Unlearn centuries of management practices
Ivy League schools and management consulting firms would always recommend and teach the traditional methods. For decades good management practices have been based on planning, hierarchy and control. Top managers should craft the right strategy and then the people below them would execute it. The best strategy had to be developed – with the help of consultants – and then good excution was required, strictly in accordance with the plan.
Modern businesses, however, operate in a world where the unknown is everywhere. A top-down approach increases risk and leads to slower responsiveness. In the end, this makes an organisation fragile. To be able to adapt quickly, we have to accept that the old approach no longer works – at least not in every context, according to an article on the business2community.com website.
Explore alternative approaches
Leaders should move their focus away from telling others how to do their work to the following areas:
- Clarity: What are you seeking to achieve? What difference will it make and to whom? What is your definition of success?
- Competence: Does your team have the competence to deal with this situation? If not, are they prepared to learn what is required? What help might they need?
- Control: What can you do to delegate control to those who are actually doing the work?
Autonomous teams
Autonomous teams are ones which are self-managing. In order to self-manage, two critical elements are required:
- Absence of traditional management
- At least a light set of constraints
Constraints need to be in place in order to achieve both autonomy and accountability. Such constraints might include, for example, iteration or facilitated meetings. The need for an absence of strict management is clear: you cannot expect people to self-manage if there is a manager telling them what to do and how to do it.
-jk-