What do you do if your non-profit team needs autonomy but you still want to maintain oversight?

To balance autonomy and oversight in a non-profit team, establish clear goals and guidelines while empowering team members to make decisions within defined boundaries. Implement regular check-ins to offer support, monitor progress, and provide guidance when needed. Encourage open communication and transparency to foster trust. Utilize performance metrics to track outcomes and ensure alignment with organizational objectives. Strike a balance between autonomy and accountability to maximize team effectiveness while maintaining oversight.

Trust is crucial when delegating responsibilities, but it must be balanced with verification. Implement a system of regular check-ins and progress reports to monitor project advancements without micromanaging. This approach allows you to respect your team's autonomy while staying informed and involved, ensuring that projects remain on track. It communicates, "I trust you to handle this, but let's ensure everything is progressing as expected." This balance helps maintain oversight effectively while fostering a trusting and empowering work environment.

A debrief is essential when a project ends. After enabling a team to take the lead and make it happen without too much micromanagement, that team should be encouraged to come back together at the end to discuss what went well and also where the work might have fallen short - this is the learning opportunity that makes the next project even better.

You can establish clear goals and guidelines, delegate responsibilities based on team strengths, and provide regular check-ins or progress reports to maintain oversight while allowing autonomy. Encourage open communication channels for team members to seek guidance when needed and foster a culture of accountability where everyone understands their role in achieving organizational objectives. This approach fosters autonomy while ensuring alignment with the non-profit's mission and values.

Practising vulnerability as a leader and sharing what you have learned in your own journey can be really valuable, too. I also believe that we can care for folks' well-being first, listen to what their needs are around expectation setting for job duties and co-create meeting formats and team activities that support everyone. Learning to trust folks to delegate things well, and knowing they can come to you for assistance is also really helpful.