Team Building and Empowerment
Empowerment, is the act of vesting substantial responsibility in the people nearest to the problems to be solved. The person doing the job knows far better than anyone else, the best way of doing the job, and is also the best fitted to improve it.
The ten characteristics of empowerment are:
There are two ways of getting results:
Team success is dependent on a healthy interaction of employees with customers, while supported by management.
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Can teams be empowered, while at the same time, work within the structure and discipline imposed by their organization? Best Practice organizations think so, and organizations that fail at teaming often cite the lack of structure as a contributing factor.
The key to success is in knowing what kind of structure to impose and how much. Predictable things arise which cause teams to waste time, team leadership to suspect things are running amok, and executive management to worry whether organizational goals are being met.
In many organizations, groups of employees are "anointed" as teams, told they are "empowered" and are expected to act accordingly. This approach can result in a flurry of interest and excitement about teaming, and some groups may even achieve a measure of success. However, at some point in the life cycle of most teams, unresolved internal issues emerge which threaten the teams' ability to meet their business objectives.
These unresolved issues can jeopardize the very existence of a team, since the lack of resolution can lead to frustration and disengagement on the part of team members.
Managing empowerment by using a structured approach enables the organization to change and realize improvement in business objectives simultaneously. By putting some structure in place up front, and addressing the "predictable" behaviors in a disciplined fashion, the risk of unresolved issues will decrease significantly.
Organization leadership becomes more willing to buy-in because the process is business focused, not just a "feel good" exercise.
The primary management philosophies in existence today run the gamut from very directed and controlled to autonomous.
| Management Philosophy |
Characteristics |
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Autocratic |
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Laissez-Faire |
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Democratic |
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Participatory |
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Team Oriented |
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Source Unknown
Organizations have focused their past teaming experiences in two general areas:
The general deficiencies in this type of approach are unfocused activities and lack of linkage to organizational objectives. The diagnosis of missing components within the work group typically does not occur. Team building and training provide a lot of information but are lacking in on-going application and skill practice
Experiential team building is focused on building relationships among the work group. Typically, it's a one day intervention with little or no follow-up. Most teams view it as a fun exercise, but forget the objective of the lesson is to apply the concepts discovered back in the work environment. Experiential team building is an important tool, but it's only one component of building successful high performance teams.
Traditional training is also a critical component of building successful teams. In many cases, it falls short because the training is not focused on the specific team needs. Training sessions provide information, but skill application, practice and feedback are generally lacking.
In most cases, there's no follow-up to analyze the success of the training. Experience has shown us that the more feedback teams receive on their overall performance, the more successful they become.
So what's missing? How do we build successful teams in today's dynamic business environment? First, let's clarify what we mean when we talk about a team.
"A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable."
What is a small number of people? It falls anywhere from 2 to 25. Team size of 8 to 12 is optimal. Why is this important? What impact does the team size have on its results? One thing to remember is that teams meet more to share information accomplish their work. The larger the group of people, the harder it is to get them all together at the same time.
Another key factor is decision making. If all members have to be involved in a decision, it will take longer with more members.
What are complementary skills? These include technical, functional, problem solving, decision making and interpersonal skills to name a few. In the past, in order to be successful, a business needed a group of people with technical or functional skills and another group with key interpersonal skills.
Not so anymore. Businesses are recognizing that it's important to have people with a mix of talent who can interact effectively. They have also realized that "soft" skills can take a team a long way in relationship building and customer satisfaction. Effective communication is a primary key to team success.
Why is it important for a team to have a common purpose, performance goals and approach? If they don't, you'll have chaos. Each member of a team has his/her own perception of what the team is about and each person is different. Without a common purpose, each individual works toward his or her own goal.
The team, as a unit, should have a defined purpose, which is focused on the business mission. The team should know why they exist to help accomplish that mission. Each team should have goals and objectives to accomplish the team purpose and the goals should link directly to the departmental and company objectives.
Management and business partner "buy-in" should be attained up front and revisited throughout the life cycle of the team as business needs change.
The team's approach includes operating guidelines, rules and commitments that define how they will communicate, how decisions will be made, when they meet, why they meet and what the meeting format and guidelines will be. These are working agreements, which help eliminate confusion and foster cooperation.
Mutual accountability? So what is that? It means each person takes accountability and responsibility for his/her actions within the team. It's important that both team and functional roles and responsibilities are defined within the team. It's also critical that team processes are defined to ensure that each team member can assist in making the others successful. If team members aren't clear on who does what, how can they be responsible and accountable?
When mutual accountability is practiced within a team, there is high commitment and trust among the team members. Team members take ownership of their work products. Mutual accountability and ownership lead to empowerment and enable higher levels of productivity, quality and achievement of goals.
In our work with organizations, the six components of the definition of a team validate themselves over and over again. When a team is experiencing an internal breakdown, the problem is usually focused in one of these six areas. When a team is successful, each area has been fully addressed and is being fulfilled by team members.
Establishing a team based environment won't be successful by simply anointing teams and saying it is so. Teams aren't something an organization can become.
The team culture is a way of existing together to reach a common goal. Beginning the journey with a clear understanding of what needs to be accomplished and applying a road map as a guide, can go a long way in helping an organization be successful.
Organization that have embraced empowerment principles and accomplish their goals with high performance teams, demonstrate eight key characteristics:
| Sense of Purpose |
Open Communication |
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Trust and Mutual Respect |
Shared Leadership |
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Effective Working Procedures |
Building on Differences |
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Flexibility and Adaptability |
Continuous Learning |
Team members share a common vision. Their priorities are clearly defined and they work collectively toward achieving common goals, focused on results. They are committed and accountable for high standards and quality results.
Team members say what they think and feel, there are no hidden agendas. They have the information they need to work together and individually, and participate openly in team discussions. They handle differences in opinion and conflict openly by attacking the problem, not the person.
Team members are authentic and honest. They request, receive and give honest feedback. They are interested in ideas and value other members opinions. They are proud to belong to the team.
Decisions are made by consensus and the team avoids easy compromise or "group think." The leadership function is shared by all members and is identified clearly in roles and responsibilities. The team leader is an active member of the team, and the entire team is accountable for the team performance. Team members coach each other and provide on-going support and encouragement for other members.
Policies, procedures, rules and processes are created and documented by the team to enable them to perform their jobs more successfully. Decisions are made based on the conditions to be satisfied and risks are considered and minimized before implementation.
Members are eager to explore differences in values and approaches, and make full use of the different skills, knowledge and personal strengths of individual team members. They also seek information, ideas and opinions from people outside of their team.
Members respond quickly and flexibly to changes in the external environment. They follow existing processes but continue to challenge them when appropriate. They value change as an opportunity to improve.
Continuous improvement is built into the team operating guidelines. Members readily admit to and learn from mistakes. They take time to think and agree before they act and evaluate.
So how do you help an organization get from where they are to high performance? By using a disciplined approach with a business focus that has a strong supporting infrastructure, which enables ownership, empowerment, and accountability.
Applying a disciplined approach and guiding teams through their formation creates a strong sense of ownership for team results, employee empowerment, and mutual accountability within the team. When employees take pride in what they do, and have control over the outcomes, they work harder and smarter to meet the goals they have established for themselves.
The HPT methodology has three phases:
The initiation phase in which the core team is established, high level business objectives and expected outcomes are identified and the team's vision is created.
The planning phase in which business needs are validated, resources are acquired, purpose and scope are identified, and the mission and boundaries are approved.
The execution, measurement and control phase in which teams work the plan. This phase requires teams to measure their success against the business objectives established in the charter. As business needs change, the team will cycle through the various process steps to ensure their direction is still valid and to improve their performance.
The HPT process steps identify inputs, actions, and outputs which manage the empowerment process.
| Team Definition |
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Team Chartering |
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Evolution |
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Establishing the supporting infrastructure is critical to the organization's success. There are two key roles:
The HPT Sponsor's role is to set high-level business objectives, identify expected outcomes, ensure team vision, mission and goals meet business needs, and support the new culture and team environment.
The Team Advisor's role is to coach teams through the business process, counsel teams through problem resolution and feedback, provide analysis and interpretation of team assessments and most importantly to transfer skills to team members.
Guiding and implementing an empowerment initiative requires elements which are critical to its success. These are:
Can empowerment be managed? Yes, if you include all of the pieces of the process! By using a disciplined approach you will help organizations establish executive sponsorship and support, gain organizational involvement and ownership, and create the right teams for the right purpose.
Sixteen ways of putting people first:
