When you empower your team, you're creating a more powerful workforce that will work hard for your company even when you are not directly handing out assignments. Follow these tips to get your team comfortable with making decisions and working toward goals without always having to be directed.
1. Lead and Delegate
As the business owner, it is up to you to lead, and part of leadership is knowing when to delegate tasks to team members. Make sure you delegate the right tasks to the right team members, according to their experience and their personality type. Ensure that the team understands what is expected of them, and let each person know you appreciate them taking on the assigned task.
2. Know When to Allow Failure
Don't automatically reprimand a team member when a failure happens. Failures can serve as lessons and help them improve as they continue working."
Short-term stumbles provide learning experiences and opportunities; they can uncover weaknesses, areas of opportunity, and improvement," says Harvard Business Review.* "Allowing your team to 'fail' (and learn) independently is a faster path to growth and long-term success than ensuring the short-term outcomes are well controlled."
3. Avoid Micromanaging
Avoid micromanaging. Allow them to handle tasks the way it makes sense for them, as long as the work is done and the finished product is successful. You might do things a different way, but by letting them do it their way, you are showing that you trust them to get the job done.
4. Ask for and Give Feedback
Frequently ask your team about how things are going, what can be improved, and what is being done well. Let them know that you want their honest opinion if they think something should change. Give them feedback of your own. Let them know if you are pleased with what they've been doing. If you see areas that need improvement, suggest a different way. Be specific, but not forceful. You're giving them helpful feedback, not an order.
5. Empathize With Your Employees
Place yourself in your team members' shoes, and show them that you understand the things they are dealing with, particularly if a job carries high levels of stress. If they're handling it well, tell them so, and let them know that you understand the pressures they face. Ask them if there are ways that you can help their processes go more smoothly.
6. Provide Resources
One of the best things you can do to empower your team is to set it up for success by providing the necessary tools, training and resources.
Patrick Bosworth at Leadership Choice says, “Many leaders complain that when they first start implementing employee empowerment practices in their organizations, they still get employees coming to their offices and expecting their problems to be magically resolved for them. Instead, offer tools, resources, and to be a sounding board for ideas."**
7. Work With Them to Overcome Mistakes
When a mistake is made, work with your employee to fix it. Let them know that it's going to be okay, and that you've made mistakes. Don't just correct it on your own, and move on. Show them how to do it properly and make sure they understand what went wrong and how to prevent the same thing from happening in the future.
8. Maintain Optimism
Keep a positive attitude and maintain a sense of optimism about the company and office life overall. Optimism is contagious, and so is positivity. If your team believes goals are achievable, they will be more motivated to reach them and more willing to make decisions for the good of the company.
Empowering employees is a great way to solidify your team. When you have great talent and staff who can comfortably make decisions as needed, your company will be all the more resilient and successful.
* https://hbr.org/2023/03/how-to-equip-your-team-to-problem-solve-without-you
** https://leadershipchoice.com/empower-employees-in-the-workplace/
