by Dan Oswald
Does your team know what the ultimate objective is for each project they work on? Do they know what the purpose is—what they’re trying to achieve? Are you confident that you consistently communicate exactly what the goal is for each and every project?
Knowing what you, their leader, want to ultimately achieve on every project completely changes how they perform. It can be incredibly empowering for a team to clearly understand what the objective is.
With the end in mind, a team can create a plan to meet the stated goal. If they understand the objective, they can better prepare to meet it. But we all know that nothing ever goes as planned. A team with a clear purpose is better equipped to improvise to keep the target in sight and reach the goal. They have more freedom to demonstrate their expertise and creativity when things don’t go exactly as expected. You’ll see new tactics, techniques, and processes develop from the improvisation that results from a plan that goes awry.
Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
—George S. Patton.
If you’ve clearly communicated the objective, you need to get out of the way and let your team achieve the goal. As Patton said, you don’t need to tell them how to do it. Let them figure it out. It’s your job to hold them accountable for the results. That’s it.
Of course, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Having a team that assumes this level of responsibility, can handle this degree of autonomy, and can reach the stated objective does take considerable work on your part. You need to create a culture in which you can give people responsibility and hold them accountable for the results. Here’s what you must do:
- Hire the right people. It always starts with getting the right people on your team. You need to hire with the intention of giving people autonomy and holding them accountable.
- Build trust with your team. By consistently giving your people autonomy and holding them accountable to you and the other team members, you will build trust over time.
- Communicate clearly. For the team to act autonomously, you must clearly communicate the objective you want them to achieve. It’s your job to set the expectation and hold them to it.
- Delegate decision-making power. If you’re confident the team understands the goal, then delegate the decisions that will allow them to meet it. If you’ve taken the previous three steps, you’ll have a team that is capable of executing a plan and improvising when necessary.
If you’ve confidently conveyed to your team what the objective is, then you don’t have to micromanage the process that will allow your team to achieve it. Your team must trust you and one another, but you must also trust that your team has the right people, the right plan, and the right tools to reach the goal.
If you can give this level of unquestioned trust to your people, it will inspire and motivate them in ways you can’t even imagine. You’ll see them achieve things you may have thought were unattainable. A team that has a clear objective, has the autonomy to adjust as necessary, and trusts their leader will do great things.