Are You Leveraging the Competence of Your Team?
In “11 Rules for Creating Value in the Social Era,” Nilofer Merchant suggests that “posting the high-level strategy for everyone signals something important: we value your brain. Giving people this understanding unlocks them to truly show up, engage, and participate.” What does she mean by this?
Do you remember, as a child, asking the question, “Why?” a thousand times a day? Most of us prefer to understand not just what needs to be done but why it needs to be done. But, the value to the organization lies well beyond simply appeasing your employees’ curiosity.
When your employees understand where the organization is headed and why the organization has chosen that destination, they are in a far better position to think critically about how best to get there. And why is that important?
Each of your employees has a unique skill set and background. They have different purviews of the organization. All of that individual’s knowledge, wisdom, and insight can be brought to bear in supporting the organization in achieving its goals.
An interesting example of this is the new social platform, Chatter. If you look at the description of the app, it says, “Chatter is the true social audiovisual utility platform designed to amplify your voice and connect you with a vibrant community. Whether you’re a content creator, a business, or simply someone looking to connect, Chatter is your go-to platform for building meaningful connections and engaging with a global audience.” This is what Merchant would have described as Chatter’s high-level strategy for where they are headed.
As part of the private beta of the app, I was privileged to get a behind-the-scenes look at how this product has grown and evolved. As with any start-up, the core team that actually works at Chatter is very small. But Nelson Epega, the founder of Chatter, wisely invited a small community of beta users. He patiently and repeatedly explained the vision and urged each of the users to put the app to the test. He regularly met with the beta users to explain what the core team was learning through this testing and what they were doing about it. In doing so, he effectively augmented his core employee base by enlisting individuals who “showed up, engaged, and participated” in helping to ensure that the app fulfilled its promise.
The key here is that Nelson took the time to share his vision with his team and invite them to leverage their own experiences and skills toward that vision. He was not simply interested in the users’ reporting bugs as they found them. He wanted to hear from users what a “true social audiovisual utility platform” meant to them and the design roadmap reflects that feedback.
If Nelson was able to catalyze a small army of volunteers toward this vision, think about what you could do by leveraging the competence of your team.
Not sure where to start? Subscribe to my Leader’s Laboratory rooms on Chatter where we explore these and other topics. My username is @LisaDPhD. Want some support in facilitating this work with your team? Message me and I’d be happy to discuss partnering with you.
