Helping Your Virtual Team Members : Part 5 January 25, 2022 by Belinda EganIt isn’t possible for a leader to ’empower’ someone to be accountable and make good decisions. People have to empower themselves. Your role is to encourage and support the decision-making environment and to give employees the tools and knowledge they need to make and act upon their own decisions. By doing this, you help your employees reach an empowered state. ~ Marshall Goldsmith, Harvard Business Review Over the past month, we’ve been diving into the many challenges of virtual leadership in 2022: keeping your team focused on what matters, mitigating and preventing employee burnout, psychological safety for your team members, and remaining highly self-aware and focused on your values as a leader. The final leg of this journey shines the spotlight back on your team. If you’ve been following along through this series, you’ll recall part one is about developing psychological safety in the workplace. If you’ve developed a strong sense of psychological safety for your team members, they will generally feel comfortable making important decisions about their daily tasks and responsibilities. However, if you’re the type that likes to oversee all aspects of an operation or project, your team might be in the habit of running everything by you before they pull the trigger on both big and small decisions – which can be a drain on your time and mental resources. And, frankly, it’s simply not an effective way to lead. A truly effective virtual leader fosters a sense of empowerment in each team member to take action without needing approval or feedback from you. Team members who have this sense of empowerment are guided by their deep understanding of the values of the organization and the top priorities to focus on in any given project. Here are four ways to foster “decision-making empowerment” in your virtual employees: Keep virtual meetings focused on “big picture stuff” so that the team knows what you prefer to handle. You should already have your list of goals ready for any project, and your team should know them by heart. If your meetings tend to get derailed by issues of bottlenecks in specific departments, squabbles or politics amongst employees or other teams, or “small fries” type stuff, gently but firmly bring the attention back to the purpose of the meeting: to focus on how each team member is headed in the direction of your goals. Remind employees that they are fully capable and responsible for managing issues within their departments by themselves unless they’ve repeatedly tried to find a solution and cannot – in which case you can take a closer look at the issue and see if it needs your feedback or expertise. This will enforce the idea that you are not there to put out small fires but to manage the “big picture” aspects of a project – and encourage team members to take it upon themselves to figure things out. Provide lots of resources for employees to solve their own problems. Your team members should feel comfortable trying out different things when problem-solving. An excellent way to encourage them to do this is to let all team members know the options available to help them make decisions – workbooks, team forums, HR support, and team delegates that can “manage” recurring issues. Providing many resources for your team members will help them feel supported in trying out something new and getting creative about problem-solving and making decisions, therefore, less time consulting you about it. Encourage employees to rely on each other. A team works well when all members feel supported and understood by one another. A less experienced employee may feel intimidated or shy to approach a more seasoned team member with questions, so this is an opportunity for you to make it clear that all team members are there to support each other as often as needed. You can encourage teamwork like this by offering incentives to team members who step up to help others, such as half-days once a quarter for helpful team members or a small event to highlight the contributions they’ve made to the team. You can also encourage team members to host “virtual brainstorming sessions,” open to any that have input on a problem or bottleneck, where teamwork and open discussion are encouraged. Let your team know it’s okay to make mistakes and that they can be fixed. Finally, a team that feels empowered to make their own decisions understands that while certain mistakes can’t be reversed or are forbidden (illegal activities, etc.), they are safely within “wiggle room” to try different problem-solving techniques, even if it doesn’t work. In fact, some mistakes are an essential part of learning and growing! You can encourage employees to make “important mistakes” by telling stories about how you or others within your organization have stumbled across a solution by making a “mistake” first. If you don’t have these types of stories to tell, you can make it clear in other ways that you’re fostering a “try it” attitude in the workplace, where learning and growing are essential and encouraged. Your job as a leader isn’t to put out fires all day. It’s to stay focused on your organization’s bottom line and keep all the pieces moving together towards that goal. When your team members feel empowered to make their own decisions instead of consulting you every time they’re unsure, you have more mental resources and time to do your job well. Thanks for joining me during this five-part series. I hope it’s been enlightening and helpful for you. I’d love to hear about your experiences in virtual leadership! Please feel free to leave comments below on your own challenges and successes as a virtual leader over the past two years. Belinda Egan PS. Sign up for my newsletter for more thought leadership strategies, research, and ongoing support for you and your team. Subscribe!