projects (facts) and also go deeper to understand the factors that contribute to disciplining the target people group. Research serves (1) an internal function, namely to assist the team to measure and evaluate its effectiveness and to make decisions about effective ministry methods, and (2) an external function, to inform the Church and to motivate her to take appropriate action.

As a team matures, research will inform the strategic planning process. Tracking of results will suggest which ministries are effective and which are in effective or no longer needed. Ministries that are no longer effective or needed should be stopped. For ministries that are relevant and effective, research may indicate ways to improve these ministries. Tools like surveys to gather feedback from conference and training event participants, readers surveys, case studies, interviews and focus groups with church leaders will provide this type of strategic information. Research may also discover new needs or opportunities which indicate new areas of ministry.