Creating autonomous teams are often more than allowing people the space to do their work their way. Even if you tell teams to accomplish tasks however they deem fit, it isn’t always that simple. People have been working in micromanaged environments for a long time. To suddenly say, “Here are the keys – do as you wish!” is an impossible ask for someone who has never been allowed to issue a refund without supervisory approval.
Don’t get me wrong – autonomy is fantastic! But if you’re an employee who has always been watched for mistakes, double and triple checked, and given zero freedom, coming in to work the next day and hearing that you’re suddenly allowed to do whatever you deem necessary might give you whiplash. Creating a culture of autonomy is just as essential as the autonomy itself. So, let’s take a look at how leaders can craft autonomous teams and how the culture required to do so is established.
Autonomous Teams Define a Clear Vision
All leaders must clearly envision where they plan to take the team. Without a vision, the leader and all those working with them will find themselves lost or without direction. The vision paints a clear picture of the big goals. Of course, team members and leaders will utilize smaller goals to move toward the big picture, but knowing exactly what you are moving toward can make it easier to create autonomous teams.
Why?
Let’s imagine you’re working in a new start-up. The job posting sought a high level of experience writing code for app development. The organization hired you based on your experience and knowledge, but you were only given vague details about the organization itself. You start your first day of work in a hip, stylish, open-seating office with only an onboarding packet of rules and expectations.
What are you supposed to do? Obviously, write code, but for what kind of app? What are your deadlines? What are the expectations for your contribution?
How could you be autonomous in this situation? If it were me, my first step would be to find someone in charge and ask what I’m supposed to be working toward. What app do you need to create? Are there parameters to follow, or can you create anything you want?
Now let’s switch gears. You get a new job in a start-up, hired as an app developer. On your first day, you sit down with your supervisor, and they provide a detailed description of the organization and what the team is aiming to accomplish. You know precisely what you should be working toward and your supervisor’s expectations.
Then, they set you free. You go, do, and create. You have greater autonomy because your supervisor gave you the vision to stretch toward. You don’t have to ask permission to work or take action to get the organization toward that vision.
Clarify Expectations
As in the previous section, a team that has no understanding of the expectations cannot be autonomous. If your leader provided a vision but no deadlines, how would you know how to pace your own goals? Without expectations, you would be forced to rely on others to tell you when to do each task.
Using the same example as above, think about how your work day might go if your leader gives clear deadlines – even those a few months out. If you know what you’re working toward – the vision – you could mosey through each of your goals and get the work done eventually. Or, you could know exactly what your leader expects and when to get things done efficiently.
Clear expectations also make things easier because you know what you are and are not allowed to do. Stealing ideas from a competitor might infringe on the organization’s values, so knowing that you cannot do that is essential. Taking a 15-minute break a few times a day might be encouraged, so it’s important to know that you don’t need permission beforehand. Autonomous teams offer clarity on what’s expected.
Knowing the expectations inside and out is an integral part of developing autonomous teams.
Be Open to Discussion
Autonomy isn’t intended to prevent questions and discussion within the organization. It does help when people don’t feel the need to ask questions about what they can and cannot do – giving the freedom to take action and knowing how much action is allowed is an autonomous component of teams. However, creating an autonomous teams kind of culture does involve better communication.
Autonomous teams are not reporting their every move to a supervisor. As a result, they interact more frequently with other team members. They collaborate and communicate regarding deadlines and needs instead of relying on a supervisor to act as the go-between communicator and scheduler. By inviting questions and discussion, the culture is inspiring improved communication.
Autonomy requires enhanced communication skills. A culture that feeds that skill is all the better. A culture that feeds autonomous teams is enhanced all around.
Autonomous Teams are Provided Resources
A team struggles to be autonomous when its members constantly ask for needed resources. What might happen if you, as the app developer mentioned above, required the expertise of an upper-management individual but had no way to get in touch? You would likely have to go through various channels and conversations explaining why you need to talk to this person and how it is relevant to your work. This is not the style of autonomous teams.
However, when you’re on an autonomous team, you are trusted to have the contact information of the entire organization. The lines of communication are not blocked off because the team might bother a higher-up. Resources are provided to the team, mainly when those resources help team members move the organization toward the vision.
When the company culture is to provide people with the tools they need to accomplish their goals, things move more smoothly. They are more productive. They work autonomously! Thus, autonomous teams.
Empower Employees
The most obvious answer to creating a culture of autonomy is empowerment. I love this step. Many organizations make people feel like they can’t do much of anything without permission. You can’t leave early for a dentist appointment; you can’t refund an upset customer without approval; you can’t even take an early lunch without prior notice.
Empowering employees doesn’t mean there are no rules or standards. It means you give people the power to do what they need to do (within the organization’s values) to accomplish goals. Let them work from home if they need to meet a tight deadline but work more efficiently at home. If a customer has a complaint, let the team member fix it. If the big project has a deadline, let the employee determine the best goals and timelines to set for each component.
Empowering employees can create autonomy as much as an enjoyable work environment. Think about the autonomy of students. In elementary school, days are planned out, and tasks are assigned strictly. By the time you get to high school, you get to choose electives and extracurricular activities. In college, you have to do much of the work on your own. If you ever reach the doctorate level, the level of autonomy is almost scary.
Create an almost scary amount of autonomy and see what people can accomplish. Autonomous teams can be more valuable than you imagined!