For a manager, there is nothing so frustrating as having a disempowered team.
Imagine having a team that comes to the workplace to earn nothing but a paycheck. It lacks commitment, produces mediocre results and doesn’t look forward to doing the remarkable work.
What if you have an empowered team instead that owns the task, operates fearlessly and produces remarkable work?
Here are 20 tips to empower your team:
- Default to trust – trust your people for their intentions and abilities;
- Create a culture that empowers the people;
- Encourage your people to set their own goals and align their professional goals with the company’s vision;
- If someone is found being bureaucratic, reprimand him/her right away;
- Articulate the WHY, communicate the WHAT but leave the HOW part on your people;
- Whey they come to you with a problem, ask them to come up with 1-2 possible solutions also;
- Encourage them to come to you with new ideas and processes that advance or your organization’s vision;
- Avoid micro-management but if you have to micromanage, educate them whey they are being micromanaged;
- Inspire them to become lifelong learners;
- Make training+self-learning an important priority in your organization;
- Provide them a clear visibility on the growth path of their role;
- Ask them to read/listen to personal/professional development content at least 15 minutes a day;
- Inspire them to be more aware of their “default” behavior – if they find out about their disempowering habits and work towards solving them, you have the right culture!
- Listen to them;
- Praise them in public for the results they have produced;
- Reprimand them in private for the mistakes they have made;
- Ask them to accept their mistakes and help them learn from that.
- Give Rewards. Even a non-financial reward can work;
- See if they are satisfied when they close their day – it is a good foundation for having a better tomorrow;
- Provide constructive criticism;
Bonus: Agree to disagree. If your team member disagrees with you, it is okay. A disagreement does not represent disrespect, it represents a different point of view.
Make sure that your team members understand it and practice is to make your organization a better place.
