How to build a team that runs itself

A twenty-something man once went to a French restaurant in New York—the kind of place with tuxedoed servers. He told the waiter he had never eaten anywhere so fancy and had a hundred dollars to spend, then asked him to bring the best meal he could within that budget. What arrived was a feast worth at least $150, and he was treated like a king.

The experience stuck with him. That young man—who would later become a well-known executive coach, profiled in The New Yorker—came to believe in the value of trusting expertise and putting decisions in other people’s hands.

It’s a useful lesson for leaders: when you truly delegate, people often exceed your expectations.

As CEO of Jotform for two decades, I’ve seen the same dynamic play out inside our company. Successful teams don’t need more management; they operate better with less intervention. That said, leaders can help build communication patterns that reduce dependency and increase clarity. When information flows predictably and transparently, teams move faster with less friction—without constant supervision.

Here are the communication patterns that make that kind of autonomy possible.

Ownership, not oversight

As my company grew from a one-person startup to tens, then hundreds of employees, I realized that delegation was the only way to keep scaling. I had to focus my efforts on things that would make the biggest impact for our company. For the rest, I had to ensure there were people whom I could trust to execute as well or better than I could. Delegation enabled my company to become what it is today—35 million users and 800 employees.

That said, Airbnb founder Brian Chesky’s concept of “founder mode” also resonates with me. It’s a style of leadership that entails a founder taking a direct, hands-on approach across the board, rather than relying on a strictly top-down hierarchy.

Delegation is an art, and striking a balance that works for your organization is key. At Jotform, I can’t have a hand in everything. So I focus on future products and how they can improve our users’ lives. We empower our teams to operate fairly independently. But I meet with each of them—the AI team, the growth team, the marketing team, and more—once a week. In just 15 or 20 minutes, they present what they’re working on, and I offer feedback. I don’t micromanage. Teams move forward. This system creates a cycle of continuous deployment and improvement. It gives teams momentum.

My advice to leaders is to delegate with ownership. That means clearly defining who owns each task or decision so accountability is built into the workflow. But don’t lose touch entirely. While empowering teams to manage themselves, build regular check-ins into your workflows so you can track progress and offer input along the way.

Transparency keeps teams moving

If the goal is to build teams that are self-sufficient and engaged, leaders are tasked with designing systems and culture to set them up for success. An essential part of that system is transparent communication. Silos and side discussions can create confusion and send projects off track. Instead, teams can leverage tools and platforms that centralize conversations in shared channels and keep team members on the same page. 

Tools like Notion, for example, allow teams to share project docs, meeting notes, and resources in one location. Everyone sees the same information. There’s no need to hunt through your emails or DM your colleague to send that file again (“sorry!”). Teams can assign roles, tasks, and deadlines, and track progress in real time. Everyone knows who’s doing what. Neither bottlenecks nor silos have the opportunity to form. 

When communication is transparent and responsibilities are clear, teams become truly self-sufficient. They can move forward and make decisions independently, without constant oversight.

Sharing fuels momentum

Finally, encouraging teams to share with each other—achievements, learnings, and resources—helps everyone move and learn faster. It also fuels motivation within each team.

At Jotform, we hold weekly Demo Days where all of our 20+ teams present what they’re working on lately. They share successes, setbacks, and teachable moments. They solicit ideas and feedback from their colleagues. Sometimes, it turns into a company-wide brainstorm. Sometimes, it’s a roaring applause for a job well done. 

So many benefits flow from this organizational ritual. The weekly deadline generates motivation. Teams want to complete their projects to a point where they can share them with the entire company. It also creates a culture where teams learn from each other and feel comfortable, not sheepish, promoting their most recent projects. Feedback becomes commonplace, built into weekly workflows, rather than relegated to dreaded annual reviews. Ultimately, rituals like these aren’t just about sharing or recognition—they’re about building trust.

Whether you’re asking someone to order your meal or to carry out a pivotal business task, trust is essential, but it doesn’t have to be blind. Leaders can create the systems and patterns to help teams collaborate effectively and do their best work, without constant oversight.

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