Make Flexibility a Success

Most of what it takes to make flexibility successful involves simply doing what any good manager does ? in short, setting clear expectations, planning ahead, communicating and holding people accountable. Not only is flexibility successful, but performance across the team will be stronger.

1. Be highly selective in who you hire. Pick people who are motivated by the work itself.

2. Make sure every employee clearly understands the overall business strategy and objectives, the specific team objectives and how their individual contribution supports them.

3. Work with each employee to set specific performance goals and outline what is expected in terms of communication, knowledge sharing, relationship building, etc.

4. Make sure employees have the resources they need to achieve their goals.

5. Empower employees to take initiative and make decisions. Give them as much authority as you can.

6. Focus on performance in measuring success and establish clear performance metrics. Be careful not to use ?proxies? to judge performance, like willingness to work long hours, instead of actual results.

7. Give employees authority to identify and eliminate inefficiencies.

8. Support each employee?s growth, and make sure each one has learning opportunities that support his/her career development.

9. Ensure that each employee is matched with the right job ? one they find challenging and rewarding in its own right ? and that they are continually challenged. Not too little, not too much.

10. Watch for biases that prevent employees from contributing their best and advancing at a pace they seek.

11. Hold each employee accountable for his/her individual success, as well as their contribution (direct or indirect) to the success of the team and the organization.

12. Communicate clearly, frequently, and transparently. Convey your communication methods and expectations.

13. Encourage employee productivity and wellbeing (physically, mentally, and in their life as a whole.) Employees should be able to set boundaries that protect their ability to deliver quality results.