Decentralized Leadership: Facilitating Autonomy in a Remote Workforce
As the public sector has embraced remote work, many organizations have shifted from constant oversight to trust-based systems. For this new system to work, employers must reconsider their flexibility, and telecommuters must become self-driven. Is decentralized leadership the answer?
Decentralized Leadership’s Role in a Remote Workforce
In a decentralized organization, there’s no central authority governing everything. Instead of upper management calling the shots, middle management and individual employees are empowered to make their own decisions.
While public sector jobs are notorious for their excessive bureaucracy — and attachment to an inefficient hierarchy — the nationwide transition to remote work changed things. In 2022, 69% of federal employees worked from home at least once. Thousands of people went from sitting in an office with constant oversight to working on their own.
Remote work is inherently decentralized because everyone works from different places and has to become independent. Realistically, digital engagement is fundamentally different from physical engagement. Since in-person and telecommuting employees are present in different ways, they need varying permissions and freedoms.
To some extent, remote workers get to control where, when and how they work — this is called autonomy. This concept applies to situations where a person can make decisions about their daily course of action and working conditions.
If you decide to work from a coffee shop for the day or start your workday later because you’d rather spend the morning with your family, you’re exercising workplace autonomy. Basically, autonomy is the ability to make independent decisions and leverage certain freedoms.
The Importance of Autonomy in the Workplace
Autonomy is an essential part of remote work. Realistically, any employer that lets employees work from home must put some level of trust in their ability to self-direct and make decisions. Having said that, granting workers more autonomy is surprisingly beneficial.
For starters, autonomy is physically beneficial. According to one study, workers believe it positively impacts their well-being and mental health. People experience less stress and feel more content when their employers empower them to be self-directed.
When remote workers are primarily self-directed, they achieve a better work-life balance. Consequently, job satisfaction and employee retention increase. Considering local governments were short 305,000 jobs in 2023, this point is particularly relevant.
Employers can benefit from autonomy, too. Since it’s an intrinsic motivator — meaning it stems from an internal need or desire — remote workers feel more driven to set tasks and accomplish goals. Their ability to take ownership of their workday prompts them to be more productive.
Self-driven work helps employees build up their personal expertise, meaning they can accomplish more independently. Not to mention, they often apply themselves more when they feel a sense of responsibility and empowerment.
The Potential Downsides of Decentralized Leadership
Although decentralized leadership is generally beneficial, employers shouldn’t make the mistake of overindulging remote workers. Granting them too many freedoms can be overwhelming and frustrating, decreasing productivity and worsening business outcomes.
Imagine if your boss didn’t give you a general professional scope and just expected you to figure out your duties on your own. It may sound outlandish, but plenty of professionals have gotten hired only to sit at home with no direction — or any real tasks — for eight hours a day.
While controlling your working conditions can be great, having unlimited freedom over your space and time can quickly backfire. You might feel tempted to walk away from work too often, damaging your work-life balance and keeping you from getting things done.
Remote work is inherently decentralized because everyone works from different places and has to become independent.
Generally, autonomy is only beneficial at the right level. Too much can throw remote workers off track, causing untimely project completion and communication issues. Employers have to be careful to balance independence with oversight.
How Employers Can Facilitate Workplace Autonomy
While the nature of remote work inherently grants some autonomy, employers in the public sector should further support their employees. If they make an effort, they can avoid potential downsides and increase their staff’s job satisfaction.
Communication
Many public sector jobs haven’t caught up to the digital age yet. Most rely on outdated communication methods, favoring faxes and slow-moving messages over the latest technology. If they want to facilitate workplace autonomy, they need to consider digitalization.
People working from home are alone, but they shouldn’t be entirely on their own. Employers should provide digital platforms for collaboration. This way, remote workers can connect with their colleagues, request assistance and exchange ideas on their own time.
Trust
If you’ve ever been micromanaged, you know how demotivating it can feel. Employers that want to facilitate autonomy in a remote workforce should embrace decentralized leadership, trusting individuals to set their working conditions and complete their tasks.
Support
While autonomy revolves around flexibility and independence, it doesn’t necessarily require a hands-off approach. Support and guidance from people in leadership positions help reinforce professional boundaries and align the organization’s mission with individuals’ goals.
Flexibility
Successful autonomy in the workplace relies on an accommodating system. In other words, remote workers can only take control of their workday if they have the tools to do so. They should be able to set their schedule, location and workload scope within reason.
Monitoring
Leadership should prioritize the results over the process. If employees meet all their goals, get their work done and remain productive, their methods shouldn’t get called into question. Instead, employers should use productivity and completion metrics to keep them on track.
Public sector jobs are notorious for their attachment to protocol and unnecessary red tape, so shifting away from that can be tricky. Still, it’s necessary to benefit the organization and its employees.
Decentralized Leadership Benefits Employers and Workers
Organizations and remote workers both benefit from leveraging decentralized leadership to improve workplace autonomy. If individuals have more freedom and are empowered to make daily decisions, they’ll be more productive, and management will see better business outcomes.
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