Friday 13 April 2012

Given Empowerment

The company goes Agile. In one night teams are in self-organization and -management mode. The management announces empowerment to the teams and stands aside. Time goes and it seems that teams are not performing as expected. The blaming starts: "even with the empowerment you are not delivering".
Sculpture "Empowerment", Lincoln (PAUL FARMER) / CC BY-SA 2.0
Empowerment is something what leaders should foster. Leaders should create an environment which really supports people's and team's self-management. In an environment with no blame but trust, people can truly choose how they are working and learn new things. Also a clear vision why and what we are doing, including constant constructive feedback must be in. These things are not coming automatically when empowerment is given.

It is about focusing what you can do for your people, not what they can do for you, or how they should act / behave. As a work it's difficult, much more difficult than giving commands.