Why You Need To Stop Being The ‘Answers Person’

Tips for making that change

Employees today want more say at work. That’s clear from a recent survey which found that three in four people want to work for organizations with a more collegiate and less hierarchical structure.  An even higher number - 83% - said they would like more input into decision-making. 

I have been a manager in the fast-moving tech industry for 30 years, where I’d say some of the changes that we are seeing across the business world originated. We have had to work hard to build and retain high-performing teams made up of people with in-demand skills. We have also been at the forefront of the changes that technology has brought into the world of work - the move from a static environment to a digital workplace where people work remotely or in cross-functional teams that may be made up of people working across different localities and time zones. 

Collaborative workplace technology has made it easier to share information and create transparency, which is the basis of informed decision-making. It also allows greater visibility of what steps are being taken by employees across the organization. This means there is less need for a hierarchical structure - people at every level can take more ownership of their work and be accountable for that. 

In a growing business in a dynamic sector, it’s better for everyone if employees can take more of a leadership role. They often have more understanding of the context and background of a situation than managers, and they are a source of innovation and smart ideas. Workers find it much more engaging and do better work where they have a greater sense of ownership.  And bosses who carry on insisting that all the decisions are made in the C-suite slow their organizations down. 

But making that shift can be tricky. Simply declaring to staff “I insist that you become more autonomous” isn’t going to cut it. Creating a culture where employees make more decisions involves encouraging people to self-manage as much as possible, to look for solutions instead of problems and to collaborate effectively with others across the organization. 

Here are some tips towards making the change:

Most people don’t want someone looking over their shoulder, telling them what to do. Two-thirds of employees state that they would do as good or a better job without their managers’ input.

The trait people say they most value most in a boss is the ability to motivate and coach their teams. But too many bosses issue orders instead of leading teams and they micromanage and make it harder for people to take clear ownership of their successes. 

It is understandable that managers want to keep control of the business as it grows. They fear the consequences if new and inexperienced employees make mistakes. But conversely, if they don’t find ways to share decision-making across the organization, then bottlenecks will arise. Information about what is going on in different areas gets pushed upwards to the managerial, decision-making layer, and then the people on the ground have to wait until they are told what they should do. That slows down the response time and is disempowering. 

Share information across the organization. Make sure that everyone, no matter what their position in the hierarchy or how new they are, understands what the vision is for the organization and how it is achieving against that. Everyone has to be “in the loop,” so that they have the information they need to decide what is best to do. 

Many managers will be wary when they see a survey urging them to do more consultation - for good reason. It used to be said that “a camel is a horse designed by a committee.”  Consulting widely sounds great in theory but it can create problems in practice. If you have to take on board too many people’s opinions and then build some kind of consensus that could end up making the decision-making process even slower and more unwieldy than it already is.

If you instead hand over whole tasks and the decisions that need to be made about them to specific individuals or teams, then they can become accountable for them. Even a junior member of staff can be given responsibility for the budget associated with a certain event or outcome, and they can deliver against that.

Make sure the whole task is handed over at an early stage and that the mission is clear. But also make it clear that if someone wants help or advice, they can ask for that. And don’t hold people responsible for things they can’t control - like currency fluctuations. 

But when someone brings forward a decision that deals with an issue they spotted, act on it immediately. One of the responsibilities of a manager is not to procrastinate. So when people bring forward a solution, rather than stating a problem, go with it. This creates trust. If you do have concerns about the decision, ask questions about what information it was based on. Perhaps you know something this person doesn’t - or perhaps they do. If people are aware that their decision is likely to be acted on immediately, they will flag up any concerns or issues they have about it. 

It is important to have a culture where people are able to raise concerns and risks, and where they don’t fear being blamed for bad news or for mistakes. Some companies have a culture where people suppress issues, and things that are going wrong are shoved under the carpet instead of being dealt with. That is not helpful.

It is not helpful either if people are given targets and then berated for missing them. That doesn’t achieve anything for the individual or the business. 

It is inevitable that some of the decisions people make will be wrong. If, when an employee does make a decision and then realizes they may have made a mistake, it is important they can flag that up immediately and they don’t feel they need to cover it up. Equally, it is the people on the ground who can see where reality is diverging from the plan that was made in the C suite - you want them to be able to share that. 

In a team culture, people focus on learning from mistakes, making sure they don’t get made again and improving the decision-making process. Instead of trying to be the person with all the answers, thoughtful management often starts with asking questions and listening to the answers.