Em-Power To The People! Work is most motivating to employees when they have a say in determining how it gets done. Besides being more motivating, it’s also more developmental for employees when they are allowed to bring their own experience and expertise to bear on a situation. When employees are clear about the goal and desired results you’re after, you’ll get their best thinking and effort by empowering them with the autonomy and authority to decide how to achieve it. As the 28th U.S. President, Woodrow Wilson, once said, “I not only use all the brains I have, but all I can borrow.” Here are some specific actions you can take now to increase engagement by providing your employees with greater autonomy and authority:
1. Identify a project to delegate to members of your team. Meet with these individuals and communicate what you expect from them. For example, what does the outcome look like? What is the timeline? What is the budget? What resources are available to them? What is their decision-making authority? How will you measure successful completion of the project? Communicate, establish clear expectations and goals, and get out of their way. Be approachable for help if needed, but don’t micromanage. 2. Sit down and evaluate each of your team members individually in terms of their skills and capabilities. Then consider tasks or projects that you could delegate to them by matching the size and complexity of the project with the capacity of the person. Try to identify “stretch” assignments for each team member that contain activities they have not done before. These will force them to go a bit beyond their current capability and promote growth and development.
To learn more about how to improve the morale and engagement of your employees, click here and check out LRI’s Online Supervisor Training. Hat tip to Eric Vanetti at Vantage Point Allliance.
