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July 4, 2005
New skills for virtual team leaders
Are You a Yoda?
Thanks to Robin Good for pointing me to this article “Are You a Yoda” by Jill Geisler
We all know what feels like to be micromanaged - not usually an enjoyable experience!
We probably also know what it feels like to micromanage others - most of us don’t enjoy this either but unless we admit to being ‘control freaks’ we can usually justify it to ourselves.
A Yoda (the ancient and revered Jedi Master from Star Wars) is the exact opposite of a micromanager - more like a wise teacher who wants to help their pupils become the best they can be.
Jill gives some good advice to staff who feel they are being micromanaged.
Instead of complaining or just sulking they should first examine their behaviour to see if they are giving their boss reasons to micromanage them.
Only after this self-examination is it time to have the tactful meeting with the boss to explore their management style.
A cornerstone of Mother Nature’s teams, I call them bioteams, is that they operate as ‘self-managed teams’ by allowing every member the autonomy to act as if they were a leader at any time.
By adopting this every member a leader approach they are able to:
- communicate timely situational information rather than complex orders
- have this information 100% broadcast by the rank and file members themselves
- respond exceptionally quickly to opportunities and threats because the team members do not have to get permission to act
These are the three of the basic action rules of bioteaming
Bioteaming needs a new leadership style and a some bravery on the part of team leaders - they will need to be Yodas not micromanagers.
Posted by Ken Thompson on July 4, 2005 at 12:00 AM in Bioteams Features | Permalink
URL of this article:
http://www.bioteams.com/
