As new beliefs clash with the old, ‘fast change’ has come to mean must change, and with it has come disposable skills, the loss of feeling valued and stable, and a lack of leadership and mentors. This has resulted in not only a knowledge deficiency within our Organizations but also, a shift in the centre of energy of these Organizations.
This disruption has become so much part of our lives (there is just too much to take in… so much to know, understand, think about and consider) that we are in danger of our minds suffering from sensory as well as information overload and burnout. Stress, bewilderment, helplessness, tension, anxiety disorder is on the increase, and it is showing up as unreasonable behavior and even mindlessness within our Organizations’. Its showing up through lower than expected results.
People no longer know how to behave, how they work is how they have always worked. Many don’t know how to change. Speed has turned into haste as organizations fight for a credible future.
Now is the time to be a leader.
I believe that the agile manifesto could be part of the solution. It enables teams to react to change, it provides a new way of thinking, a way that aligns well to the new pace of change required within organisations.
One of my other favorite principles is that of entrusted leadership and self managed teams. On my current program I have instilled self managed teams, thrown out roles and set goals… yep, goals not roles. I moved the project managers to the other side of the room, away from the teams and watched what happened…
The teams have flown. Watching the teams work through the daily issues of solution delivery is a thing of beauty… actually we regularly take VIPs through on tours. Productivity, accountability and workplace enjoyment have soared.
The project managers can now focus on assisting the teams, ensuring blockers are removed, funds are allocated and all of the other fun things PM’s do.
I’m not saying that every team out there can become self managed, quite to the contrary, we select our team members very carefully. What I am saying is give it a try, you might be surprised. Set the goals for the team, have them commit to delivering the tasks by a date (we run 2 weekly sprints) and explain that you are trusting them to deliver. Explain that it is now their responsibility to delivery the tasks and not yours!
There is a lot more involved to run self managed or entrusted leadership, too much to enter into here, but to start starts with a decision and for you to have the courage to try.
So far, the mix of agile principles (as a philosophy) and self managed teams/entrusted leadership is my key to delivering constant change, in a constantly changing environment, with constantly changing requirements… and not burning out my teams… infact the opposite has happened… we have not has a team member leave in over 6 months, smiles are everywhere and productivity is at an all time high.
Bring the spirit of leadership back.
Be Brave - Trust, Truth, Transparency.
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Steve: 0400 005 924 | 1300 851 861
#Leadership #HardButWorthIt.