Module 35 - How to Develop & Lead Self-Managed Teams? - Team Development and Empowerment

Team & Personal Development Series

Wouldn’t it be nice if you can go on a long vacation somewhere overseas and not worry about your business? Be able to turn off your cell phone and not having to check your emails every few minutes?

It is definitely possible to reach this point of self-managed team and business. Will it take a lot of work on your part initially? Of course, it would, but putting in necessary amount of effort would absolutely worth every minute that you had invested in developing your team.

Sometimes business leaders make a mistake thinking that just because someone has been in the specific line of work for a very long time and has a lot of experience, that he or she does not need any additional development, coaching, and guidance. This is far away from the truth. In order to build a self-managed team and business, you, as their leader, need to invest into individual coaching and mentoring of every single employee, while focusing on their goals and dreams in life.

People will only care about your business as much as you care about them and their future. Your employees need to see and understand your overall vision, where business is heading, why a certain path is chosen by you, and what role are they playing in the process.

Your employees, business partners, team leaders, are all a very important part, if not crucial part, of your business success and are drivers of your vision. Without your team members, regardless of the team’s size, you do not have a business.

Therefore, it is critical to invest in your team members’ development by building on top of their already existing strengths and experience, while uncovering and correcting their opportunity areas. Regardless how much experience someone may have, they are always looking for ways to learn more and for someone to show them the way. They are looking for a leader and mentor who is genuinely interested and dedicated in their personal development and growth. When you are able to explain your vision to your team, explain the ‘why’ behind it, clearly identify their individual roles in the process or reaching company’s goals and performance objectives, feel that they are part of the business versus just working there, understand the value that they contribute, and see how their and your actions are getting them closer to their life-time dreams, you have created a dedicated and self-managed team and business.
Put yourself in your team members’ shoes. How would you feel when you come to work and don’t feel valued or appreciated, and how do you feel when you are? I know that if feels hundred times better when you feel valued, respected, and appreciated for what you do. Apply the same type of analysis when you are building, developing, and leading your team.
 
What are some of the steps that you may take in order to build a self-managed team and business?

1. Learn about your team members, their likes, hobbies, families, etc. It feels great when your colleague knows the names of your kids and their ages, and/or knows about your favorite hobby.
   
2. Spend several minutes each day interacting with your team. If you sit in your office the entire day and don’t spend any time with your team, how do you think they feel about your level of engagement and interest in their needs and wants? Remember, perception management is a very important for a leader.
   
3. Meet with each team member individually and learn about their career goals and life-time dreams, while sharing more information about you and your goals and dreams.
   
4. Create a goal worksheet outlining steps that your team members can take with your guidance, coaching, and support, in order to get closer to reaching their personal goals and dreams.
   
5. Create a follow up system, weekly or monthly, where you meet and review your team members’ progress on their personal development journey
   
6. Be available for feedback and questions when your team members need you.
   
7. Act on the feedback that is shared with you, and if unable to act on the specific suggestions provided right away, be sure that your team members understand that their feedback is valuable as well as understand as to why action may not be taken right away, if at all. Perhaps, there’s resourcing limitations, policies, or business needs.
   
8. Be as transparent as you can be, in order to build trust and engagement
   
9. Empower your leaders and encourage pro-active and big picture thinking
   
10. Support your team, even when they make mistakes, while helping them to learn from mistakes made and grow personally and professionally.

 
Best of luck to you in building and leading a successful, happy, engaged, and self-managed team and business. You deserve taking a vacation and focus your energy on your family and friends. Remember, your team, people that work with you, are your business.

As Tim Fargo said: “People respond well to managers who stop being bosses and start being leaders. They go the extra mile if they genuinely believe that your success is their success and vice versa.”