Functional or individual department managers must take ownership and responsibility to achieve success and achieve defined strategic initiatives. However, to maximize organizational effectiveness, managers must be able to work with one another to achieve common goals.
To be effective, the following six principles apply:
1. Accountability must be at the forefront of every initiative. Employees want to be held accountable and are willing to accept responsibility if they receive the necessary training, information, and the organization encourages empowerment.
2. Minimize trust and empowerment through supervision. Don’t micromanage. Workers will accept more responsibility if management is not constantly looking over their shoulders. This encourages innovation and creativity, but requires effective communication.
3. Managers need to function more as facilitators and leaders. Coaching is a set of skills that all managers must train to improve team management. Regular performance discussions should be strictly scheduled and kept.
4. Performance management and performance measurement are key contributors to better team management. The objectives must be measurable and specific. Creating scorecards is an effective tool to improve team performance.
5. Information sharing and effective communication are essential. Teams must have unrestricted access to all relevant information. If you can’t trust someone on the team, then they shouldn’t be on the team.
6. Managers’ skill sets should be continually reviewed and updated to allow them the opportunity to adopt new skills specifically related to coaching and mentoring. The role of the manager must be redefined for the team environment and an emphasis on the servant leadership style (“The Lead Wolf” model) is essential. (Email [email protected] for a copy of Lead Wolf’s leadership model)
Organizations that maximize success embrace the concept of “Team Leadership” and their managers are trained to lead group problem-solving sessions that maximize collaboration across functional units. A forum exists to educate and train managers on the issues and concerns of other functional departments. Communication is maintained at the “Adult” level and there is an explicit understanding of respect throughout the organization’s culture. This feeling of mutual respect, trust, and maturity becomes the basis for teamwork and problem solving.