A great leader empowers their team so that it will motivate them and creating an uplifting environment. This also helps the team to be more supported, to make them feel confident in their own skills and abilities so that they will produce high quality work. While it can benefit them, it can also have a negative impact on the teams when it is done in an excessive amount.
Signs that your team is experiencing over-empowerment
As a leader, you are great at motivating your team members, communicating clearly, but there are some things that you might have missed. Therefore, your team may be:
Taking fewer breaks and work longer hours: They don’t bother to take a few minutes of rest or lunch, and they may even prolong their working hours. This is due to expectations that come from over-empowering. As a result, they can seem disengaged and fatigued.
Having an inconsistent work performance: A leader who fully believes in their own team abilities may not give clear guidance. While they were asked to perform better, they had no clear expectation of what they should achieve.
Showing negative emotions: While these individuals perform quite well, they feel easily irritable and might even respond negatively. This could stem from not receiving feedback, crossing boundaries, an increased workload or being left to do everything by their own.
What does the team actually need from the leaders?
Clear expectations
The team needs to know their responsibilities and understand the tasks assigned to them. Clearly communicating what you want to achieve, the deadlines, and the quality standards expected will help them immensely. This will also hold them accountable as they are aware of their own roles and assigned tasks. Some leaders, who struggle with time management, may overlook this step and end up with unsatisfactory results. By providing clear expectations, the team can avoid the burden of fixing mistakes under tight deadlines. Additionally, clear goals lead to efficient completion of tasks, better quality work, and optimal use of time and resources.
Upskilling the team with enough support and resources
The right way to empower the team is by providing them enough supports. This include in equip them with knowledge, training, and tools to use so that they will perform tasks effectively. Through this, they will increase their own capabilities and boost their confidence in performing the tasks. To effectively do this, recognize their individual needs by assessing their strengths and weakness. This way, leaders will know which skills that an individual needs, experience that they need to have and types of comfort that suits them.
Regular feedback
One of the important part but is often overlook is giving regular feedback. Whether they are doing well or there need some improvements, it is important to maintain their performance. This will help the team to feel their hard work is seen and also their challenges are acknowledged. As leaders set example to others, this will create a healthy culture of continuous improvement, open communication, and mutual respect. This environment will have team members to increase motivation and improve their overall performance.
Conclusions
Great leaders empower their teams to motivate and create a positive environment, resulting in high-quality work. However, too much empowerment can lead to issues like inconsistent performance, burnout, and negative emotions. To find the right balance, leaders should provide clear expectations, support, guidance and feedback to maintain team performance. By doing this, leaders can foster a culture of improvement, communication, and respect, helping the team perform their best while feeling valued and supported.
