Creating an Empowered Project Team

It’s sometimes difficult for the experienced, in-control-project-manager to let go of some of that control. It’s hard for that project manager to turn over some power and decision-making responsibility to the project team that they’ve assembled. However, in order to be effective on the project (and other projects we’re managing at the same time) and in order to use our time efficiently, it’s often absolutely necessary.  Plus, it can be very beneficial to all parties involved in the engagement.

Empowered teams are more effective than disempowered ones. An empowered team is one in which decision-making and responsibility have been pushed down as far as possible. When a team is empowered, they take more accountability for the outcomes they must produce. In addition, empowerment allows the team to share the burden of the project with the project leader. To properly empower a team you need to do the following:


 

• Clearly define the roles that each person involved with the project will play and hold each person to those roles.


• Clearly define what is expected from the team and from each individual on it.


• Provide adequate resources to get the job done. It is the project leader’s job, with the help of the sponsor, to ensure that the team has the resources to complete the project. If, after the team does the planning, there are not sufficient resources to produce the final deliverable, then the project leader must negotiate with the sponsor for more resources or for a change in the scope necessitating project schedule changes to be made through a tool like Seavus’ Project Viewer. There is nothing motivating or empowering about trying to get a job done without adequate time or money to complete the task or without the resources that were promised.
   
• Make sure the people on the team have the skills and knowledge to get the job done. Make sure your team has the project and team skills it will need to be successful.


• Clearly define accountability for results. Empowerment carries with it the burden of accountability, to answer for the outcomes that are assigned to should have accountability. And feedback is very important.
  
  


• Push decision-making down to the lowest level possible. You don’t want to micromanage the team or the individuals on the team. The main concern at the team level should be on deliverables and issues that affect multiple people on the team. Too many teams get involved in the minute details of what each individual is doing. By clearly defining accountability and by making sure that people have the skills or the support they need to get the job done, there is no reason to focus on things that are best left to the individual.
   
• Most project managers have been trained to be content driven. They make the decisions. They know what’s best. They solve the project’s problems. But this focus on content does not produce great project results.  In order to let go of control and empower the team, you’ll need to help the team clearly define what needs to be done, who is accountable, when it needs to be completed, and then make sure people have the resources and skills to get the job done. You should require regular reporting from the team on the deliverables or issues assigned. This closes the accountability loop; accountability has been assigned and the person accountable reports back on the fulfillment of that accountability.  These seven basic principles will help you create a more effective team. But teams don’t just emerge, fully formed, and performing at peak capacity. They evolve, through stages.