Arguably the most frustrating part of being a business owner or manager is having to sacrifice your own time to ensure everyone else has what they need to get their work done. When I was leading a team in my small business, I used to dread walking into the office and was stuck in the same cycle every day, until I realized that I had several opportunities to build a truly autonomous team.

In today’s fast-paced business world and with the rise of A.I., it’s more important than ever for leaders to optimize their time and resources, as it can make the ultimate difference in whether your business grows or not. Below are four strategies to build an autonomous team, so you can regain the time and energy you need to drive your business or project forward.

1. Set boundaries in your open-door policy

An open door policy is instrumental in fostering an inclusive and approachable work environment. However, without clear boundaries, it can lead to constant interruptions and reduced productivity. Furthermore, it can often have the opposite intended effect, as employees may feel hesitant to approach leadership out of fear of rejection, or worse. Here’s how to create a balance of openness and efficiency in a successful open-door policy:

Implement structured availability

• Create a schedule for your ‘open’ hours: Designate specific times and dates for open-door consultations and ensure that it is clearly communicated to your team.
• Issue categorization: Encourage team members to categorize the nature of their queries. Define what is considered an “urgent” matter that merits overriding your schedule, and then communicate that less critical issues can wait for designated hours. You might even find it helpful to assign certain days for certain types of issues. That way, you and your employee are in the right mindset to discuss the details of specific topics.

Empower independent decision-making

• Provide guidelines for problem-solving on certain issues: The first step here is to decide what types of common issues you do not want your employees to ask you about. Then, create a framework for solving them that they can use repeatedly and effectively.
• Encourage initiative: Be observant of your team and reward them when they show initiative in resolving issues without supervision. You want to continuously be reinforcing a culture of independence so that they can work towards becoming a completely autonomous team.

2. Establish a clear communication channel & structure

In autonomous teams, clear and efficient communication is vital. Establishing structured channels and protocols ensures that information and instruction flows smoothly, without the need for constant supervision and clarification. Here are some ways to create a system that is both streamlined and collaborative:

Choose the tools and platforms that work best for your team’s communication needs

• Find the right digital tool: There are dozens of tools that aid with team communication and collaboration (Slack, Microsoft Teams, Asana, and Zoom, just to name a few). You may have to test a couple to see what works best, but the key is to use the one that feels most intuitive and that supports your team’s overall goals and everyday responsibilities.
• Conduct regular check-ins: Set up weekly, daily, or monthly meetings to discuss progress, challenges, blockers, and overall strategy. You can keep this one-on-one, or perform them by team function, but the most important factor is to ensure that every team member feels comfortable and prepared to share in each of these meetings and that they lead to action. Ideally, you want the solutions to come from them as well so that they can feel empowered and eventually become a mostly autonomous team.

Build a collaborative environment

• Encourage team collaboration: Provide an agenda or framework that teams can utilize on their own to host meetings and connect among themselves. Not only does this foster closer relationships among team members, but it reduces their dependency on you to lead these conversations.
• Make information transparent and accessible: Leverage these tools and technologies to ensure that every team member has access to the information they need to perform their tasks as well as to research and take initiative on ideas and issues outside of their realm of responsibility.

3. Provide reliable and comprehensive resources

This is going to be the most time-consuming step of building an autonomous team, but it will pay dividends later when you have all of the time and energy you need to drive your business forward. Here are some key tips to consider when developing the resources your team needs to perform:

Develop a comprehensive knowledge base

• Focus on documentation and detail: Get as granular as possible about what goes into each of your employee’s tasks so that they can perform them successfully on repeat. The more you write out, the better – detailed guides, manuals, and even FAQ sheets for common issues are great formats to use.
• Choose an intuitive online storage solution: Utilize cloud-based platforms like Confluence, Google Drive, or Dropbox to store and share documents so that your staff can easily access them and you can edit and update as needed.

Provide continuous learning & development

• Offer support through continuous process improvements: Just creating resources isn’t enough – be sure to provide updates and continually expand upon them so that your team always has the most relevant and accurate information.
• Create training programs to foster learning & growth: Teach your employees how to best utilize the resources and information you’ve provided to them. This will help them feel confident to perform tasks on their own and it’ll empower them to solve issues and find solutions on their own.

4. Delegate tasks effectively

Simply forwarding tasks to your staff and assuming they can easily take them over is a surefire way to have them end up right back on your plate. You may be strapped for time, but you’ll lose infinitely more precious hours if you don’t properly hand off the tasks you want your staff to complete. Here are the key elements to consider to ensure you delegate successfully:

Understand your team’s strengths

• Match the task with the right employee: Have one-on-one conversations with each of your team members to better understand their ability AND capacity to take on different types of tasks.

Provide clear instructions and expectations

• Fill any gaps they have about the task before hand-off: You might find that your employees are capable of handling the task, but they’re missing key details and training to perform it successfully. Take the time to provide them with the proper resources and training to be able to perform the task repeatedly without interference.
• Set realistic expectations for them: Your employees will never perform the task as well as you – if they did, they wouldn’t be working for you. Define what “good enough” is going to be for your team, and the hold themselves to that standard for completion and to yourself when monitoring their results.

Summary: You have to give before you can get in building an autonomous team

Building an autonomous team requires patience, thoughtful planning, and consistent effort. By setting structured open-door policies, establishing clear communication channels, providing comprehensive resources, and delegating effectively, you empower your team to operate independently. This not only boosts team morale and productivity but also frees up your time to focus on broader strategic objectives. The journey to developing autonomous teams is ongoing, but the rewards in terms of business growth and personal work-life balance will prove to be invaluable.

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Not sure where to start?

If you’re struggling with creating the resources and systems needed to build your autonomous team, send me an email at [email protected] or click the button below to book a discovery call. Together, we’ll discuss how coaching can help guide you through this process.