Tannenbaum & Schmidt

Team development model

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The Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum shows the relationship between the level of authority exercised by a manager and the level of freedom that the manager delegates to their team.

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The manager should aim to develop the team so that they move up the scale to the point where they become �self-managing�.� At this point, one or more new leaders should have emerged � ready to undertake managerial responsibility and to begin developing their own teams.

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It should be remembered that the manager is ultimately accountable for the performance of the team � so such freedom needs to be conferred wisely, in accord with the level of responsibility demonstrated by the team.

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Delegating decision-making responsibility to a team does not absolve the manager of accountability. �If things go wrong, it is the manager that must accept the blame: the manager is responsible for assessing how much can be safely delegated.

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The 7 levels of delegated freedom are:

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1. The Manager decides and announces the decision.

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2. The manager decides and then 'sells' the decision to the group.

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3. The manager presents the decision with background ideas and invites questions.

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4. The manager suggests a provisional decision and invites discussion about it.

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5. The manager presents the situation or problem, gets suggestions, then decides.

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6. The manager explains the situation, defines the parameters and asks the team to decide.

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7. The manager allows the team to identify the problem, develop the options, and decide on the action, within the manager's received limits.

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