21st-century organizations are plagued with existential threats never imagined nor experienced in human history.
A high performer of the last hour could be doomed next moment as such, a key to survival lies in the richness of empowerment through an organization.
As a quick guide, I hereby wish to share this knowledge about the characteristics of an empowered organization for referencing: –
Organizational Structure
With an empowered organization, there is no traditional hierarchical structure, but a structure that enables self-governance – and that shouldn’t stop at the tech department.
Our advice is to change towards overall self-governance structures that cover all layers of the organization
Strategy and Decision-making
Self-managing doesn’t mean that there is no coordination. In order to be able to reach the companies’ goals, a lot of coordination is required.
- Top management is mainly responsible for strategy and vision – but with a significant amount of input coming from the teams.
- Alignment takes place within the teams but also in alignment with the other teams and functions.
- Decision-making processes in your company are based on consent (not on consensus).
- Work towards true ownership and high engagement for the overall organization.
Conflict and Crisis management
Before moving to more self-management in place, you should think about, and then commit to what you do when there is a conflict or a crisis. In a truly empowered organization, the teams are solving these, using decision-making and conflict resolution techniques. This does require the right skills and attitude, and sufficient training for the teams to be able to do so. This specific point is often a bottleneck in the transition to self-managing teams.
Management roles
What does a self-managing organization mean for the role of the manager? The manager’s responsibility isn’t disappearing, but is divided into different areas and can be part of different people.
We can, for example, identify the following “hats” that different people in the organization can take on – on different moments as well.
- Advisors, Specialists, or SMEs
- Role as a squad lead or representative within the self-governance structure
- Coach for the individual employees for performance, development, work-life balance, culture, soft skills etcetera
- Team coach, helping teams to set goals or resolve conflicts (it is advised that this is always a neutral person who is not responsible for the other roles because that could lead to a conflict of interest).
Communication styles
Creating more self-governance in organizations requires optimizing communication styles to enable that. Make sure the communication is aimed at:
- High Transparency
- Aimed at engaging and stimulating ownership
- Stimulates Inclusivity
- Intention to solve problems (stop the email ping-pong)
- No unnecessary meetings
- Friendly and respectful
- Optimizing collaboration.
Egoless company
Ego is reinforcing separation and personal agenda. Instead ask questions, such as:
- How can I best serve the team?
- Did we serve the organization in our best way?
- Create a sign for when the ego shows up – in a safe and respectful way
- Be intentional about collaboration
- Assume everybody comes with good intentions.
Let everybody show up “whole”
A diverse company is better equipped to resolve conflicts and solve problems. Accepting and embracing that everybody is different, and encouraging them to be their full selves, will help you to create more diversity
- Let people show up with their full personality
- Create a safe and inclusive environment
- Ask to share their point of view and give input
- Create a culture where diversity, in all its forms, is valued.
On a final note,
Empowering your team, and ultimately your organization is a process that will take years. It can also feel overwhelming, risky and you might feel you are not ready.
As a first step, I would suggest that being aware that more empowered teams are essential and taking even the smallest step towards it, is already a great start.
#STAYTUNED
