3 tips for ensuring people feel they are running their own business that contributes to a bigger business
Post date: Monday August 30, 2010
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Category: Mike's Blog, Super teams
Great leaders recognise that they must stay in control of what is delivered – the organisation’s specific goals. At the same time, they will be judged by their people’s performance, rather than their own. It is therefore vital to encourage people to use their creativity to achieve the specific goals. How to square this circle? How to retain control yet also release people’s creativity? One way is to ensure that people feel they are running their own businesses with the larger business. These units must, of course, contribute to achieving the organisation’s specific goals.
Sounds hard, but it is relatively simple in practice. Imagine you a leading an organisation. Let’s explore three steps towards implementing this approach successfully.
1) You can communicate the organisation’s purpose, principles and what must be delivered in practice.
Ten years ago I worked with a far-sighted company that employed around 1000 people. The leadership team knew they could set the vision, but they would rely on their people to deliver peak performance. So they gave people ‘empowerment within parameters’. Gathering everybody together, they used the following framework to communicate their strategy.
Purpose
The purpose of our organisation – the specific thing we are here to do – is:
* To
The specific goals we want to deliver by ____ to fulfil this purpose are:
* To
* To
* To
Principles
The key principles we want people to follow to achieve this purpose are:
* To
* To
* To
Practice
The specific goals we want the various teams to deliver
towards achieving this purpose include, for example:
* To
* To
* To
After communicating this strategy, the leadership team moved onto the next stage. You would, of course, do this in your own way.
2) You can encourage people to make clear contracts about what they will deliver in practice.
How to make this happen? How to give people ‘empowerment within parameters’? The leadership team gave people the following messages.
“Every team will be expected to deliver specific goals that contribute to achieving the organisation’s goals. But you are experts in your field. So there may be other things you would like to add to – or refine - your team’s goals. Now comes a fundamental part. The way you work will - within parameters - be up to you. But you must show how what you practice supports the principles and contributes toward achieving the purpose. Bearing in mind the required outcomes – and other things you may want to achieve – it is then up to you:
a) To clarify your specific goals;
b) To show how delivering these things will follow the principles and contribute to the purpose;
c) To clarify the support you require to achieve success;
d) To meet with your manager and make clear contracts about your team’s specific contribution to the business.
“Bearing this approach in mind, you may want to consider using the following framework when presenting back to your manager.
Practice
The specific goals we want to deliver by _____ are:
* To
* To
* To
Principles and Purpose
The specific ways that delivering these will follow
the principles and contribute to the purpose are:
* To
* To
* To
The specific kinds of support we would like to help us to deliver success are:
* To
* To
* To
“Meet with your manager and agree on your working contracts. These should be written in ‘outcome terms’. In other words, describe what you will ‘deliver’, rather than ‘do’. Agree with your manager on how you will proactively keep them informed on the road towards reaching your goals. So your agreed goals may look something like the following.”
The team’s agreed contribution towards
achieving the organisation’s specific goals
The specific results we will deliver will be:
1) To
For example:
* To
* To
* To
2) To
For example:
* To
* To
* To
3) To
For example:
* To
* To
* To
3) You can manage by outcomes and ensure that people follow the principles and contribute to the purpose.
How do make sure things stay on track – and do this without micro-managing? One approach is to invite each team to make quarterly presentations. They are to present:
a) The specific things we have delivered in the last quarter towards achieving the agreed goals;
b) The specific things we plan to do in the next quarter;
c) The challenges we face and our plans for tackling these;
d) The support we need to achieve success.
Success breeds success. So compile success stories showing how people are following the principles and contributing to the purpose. Communicate these both inside and outside the business.
Try tackling the exercise on this theme. Imagine you are a leader. Describe the things you can do to encourage people to feel they are running their own businesses within the greater organisation. Try completing the following sentence.
The specific things I can do to ensure that people feel they are
running their own businesses that contributes to the bigger business are:
*
*
*
Great organisations recognise that people like to feel in control. One approach to making this happen is to give people ‘empowerment within parameters’ - providing the deliver their agreed goals. They are then more likely to make their best contribution to helping the organisation to achieve its picture of success.

