Together, the concepts of Shared Leadership and Mobility complement each other very well. They empower teams to work together more collaboratively and flexibly, and as a result, end up being more successful overall.
But when these concepts are not operating in unison, we wondered if they could still produce similarly positive outcomes. Would a team with a Hierarchical Leadership structure, for example, be able to use Mobility to the same advantage as a team with Shared Leadership?
Curious to find out, we conducted a short experiment at last October’s Organizational Development Network (ODN) Conference.
For the experiment, we gathered a group of organizational psychologists, change management consultants, and internal organizational development specialists, and divided them into four teams. Then we took a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle, split it into four, equally-sized sections, and gave one section to each team. The teams then had 30 minutes to complete their individual quarters and, as a room, assemble the whole puzzle on a separate table called the "Boardroom Table."
But to make things more interesting, we gave each team a different set of rules to work by. Two teams had Mobility, which allowed all their members to move around their tables during the exercise, while the other two teams had to remain in their seats.
The other variable was the type of leadership. Two teams had Shared Leadership, meaning any team member could access the Boardroom Table. The other two teams had Hierarchical Leadership, where each team appointed only one leader who could access the Boardroom Table.
According to research, Shared Leadership has many benefits. Firstly, it boosts team effectiveness and performance. Compared to a more traditional or vertical leadership structure, Shared Leadership makes the team feel more confident, engaged, satisfied, and trustworthy.
Secondly, Shared Leadership encourages more team members to express their own leadership behaviors, increasing the overall variety of leadership types that the team experiences. Shared Leadership usuallyemerges when team members strive toward shared goals, give each other recognition and emotional support, or feel that their voices are heard.
After leadership, Mobility may not seem like a big deal. You may already utilize Mobility in your daily routine by say, leaving your desk to go to a conference room for a meeting. But when taken to the next level, Mobility means employees have real autonomy to choose where they work. This can empower them to structure their day better and in turn improve both their personal and team performances.
In theory, Mobility unlocks many powerful opportunities. It allows people to get to know and work with others from different departments and teams, it helps create informal connections among employees, and in turn, it facilitates strongcross-collaboration.
During their 30 minutes assembling the puzzle, we observed some interesting trends and behaviors among the participants:
After finishing the puzzle, we asked the participants to talk about how they thought the exercise went. This discussion proved to be rather enlightening, and their feedback revealed new areas to explore how Mobility can be used to achieve Shared Leadership.
By letting participants perform the same tasks through different leadership and mobility arrangements, they were able to empathize across teams and clearly share their experiences, assumptions, and thoughts on how they worked with each other.
Our experiment reminded us that no two teams or organizations are exactly alike, and that simply allowing for increased Mobility will not create Shared Leadership. Management must also encourage employees to take advantage of their mobility and give them the vantage points to appreciate their shared goals if they want their employees to truly collaborate and empower one another.
Tailoring these approaches to fit your particular office may take a little experimenting, but the result is worth the investment in a more human-centric workplace.