Train team members to take greater responsibility while keeping support within reach
By Angela Civitella
Previously published in WestmountMag.ca
Building a more independent team starts with clear expectations, meaningful responsibility, and the support people need to succeed. When team members understand what they own, why their work matters, and which decisions they can make, they are better equipped to take initiative. Regular feedback and appropriate learning opportunities help strengthen their skills and confidence.
You’ve just arrived at the office, and it looks like another typical day. Before you even sit down, a team member asks for help with a budget. As soon as she leaves, a colleague wants your input on a marketing plan due at the end of the week. Before you know it, you’ve spent much of your day helping others complete their work, while your own tasks remain untouched.
Communicating roles and responsibilities, delegating ownership of tasks, and providing context for their importance fosters accountability.
Managers need to be a resource to the people they lead. But when answering every question and solving every problem becomes routine, team members can grow overly reliant on their guidance. The goal is not to discourage questions or make yourself unavailable. The goal is to build independence: help people develop the confidence and judgment to move work forward while recognizing when they need support.
Micromanaging and delegating
Micromanagement often makes team members dependent on their manager. When managers don’t let team members take responsibility and ownership of tasks, then it’s understandable that people come to depend on that control. Take a close look at your management style. Are you managing your team a bit too closely? If so, cut back slowly. Start by giving people tasks that don’t have to be perfect. When you reduce your control and input, your team might be uncertain at first, so it’s a good idea to start with low-priority or low-importance tasks or projects.
Start by looking closely at how you manage. Do you routinely check work before anyone asks? Specify every step? Step in at the first sign of difficulty? If you rarely give people room to make decisions, they may become accustomed to waiting for your direction. Start by delegating low-risk tasks with clear quality standards. Explain the expected outcome, then allow team members to decide how to achieve it. They may approach the work differently from you, and that is not necessarily a problem.
It’s important to take a close look at your management style. Is it possible that you’re managing your team just a bit too closely?
Give people room to make decisions, while making sure they understand the outcome, the boundaries, and the support available. Resist the temptation to take over when someone encounters a manageable obstacle. Instead, ask questions that help them think: What have you tried? What options do you see? What would you recommend?
Your role is to guide their reasoning, not automatically supply the answer. If you miss any of this information when you assign tasks, your people may have to come to you for more information. You can avoid this by making sure that they have everything they need at the start of the project. One strategy for preventing manager dependency is to assign one task to two team members. Give them the responsibility for dividing the work. If they have questions, encourage them to discuss issues with each other first. They should come to you only if they can’t find an answer together.
At the start of the task, let them know you’ve given them all the information you have. And explain that if you knew all of the answers, you wouldn’t need intelligent people in their roles! Let them know the task will require brainstorming and strategic thinking, and that you trust their ability to do it. Also, make it clear that you want them to come to you with a finished project. If they have problems, remember the old advice: “get people to come to you with solutions, not with problems.” Make sure they’ve thought through at least one possible solution before they come to bother you.
Delegate responsibility, not just tasks
For your team to take responsibility, you must have a workplace culture that encourages this behaviour. Look at your organization’s culture. Does your company encourage or discourage responsibility and independent thinking? If it is, you need to take steps to change it. Make sure that “taking responsibility” is written into your performance plans. Make sure your team knows this behaviour will be rewarded. When team members take independent action to get the job done, praise them for their initiative. During performance appraisals, assess team members on their ability to take responsibility.
Look at your organization’s culture. Does your company encourage or discourage responsibility and independent thinking?
Let them know that you value their initiative and that the more they take responsibility for their tasks, the better their appraisals will be. Keep notes on which team members have taken responsibility and what they did specifically, so you can discuss it during performance reviews.
Using parenting techniques with your team
Surprisingly, you can use proven parenting techniques to help your team become more independent. For instance, many parents are encouraged to let their young children take the lead in some situations. The children’s choices might be wrong, but the experience allows them to learn and grow. This is a wonderful technique to use with your team. During meetings, put someone else in charge while you sit back and observe. Or, let the group choose a leader. Putting the team in control forces them to rely less on you, and it empowers them to make their own choices.
Putting space between you and your team will force them to make decisions on their own.
Parents are also advised to “practice being absent” if they want their children to be more independent. If your organization allows telecommuting, spend more time away from the office, or simply keep your door closed to signal that you don’t want to be disturbed. Putting space between you and your team will force them to make decisions on their own.
Key points
Teams sometimes become “manager dependent”. To prevent this, don’t micromanage their activities. Start by delegating less important tasks and projects, and make it clear that they need to brainstorm and find solutions. You can also use some parenting strategies. Empower your team by letting them lead meetings and projects, and spend more time away from the office or with your door closed. It may take time, but as you slowly build your team’s confidence, they’ll learn to rely less on you and more on themselves.
Image: rawpixel.com – Pexels
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Angela Civitella, a certified management business coach, negotiator, strategist, and problem-solver, creates strong synergies with those seeking to improve their leadership and team-building skills. You can reach Angela at linkedin.com/in/angelacivitella/ • intinde.com
