Becoming more autonomous at work allows you to schedule your daily workload to align with your strengths and personal preferences. You can choose what tasks you complete in which order and how best to contribute to company goals.
How can you be more autonomous at work while working well with other team members and positively impacting company culture? Here are some helpful insights.
What is Autonomy at Work?
Autonomy in the workplace refers to employees’ ability to manage tasks and make decisions with minimal supervision.
A greater sense of agency allows employees to take ownership of their responsibilities while aligning with the organisation’s needs.
Most people desire autonomy at work, as it makes them feel trusted by their employer. Working autonomously also permits teams to flex their creativity and collaborate on their terms.
When collaboration feels natural rather than mandated, it can bring out the best in each team member.
Why Autonomy Matters in the Workplace
Giving team members the freedom to structure their work day and prioritise tasks as they see fit can improve employee performance. Your employees know when they work best and what duties they should tackle at various times.
When employees feel trusted to make decisions and manage their work, they’re more engaged and satisfied. Those who experience autonomy may also develop stronger problem-solving skills and gain a sense of ownership over their contributions.
Some team members may be at their most motivated early in the day, while others may peak in the afternoon. This means they’ll want to focus on less dynamic work at the start of their shift before transitioning to tougher tasks later in the day.
Key Traits of Autonomous Employees
If you want to work autonomously, you’ll need to sharpen the following traits:
Self-Discipline and Accountability
Self-discipline is paramount when working autonomously. You must take responsibility for your tasks and consistently meet deadlines.
Additionally, it’s important to proactively contact your management team if you make a mistake or need extra support. They may trust you to get the job done, but they’ll also be available to help when needed.
Proactive Mindset and Problem-Solving Skills
Autonomous employees don’t wait for directions. They identify challenges within their scope of work and seek solutions, taking the necessary steps to resolve problems efficiently.
A proactive mindset will allow you to add value to your organisation without requiring continuous prompting or instruction.
Time Management and Prioritisation Abilities
If you’re going to work autonomously, you must have strong time-management skills. That means analysing your daily or weekly tasks and prioritising them based on urgency.
Set realistic deadlines for yourself and structure your workday to prevent burnout. Take periodic breaks to recharge and refocus on your remaining workload.
Confidence in Decision Making
You will be given opportunities to make decisions independently, so you must be confident in your choices.
However, you should also be willing to pivot if your initial decisions aren’t working out as anticipated. Adapting to unexpected challenges demonstrates your professional maturity and willingness to grow.
How to Be Autonomous at Work
Here’s a simple roadmap for exercising autonomy at work:
Setting Clear Goals and Personal KPIs
Setting objectives gives you clear targets each day or week. Make sure your goals are specific, time-bound, attainable, and measurable for best results.
It’s prudent to periodically examine your progress using relevant key performance indicators (KPIs).
If you always hit every goal without breaking a sweat, make a few of your objectives slightly more challenging.
If you’re consistently struggling to meet the deadlines or performance thresholds you set for yourself, adjust accordingly. You don’t want to set yourself up for failure, but you do want to test your limits.
Improving Self-Management Skills
While you’ll still have a manager in an autonomous work environment, you’ll also engage in self-management. Identify the tasks your manager traditionally performs and try handling those responsibilities for yourself.
Some examples include structuring your workload, setting deadlines, and staying organised.
Learning How to Take Initiative
Intrinsic motivation is vital when learning how to be autonomous at work. Find out what motivates you to perform at your best and use that driving force to take initiative. Be proactive when allowed to collaborate with other team members or contribute to an exciting project.
Seeking Feedback and Learning From Mistakes
Autonomy doesn’t mean working in isolation. Seek feedback from your peers and managers to continually improve your job performance.
Organisations can promote autonomy at work by creating an effective feedback culture. Consistent feedback loops will help you identify opportunities for improvement and grow professionally.
Building Confidence in Independent Decision Making
Confidence in decision-making comes from practice and a strong intuition. You must trust your instincts and gather relevant information to make informed choices.
To practice your decision-making process, identify your manager’s challenge and review the same information they can access. Then, determine whether you would have made the same decision or a different choice.
If you reach a different conclusion, talk to your manager about it and ask for insights into how they made their decision so you can better understand their thought processes.
Balancing Autonomy and Collaboration
Having autonomy at work doesn’t mean you can operate in your own personal silo. You can (and should) still contribute to the team.
Talk to your colleagues and find opportunities to collaborate on projects or tasks. If you and your fellow team members are all given autonomy at work, use that freedom to plan and execute projects to leverage everyone’s strengths.
Overcoming Common Challenges to Workplace Autonomy
You may encounter certain personal and organisational hurdles as you pursue autonomy at work, such as:
- Fear of failure
- Indecisiveness
- Lack of tools and resources
- Micromanagement from supervisors
Overcoming these challenges requires a collaborative effort. Organisational leaders must clarify expectations and nurture trust between employees and their managers.
Employees can do their part by engaging in open communication and learning new skills to be confident working independently.
Practical Tips for Cultivating Workplace Autonomy
Whether you want to promote autonomy for yourself or your entire team, you can jumpstart the process by:
- Setting daily or weekly goals
- Using productivity tools to manage time effectively
- Communicating with team members and supervisors
- Developing problem-solving skills to handle challenges autonomously
An effective autonomy culture starts with a skilled team. Focus on employee development initiatives that equip team members with the skills they need to thrive with minimal oversight.
How Managers Can Encourage Autonomy in Their Teams
If you’re in a management role and want to encourage your team members to work with autonomy, you should take the following steps:
- Trust employees to make decisions
- Provide clear expectations while allowing flexibility in execution
- Encourage skill development and professional growth
- Offer constructive feedback
To implement these strategies, you’ll need a robust skills-management platform and performance-tracking tools. Enter Klara, a human-centered solution designed to unlock your workforce’s full potential.
Learn More About Autonomy at Work
Klara provides businesses with tools that empower employees and managers to operate with more autonomy at work.
Your leadership team can closely monitor employee performance without making employees feel like they’re being micromanaged.
Our human-centered skills-management platform can give your staff the latitude they need to reach their full potential.
Get in touch today to find out how our suite of solutions can boost engagement and autonomy within your organisation.