Employees at every level of the organization are now expected to do more than simply perform their entrusted duties. Top performers care about, and take initiatives to meet team goals and the objectives of the company as a whole. So, how to encourage this mindset?
Explain your expectations
- To feel truly empowered, people must know what you expect of them in terms of performance, constraints to consider, desired initiatives, etc.
Provide the means to take action
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Clarify roles and responsibilities to ensure that someone is responsible for every agenda item and to guide efforts in the desired direction.
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Create leeway to facilitate initiative, e.g. Let people decide how to achieve their goals.
Set the example
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Demonstrate your attachment to meeting your commitments, e.g. If your actions diverge from your originally stated intentions, explain why.
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Recognize your errors openly, and learn from them to encourage your subordinates to do likewise.
Take action
Acknowledge responsible behavior (15 min)
Valuing the sense of responsibility helps develop it and anchor it in the team.
Identify examples of responsible behavior by your staff members during a recent period. E.g.: proactivity, initiatives towards quality or customer service …
Take the time to individually congratulate each of these staff members to show how much you appreciate their initiative and what it brings to the team or the enterprise.
During a team meeting, highlight this behavior by demonstrating how it meets your expectations and requirements.
Clarify your team members’ responsibilities (20 min)
The more someone knows what’s expected of him, the more he will fully commit.
Identify a mission or a project that mobilizes several people in your team. Gather the concerned staff and check with them that the scope of action and responsibilities of each member are clear.
Don’t hesitate using diagrams and decomposing the processes to facilitate exchanges and ensure that the participants have a common understanding. Try and identify possible overlapping or grey areas, in order to clarify them.
Start a discussion on how everyone understands “a responsible attitude” to reach a shared understanding of the expectations. E.g.: To take the initiative to get back to a client even if it is not in one’s job description; share the opportunities that have been identified, etc.
Make a check on how roles are distributed in your team (15 min)
A team can only perform well if it has individuals who are capable of having complementary roles.
Are some domains over represented? On the contrary, are there deficit zones emerging?
Does the distribution of these roles correspond to each individual’s personality, or rather to the vision they have of their position or role in the team?
Does everyone feel good about the role the team has entrusted them with, whether implicitly or explicitly?
As the team leader, how are you positioned in relation to your staff? What attitudes would you encourage in the future?
Practical Tips
> Clarify your expectations concerning accountability
> Assigning responsibilities appropriately within a project
Find out more
> Foster a sense of accountability
© Managéris