The two steps for empowering teams to get stuff done
This post is part of the Your Plan of Action series for those new to the executing team (also called management by some. But not by the enlightened readers of this site.).
Recall that we were talking about a plan of action for becoming an effective leader of people, and that we had identified three disciplines on which new leaders need to focus:
- Setting the tone
- Creating teams
- Infusing your vision
We’ve talked quite a bit already about tone and teams. Now let’s talk about getting your organization set to think on its own.
There has been a lot of talk about empowerment in recent years—it’s one of those $50 management buzzwords that spawn whole management consulting cottage industries. But what is it really, and why do you want some?
Webster says
There are two dictionary definitions for the verb “empower.” This first is “to invest with power, especially legal power or official authority.” The second is “to equip or supply with an ability; enable.” Pretty good definitions, because the point is that in doing the first, you get the second.
And why do I care?
Empowerment is about putting your team members in a position to make decisions for themselves without having to consult with the boss first. The obvious reason to want this is the selfish one: you get to work less. Actually, not less, but you do get freed up to do the things only you can do.
Your goal for your organization should be to have the right decision made as quickly as possible.
The least difficult way to accomplish this goal is to make those decisions as close as possible to the place in the organization that needs the answer. If the development team has to run every decision all the way up to the CEO of the company, then your product is not likely to come to market anytime soon.
The key to making the right decisions: inform
The most important information that your team members need to become good decision-makers is an understanding of what you’re trying to get done: your vision.
Everyone needs to understand the big picture of where you want to go and how (generally) to get there. Understanding the big picture provides the framework within which all the small pieces of information and small decisions that must be made every day can fit . Getting this understanding to everyone in the organization is the inform portion of the empowerment recipe.
Spreading the big picture around: infuse
Understanding that the vision provides the framework for all decision-making makes it clear that as the decisions grow bigger the depth of familiarity with and understanding of your vision both need to grow.
Normally this means that the leaders in your organization who report directly to you need to be most intimately familiar with the details of your vision. Those farther away make smaller decisions, and so need less of the detail, provided the foundation is solid.
Achieving this balance between the general aspects of your vision and the details of its accomplishment is the infuse portion of the recipe.
