Celebrate when things go wrong to empower your team

Empowering your team is a cornerstone of effective leadership and organisational success. By granting team members the autonomy and authority to make decisions, take ownership, and contribute meaningfully, you unlock a wealth of benefits.

People Directors Divya Kanani-Jones and Paul Gordon, share their tips and advice on how to empower your team and get the very best from them.

What are some of the benefits of empowering your team?

Empowering your team not only enhances individual growth but also fuels the collective achievement of organisational goals, creating a win-win scenario for everyone involved, and helps to make them feel they are part of a winning journey. Here are just some of the benefits team empowerment can bring.

Helps to build a culture of trust and collaboration, forming a creative work environment where individuals feel valued and motivated.
Boosts team morale and job satisfaction which often leads to higher productivity.
Fuels innovation. Your team become more adaptable to change and come up with fresh ideas which is crucial in today’s fast-paced business landscape.
Improves talent retention through improved job satisfaction. Happy team members stay longer.
Helps to encourage a culture of learning, resilience and team bonding as you celebrating when things go wrong.

“I would absolutely say encourage insights, encourage feedback, encourage lots of collaboration. I think it’s really important aswell to ask to be challenged.” – Divya Kanani-Jones

Tips on establishing effective empowerment with your team?

While empowerment is a valuable leadership strategy, it’s essential to establish clear boundaries to ensure that it remains effective and aligned with organisational goals. Here are just some helpful tips on how to empower your team.

Decision making limits – define the scope of the decision-making authority around the project.
Responsibility and accountability – be clear about what you expect of them and what success looks like.
Alignment with goals – Ensure decisions and actions align with the organisations mission, vision and values.
Communication – regularly keep up-to-date with progress, check they’re on track and help with any barriers holding them back.
Metrics – clearly define and and communicate performance expectations and metrics.
Celebrate mistakes – give them the space to use their initiative and if they make mistakes, celebrate them and encourage further learning.

“By empowering people, you’re asking them to do something. (A) do they have the skill? If they don’t, then you have to coach and train them. (B) what are the boundaries they need to work in?” – Paul Gordon

If you would like to find out more about how we can help with establishing effective empowerment in your team, please call us on 0345 646 5201 or email [email protected] we would love to have a chat and see how we can help.