Empowering teams does not mean that leaders should take a hands off approach to decision making, it means enabling your teams to make the right decisions. In the following slides, I share some techniques to empower better decision making

1. Empowering your
team to make the
right decisions
Techniques that lead to better decision making
Follow for more content on:
LinkedIn- Niro Nirmalan
Twitter - @niroism

2. #1 Connect team objectives to
organisation strategy
Every member of the team must understand the
organisation's strategy and have clarity on how their
individual results directly link to the success of the strategy
This will focus decision making towards a shared
organisational end point.

3. #2 Establish guardrails that define
decision making boundaries
Guardrails can take the form of a simple decision
framework, operating models, RACI tables,
technical/architectural standards etc
Guardrails provide an environment that allow teams to
have confidence in the scope of decisions that they can
make and areas where levels of escalation may be required

4. #3 Grow a culture of continuous
learning
More knowledgable teams lead to smarter decisions.
Baseline the capabilities of the team, identify learning
gaps and actively encourage upskilling.
Building a culture requires getting involved, practice
what you preach and share your learning experiences
with the team.

5. #4 Open up expert channels for
help and support
Ensure that your teams know where they can turn to
when they need help or support with particular
decisions. Engage these experts at a senior level
early so that there are no blockers to decision
making.

6. #5 Increase "fills", reduce "drains"
Identify what fills/ motivates your team and what
you can do to increase it. Inversely, do what you
can to reduce or shield your team from what
drains/ demotivates them
Motivated teams make better decisions. Regularly
check on the motivation levels of your team.

7. #6 Coach, Coach, Coach
Coaching provides a safe place for individuals in your
team to ask for help and support. It also provides leaders
with an opportunity to provide honest feedback and
guidance on how things can be done differently.
Leaders with high performance teams aren't great
managers, they are skilled coaches.

8. Follow for more content on:
LinkedIn: Niro Nirmalan
Twitter: @niroism