“Dear manager in an Agile organisation.
We know it is difficult to suddenly navigate in a world of teams, which are supposed to be self-organizing, and therefor you feel that your influence has diminished.
How are you supposed to keep up with how they perform and what training etc. they need. I have heard suggestions of implementing a 360 degree survey, maybe each month. I do appreciate the idea of having the team respond to this, as they are the ones who should judge performance. I do however not appreciate the lack of trust in the individual and the team to stay mutually accountable and do their best everyday.
So to not just complain, what do I think you should you do?
Well… the answer is quite simple in my book. The best way to get the information required is to be curious, be in contact with your employees frequently, listen to their success and their troubles. The key is dialogue and mutual trust. When they over time can see that you are genuinely interested in them doing well and that you act on their behalf, when needed, I suspect that you will also start to see a flow of information the other way. Your interaction with them is not on some scheduled meeting, it is the everyday talks and building of trust, that will result in them coming to you asking for your help and support. You cannot demand their trust, you have to earn it. “