Managing teams is arduous, no matter how excellent your employees are. You need to keep track of each member’s progress, review their work, ensure they are okay, and sketch out their career progression. However, the role can be quite fulfilling if you know what you are doing. For example, giving autonomy to your employees is a tried and tested technique that can be fulfilling.
But what is meant by giving them autonomy? Giving your employees autonomy means assigning tasks and letting them control how to complete them. It requires refraining from micromanagement and relinquishing control to give people the opportunity to become comfortable with taking responsibility.
This blog will discuss the impact of employee empowerment and provide suggestions for incorporating it into your management strategy.
Effect of Giving Autonomy to Your Employees
I understand that giving autonomy can sometimes be challenging. You’re working on deadlines and are responsible for the overall submissions and project completion. Hence, failure on their end will also reflect negatively on you.
However, that challenge is part of your journey as a leader or manager. You must train your team, communicate with them, and explain the task. Once done, you must trust that they will do the job correctly.
Following are some of the benefits of giving your employees autonomy over their work:
1. Increases Job Satisfaction
Employee empowerment is directly related to job satisfaction, which is responsible for motivation. Placing your trust in your employees instills confidence and pushes them to respond to this trust by giving it their 110%.
Job satisfaction boosts retention and employee happiness; therefore, you will achieve several goals by giving them autonomy.
2. Promotes Creativity and Innovation
A motivated employee is a creative employee. Giving employees autonomy will increase the chances of taking ownership of their task. They know their task performance will affect their evaluation, so they will be more creative and innovative when presenting their ideas.
Some team managers also throw in some recognition to create a little extra spark in the team and drive them to have a healthy competition.
3. Boosts Engagement
Most people look for growth and learning at their workplace, which is impossible if they carry out tasks like robots. Giving them autonomy and the freedom to put their spin on things will get them more interested in the job and increase their engagement.
Employees typically engage more when they feel their manager or organization values their opinion. The best way to do that is by giving them more responsibility if they have the skills and aptitude.
4. Trains them for Leadership Positions
Nobody wants to stay in the same position forever, especially the younger hires. Getting more autonomy pushes them to learn how to leverage their network, skills, tools, etc., to finish the task creatively.
Multitasking, time management, and learning are critical skills for leadership, and autonomy prepares them for it. They also learn to handle pressure and take responsibility, which is necessary for such roles.
5. Facilitates Skill Development
The path to career progression will require you to evolve beyond your existing capabilities and improve your skills. Empowerment will push your employees to do that, especially when you add more responsibility to their task panel.
The more they meet new challenges, the greater the chance of developing their skills to give the best results.
6. Increases Productivity
Motivation goes hand in hand with productivity. As mentioned above, giving autonomy to your employees increases their motivation. Hence, giving your team members the freedom to explore their tasks will improve their productivity and overall performance.
7. Promotes Trust
Lastly, employee empowerment, or giving autonomy, improves the trust between managers and employees. Giving people more responsibility shows them you trust them to handle more challenging tasks. This trust boosts confidence and pushes them to give their best.
This situation has mutual trust, and both ends need to work to ensure it remains intact.
How to Give Autonomy to your Team Members
The list above shows that assigning more responsibility and giving people freedom is good for overall performance and motivation. However, how will you do it? Following are suggestions for giving more autonomy to your employees:
1. Discuss Your Plans and Expectations
First, discussing your plans with your team before introducing any changes is vital. For example, if you want to shift to a model that focuses on giving them more autonomy, let them know and ask for their opinions.
You must also clearly state your expectations so everyone knows what they are expected to do. The clearer they are on the subject, the better.
2. Communicate as Much as Possible
Your communication doesn’t end once you discuss project or task details. You will need to stay in touch with your team members regularly to ensure they do not feel overwhelmed. You can also offer one-on-one meetings to encourage them to discuss issues they may be facing.
3. Provide all Necessary Tools and Assistance
Some roles require specific tools, and your team members cannot complete them in their absence. Therefore, check with your employee and confirm if they have all the tools they will need to use to get the desired results.
Additionally, offer assistance when possible and encourage other team members to offer help.
4. Do Not Interfere Unless Necessary
Micromanaging is one of the first motivation-killing techniques you will ever use at your workplace. It destroys employees’ confidence, stresses them out unnecessarily, and pushes them to question their skills.
Keep your interference to a minimum unless they request it or if you feel the work is going too off track. Otherwise, let your team members work after a lengthy communication and check the results they get.
Final Thoughts
In short, giving autonomy to your employees is beneficial for the team and the organization’s performance. I hope you enjoyed reading the blog and will check out the other blogs for more information about the subject.