Role Advice Process
What do we mean when we say Role Advice Process?
When you choose to work without traditional management structures, there is no one person responsible for designing roles. Or more specifically, there is no one with “power above you” (ie manager, leader, CEO, etc.) defining, modifying, and/or allocating new roles and responsibilities on behalf of the team.
The key is to shift responsibility for designing an optimal role from a manager to a team member. And this is why this activity (Role Design) is led and done by the very same person who senses the need to do something different for themselves and the organization.
The Role Advice Process is a way of crowdsourcing the design of a role. Through the process, you define the set of tasks/responsibilities best aligned with your strengths and talents, the things you enjoy doing, and also the needs of the business. And then a broader set of opinions helps the person align those elements and needs (strengths, enjoy doing, business needs) in a more suitable and purposeful role for the person.
Does this mean you get to drop everything from your plate that you don’t enjoy? It does not. At least not until someone else pulls those tasks into their role (or hire someone else to do those tasks)
The Process
1. Self Reflection:
The person who wants to kick off a role advice process will prepare a Self Reflection and then a Proposal.
a) Self Reflection:
- Why am I doing this advice process? What led to this?
- What are my strengths, talents, and interests? Where are they best put to use?
- What contribution am I currently making to the team? What’s working well? What could be better?
- Could I increase my impact by shifting or changing my role? In what ways, specifically? What could be gained? What could be lost? Who would assume the current tasks I’d like to hand off?
- How do I feel about this potential change? What am I worried about? Excited about? What are the pros and cons?
b) Proposal:
Based on the above self-reflection, the person will build a proposal that includes:
- New responsibilities: what I will offer to the team/Vizzuality?, What do I need from the team?
- Transition Plan: Who will be doing the tasks I won't be doing?, Which are the timelines?.
You can use the “Role Design” template to design your new role.
2. Announcement & Kick Off:
The person will communicate openly to the wider team that he/she will be starting a role advice procss. We will do this via Slack and this will be the formal kick-off.
Insights from step 1 (self-reflection) will be used in this communication (ie Why am I doing this? Who will provide advice? Decision Making? Timelines and date to present the results? etc.).
(*) Optional and depending on the role. It's also suggested to include an open invitation for any other team members to contribute advice if they wish to do so.
3. Seek Advice from others
Advice will come from those who receive a personal request as well as anyone who self-selects into the process following the initial announcement. The key point here is to offer the space to provide contributions to any team member who believes they may have valuable input or may be impacted.
4. Decision Making
This is the moment when a decision is made. Taking all information into consideration and after having engaged / consulted all relevant and impacted people, the person leading the process will decide what he/she thinks should happen next.
This could include changing his current role completely, modifying some parts of it, etc.
5. Present Results & Transparency
The person will share the results of the process with the team by creating a summary document. The communication should include their personal reflections, advice received, thought process, decision, the reasoning for the decision, and transition plan.
6. Take Action
The final step is to start executing the transition plan. No further approval is required. The person leading the role advice process will be fully responsible for ensuring a smooth transition.
Need some inspiration? Check how some of our peers have navigated and implemented a role advice process:
Level up! (well yes, but actually no)
If you have any questions, please reach out to People & Culture