How Giving Your Employees More Autonomy Can Help You Run A Stronger Business

My father loved the saying, “Just because you’re the boss, doesn’t mean you have to be a horse’s ass.”

Over the years, I’ve learned just how true that really is.

As the CEO of ShipChain, I know that heavy-handed management is not a smart way to run a company. Micromanaging leads to resentment, contributes to a poor company culture, and hurts productivity. That’s why I’m a huge advocate of giving employees more autonomy.

When people have the freedom to make decisions and experiment with things, they’re empowered. They also have an emotional stake in their employer’s success. And this is linked to the quality of their work — it increases markedly.

But autonomy isn’t a lack of structure. Rather, autonomy means giving people the tools and framework to work in the way they’re most comfortable. As a manager, you still give guidance and review work, but you step back from the smaller things, from the minutiae. This gives you more time to look at the big picture and set a vision for your company.

Here’s how stepping away from micromanaging can help you run a stronger business — one that’s not only more efficient but also a more positive, happy place for everyone to work.

It empowers employees to take charge of their own work.

We let teams decide how they function best. They have the liberty to run their own meetings, experiment with things, and hire people for their department.

There are so many different ways of thinking and problem solving, and everyone’s different. Rather than being forced to learn an unfamiliar way of doing things, for example, employees can choose to use their own methods. This makes them more comfortable while boosts productivity and morale.

Most people enjoy having the ability to control how they work. But it goes beyond appreciation. When employees have more freedom to operate and independence, they naturally want to do a great job. It motivates them to want to step up and put in more effort.

To be clear, I’m not recommending that you delegate everything and switch to autopilot. Instead, I’m talking about creating an environment in which you still establish timelines, offer guidance, and review results.

Let people use their own methods, but don’t hold anyone’s hand or try to troubleshoot as soon as issues arise.

It gives employees opportunities to creatively solve their problems.

In just about any position I hire for, I look for a problem solver.

People aren’t always given the opportunity to think of creative solutions, and this can make a workplace feel stifling. Giving employees an outlet to be creative — as well as the space to solve problems — makes people feel fulfilled.

And ultimately, it improves the quality of their work.

For example, you can let managers see their department’s cost and revenue spreadsheets. By sharing a complete breakdown of profits and expenses, and give managers the power to maximize revenue and reduce costs — they’ll take ownership of their budget and feel more involved in the decision-making process.

You’re giving employees ownership of the problem and ownership of the solution — empowering them with the ability to spot problems in their department and fix them.

At ShipChain, we also allow teams to hire independently — with our guidance and final approval. You want to recruit the best candidates for the position, but you also have to make sure they fit with the team.

Your employees are the ones who are going to be managing and working with new hires on a daily basis, so it’s important to give them the power to pick the right person for the job.

It allows you to set a vision and let your trusted employees create it.

As CEO, I describe my role as setting the grand vision of my company. It’s up to me to figure out what we want to ultimately achieve in the logistics industry.

I’m not the best software developer in the world; I’m not a marketing expert. And I don’t profess to be. That’s why I bring in people who know more than I do about these subjects. I tell them what we want and how it needs to work, and they execute on that vision.

For example, when it comes to code, I don’t go in and point out things line by line. That’s just not an effective use of time. Rather, we let our software team take a self-managed role and do what they do best.

In a way, it’s like being a property developer. I show my team my idea for what a building should be. My architects are the ones who help me execute my vision: they determine how to do it, the best structure to go about it, what needs to be done.

If you’re not the expert, why would you want to try to do something you don’t have any experience in? Give the experts around you guidance, and let them use their knowledge and skills to help you achieve your company’s goals.

Create an environment that’s somewhere you’d want to work. Fairness, teamwork, and appreciation go far, and no one likes being micromanaged. Bring in respected experts and treat them respectfully.

Give your employees the gift of autonomy so you can focus on the big-picture issues.