This photo is from a project that I admire from Magnet Recognition Program. It illustrates well what I wish to write about.
This is a subject filled of sensible details, but very very important for every business. No one can be 24h/day controlling everything it's done with the business. You need to empower your people. But we must be careful as we do it.
Here a few tips learned the hard way, other came from other professionals experiences that were kind enough to share:
Be cristal clear about the objectives or the guidelines
There are so many things that can go wrong when we don't explain clearly what's to be done. For example, you're at the restaurant business and a client is feeling upset because the coffee is to hot or too cold. If the employee doesn't know the strategy and the clear guidelines from which you want to conduct your business, he or she may just say sorry and go on to another table. Instead, could have offered another cup of coffee free of charge more hotter or colder depending of the client's needs. All with a big smile and a caring attitude.
Or at the tech industry, your engineer in charge of a project doesn't know the exact priority of that project at the companies strategy, so when a problem comes up at a middle of a workflow he needs your approval to do some changes and you aren't there. Until then, the project is stopped. If you've been clear about the importance of that project he would be knocking other departaments asking for help to make that going.
Don't assume that they know what you want. Tell them what do you want and then let them make their decisions based in clear directions. CLEAR is the word.
Trust them
If you're empowering someone to do something, then you need to have confidence the person is going to do the best he/she can. It is NOT the way to say someone they're responsible for something and then being in their shoulder all the time. That's not empowering, that's just being a boss or a manager. A bad one, by the way. Do I mean that we should abandon completely? No, of course not. We need to stablish goals, timelines and check the progress. See if what we ask to do was done, and if not, why?? But let them make their own decisions and be available when they ask for advice to find the correct path again.
Reward
It's basic, right? If you're empowering someone you need to reward them when they fulfil their tasks. However, the reward does not necessary needs to be money. The reward can be a public display of success in front at the entire team, appreciation for what they've accomplish and tell them how they have influent the company's goals. This is going to make the other colleagues work just as hard to accomplish the same objectives. Also, knowing your collaborator may give you an idea of what drives him or she. Maybe a race circuit experience will make his eyes roll, or a payed dinner with her spouse. Everyone is different. Act accordingly.
Edit and Re-Empower
From time to time, you need to make a refill of the strategies or goals. Not even because it can become diluted but also because strategies and goals change from time to time. People tend to forget some of the points. Also, when they already have some experience doing things right why not teaching them to empower their teams or their co-workers? Upgrade them.
These are just a few thoughts that you can use but there are so many more in this topic. Some are new to you some are not. I would love to read some of your suggestions as well. Share...
