What are autonomous teams?
Autonomous teams refer to workgroups that are given the freedom to create work practices, and goals. It’s about giving teams independence, empowering employees, and benefitting from more successful project outcomes. The idea is that several individuals working as one can produce more creative and stronger ideas. At the same time, autonomous teams do away with overbearing leadership styles and give employees more responsibility. To create more autonomous teams, try focusing on the following areas.
1 . Clearly Define Your Vision
To create autonomous teams, your vision must be clearly defined. Without a clearly defined vision, your employees may make mistakes that require you to step in. Lack of a clear common goal means that employees might disagree on what the end game is, creating conflict. An absence of direction may also lead to more reliance on managerial staff. When you clearly define your vision, your team is more likely to produce results, independently.
2. Provide The Right Tools
To support your team to work autonomously, they need the right tools. Ensure they have everything they need, whether it’s project management software, collaborative tools, content management tools, and so on. When you provide your teams with everything they need, they can pursue their tasks, without much extra guidance. When employees are working from home it’s especially important to ensure that they have the right platforms. Communication can be a little tougher, and so it’s essential to have plenty of tools. With the best tools out there it’s much easier to keep employees connected.
3. Choose The Right Candidates
If you’re looking to develop autonomous teams it’s essential to hire candidates who are well suited to this working style. To find the right people, consider incorporating mini-projects into your interview process. You might also like to use tools such as ‘Good&Co’. It’s an application that can connect employees and employers, with shared values and personality traits. The app focuses on the importance of company culture, and finding candidates who are a good fit.
4. Consider Career Development
When you’re supporting your staff, it’s useful to consider their career development. Sponsor staff who have an interest in vocational courses, and hold regular one-to-ones to discuss career progression. Helping your staff to think about career development can help them to take responsibility for their own progress. When you help staff to realize their true potential, you’ll improve your company culture at the same time.
5. Leadership Training
When you are looking to improve your leadership skills it’s worth considering leadership training. With leadership coaching, you can focus on your strengths and weaknesses, to make ongoing improvements. There are plenty of different leadership styles, and training can help you to learn plenty of new skills. With leadership coaching, you can learn how to create more autonomous teams. Alternatively, you might choose a different style of leadership that you’d like to focus on.
When you give your teams more independence, you allow them to become both more productive and creative.
