Individual, organisational, and team advantages

We’ve already explored some of the advantages for individuals when they are part of an energised and empowered team, including:

• feeling good about their work
• increased confidence
• enhanced focus
• a positive outlook
• feeling more motivated
• working more effectively
• ultimately, increased performance.

Of course, these individual advantages flow through to team advantages. The advantages to each team within the organisation are also significant. They include:

• team members having an excellent work ethic and using their talents and skills to assist the wider team
• team members being willing to ‘get in the weeds’ and perform tasks that may normally be considered mundane because they believe in their leadership and mission
• team members having a clear sense of purpose and direction that they can gather around
• increased motivation and efficiency, with personal satisfaction at work increasing across the team
• a reduction in conflict, and when there is conflict, they deal with it effectively and tackle issues head-on rather than letting them fester.

In turn, these team advantages flow through to organisational advantages. There are significant organisational advantages to having a team that is high performing, empowered, and energised. These go beyond just the basics of making a greater profit or having a greater impact on their outcomes. Organisations that can effectively encourage and manage these types of teams are likely to have less staff turnover, be more attractive to potential hires, and be better placed to deal with disruption or difficult times.

_{Source: High Performance Tool Kit [2]}

Case study

Let’s take a look at how these benefits can compound and flow from individuals feeling empowered and energised through to organisational performance.

Consider Matt, a mid-level manager in a professional services firm. Matt knows the advantages of an energised and empowered team and takes action to enable this across his team members.

Individually, Matt shows himself to be vulnerable, role-modelling this behaviour with others. Matt recently suggested the team adapts their project management practices by using a new piece of software. However, the software doesn’t have all the capabilities Matt thought it would. Matt acknowledges that they got it wrong and should have done more research. At the same time, by encouraging the use of new software, Matt shows that they embrace opportunities to try new ways of working.

As team leader, Matt also ensures that the performance of other members of the team is celebrated. When a senior colleague brings in a new client, Matt congratulates them on a job well done and also highlights the impact that a more junior individual had when they created the pitch deck that helped their colleague win the work. By doing this, Matt enables strong individual performance in the team. Team members feel good about their work, are confident in their ability to take risks, and are more motivated to take on unfamiliar tasks.

Because individuals in the team feel energised and empowered, they respond well when the professional services firm rolls out a new consulting model. The team has a shared sense of purpose and can see the benefits the new model will bring to achieving this purpose, even if it’s a different way of working. While other teams across the firm disagree with each other about how best to implement the new model, Matt’s team have a useful discussion where everyone discusses potential approaches and collectively agrees on the best path to implementation.

The speed and enthusiasm with which Matt’s team adopts the new consulting model means that the team’s performance surpasses those of the other teams who are less enthusiastic about the new model. Eventually, other managers take note of Matt’s success and get on board with the consulting model. As a result, the collective performance of the organisation improves as they reap the benefits of the new model.

Share your thoughts

Consider a high-performing team that you have been a part of or maybe even lead . In the comments below, outline an occasion where you experienced some of the stated advantages and what the leader of the team did and/or said to encourage and manage the team.

Reference

_{2. High Performance Toolkit [Internet]. SHRM. 2022 [cited 2022 December 8]. Available from: https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/Pages/default.aspx}