4 Ways to Empower Teams to Make Decisions

Change the Way You Make Decisions to Empower Your Teams

You may think your primary responsibility as a leader is to make decisions for your teams. While decisiveness and direction-setting are important aspects of leadership, many decisions are best made by those who are closest to the work. 

Here are some four ways you can change the way decisions are made:

• Review the decisions that you are making day-to-day and consider whether there are people on your teams who could make those decisions either independently, or with your guidance.  
• Have a conversation with your team about the types of decisions and come to an agreement on how those decisions will be made. Share your intent to move more decisions to the team. Try this approach from Management 3.0.
• Coach your staff on the decision-making process to build their confidence and competence. Instead of providing answers, ask questions and guide them toward finding the answer and deciding for themselves.  
• Follow through with supporting staff in making decisions. If your teams have become accustomed to waiting for direction, you will need to intentionally step back and continue to reinforce the change until it becomes the new norm.  

When teams are empowered to make choices and directly impact results, they feel more motivated and engaged in their work.