Empowerment
Official Definition:
Giving team members the authority, resources, and confidence to make decisions and take action.
Layman’s Definition:
Trusting people to do their job without micromanaging them.
Examples:
• Retail – Branch Manager Decisions: Allowing branch managers to approve staff rotas.
• Education – Curriculum Adaptation: Teachers tailoring curriculum to suit local needs.
• IT – Agile Teams: Developers choosing how to implement user stories.
When to use:
Use in team management contexts, especially during the execution phase, to encourage autonomy, faster decision-making, and increased accountability among team members.
What it might look like in practice:
• Delegation of authority formally documented in role descriptions.
• Supported by a culture of trust, regular check-ins and clear boundaries.