Empowered teams have increased levels of responsibility and authority over the work that they do, giving them the autonomy to plan and manage work, make their own decisions and solve their own problems responsibilities that are traditionally owned by the team leader.
As someone who leads a team, you’ll be used to being the decision-maker, problem-solver, planner, manager, and instructor.
In short, you’re normally the one whos in control.
It means handing over much of this control, along with many associated responsibilities, to your team.
Its quite the opposite of your team needs you more than ever! You may have handed over a great deal of control, but you’re still ultimately responsible for the work of the team.
Just because you’ve given power to others doesn’t mean that you’ve lost it yourself.
You’re still the one who defines the goals and boundaries, and your team will still look to you for support, guidance, and encouragement.
The 10 steps can help you to better empower your team members.
- Define the process to perform the activity
- Plan the activity
- Identify and Assign resource
- Communicate responsibility and provide skills/training
- Perform the activity
- Store the artifacts in a designated repository
- Measure the activity/performance
- Report and Review performance and status
- Take improvement actions
- Share best practices in other areas