Empowered Teams

Empowering refers to passing on authority and responsibility. Empowerment occurs when power goes to employees who then experience a sense of ownership and control over their jobs

Empowered individuals know that their jobs belong to them. Given a say on how things are done, employees feel more responsible. When they feel responsible, they show more initiative in their work, get more done, and enjoy the work more

Empowerment is facilitated by a combination of factors, including values, leadership actions, job structure, and reward systems. Self-directed teams (another name for empowered teams) have the following distinct features.

1. They are empowered to share various management functions.
2. They plan, control and improve their own work processes.
3. They set their own goals and inspect their own work.