A635.7.3.RB - INSEAD Reflection

A635.7.3.RB - INSEAD Reflection

A self-managed team is a group of employees that's responsible and accountable for all or most aspects of producing a product or delivering a service. Traditional organizational structures assign tasks to employees depending on their specialist skills or the functional department within which they work. A self-managed team carries out supporting tasks, such as planning and scheduling the workflow and managing annual leave and absence, in addition to technical tasks. Management and technical responsibilities are typically rotated among the team members.

I am current work in a self-managed team. Within my team there are different levels of experience working with our programs and processes, there are different levels of educational experience, and generations. We have a leader (manager), but he likes to say that he works for us as our HR department.

Even with our diverse group and being a self-managed team we function well together. We use goals and feedback to self-govern and motivate each other. But the one thing I did learn from the experience is this. You cannot have successful self-managed teams without self-managed people. Self-managed work teams can bring a tremendous value to organizations when they are implemented correctly. A big part of that means setting employees who will work in a self-managing environment up for success.

Although self-managed teams are self-directed in terms of how they manage and carry out their work, they still require guidance from leaders within the organizational chain of command. External leaders provide the link between the wider organization and the self-managed team, empowering the team. And advocating on its behalf. External leaders may struggle to find the appropriate balance in their leadership style: Their own managers may expect them to be more hands-on, while the team may resist perceived interference.

Self-managed teams offer cost savings and increased productivity, if implemented effectively. However, self-managed teams aren't the right fit for every company. The best-performing self-managed teams are found in companies where the organizational culture clearly supports decision-making by employees.

Self-managed teams have greater ownership of the tasks they perform and the end product or service they deliver. Self-managed teams tend to be loss costly and more productive than employees working within a traditional hierarchical structure because the team performs both technical and management tasks. Team members may also fill in for each other to cover holidays and absences. Decisions made by self-managed teams are more effective because they're made by the people who know most about the job.

Although a cohesive self-managed team may create a sense of trust and respect between team members, overly cohesive teams can lead to "group think": Team members are more likely to conform to team norms than raise issues that may upset other team members. This may lead to reduced effort or stifled innovation. Teams may struggle to make the transition from supervisor-led management to self-management, either due to lack of interpersonal skills or poor implementation of the self-managed team concept within the organization.

Here are some competencies that would be needed to develop an effective external manager of a self-managed work team:

Integrity/Honesty: Behaves in an honest, fair, and ethical manner. Shows consistency in words and actions. Models high standards of ethics.

Interpersonal Skills: Treats others with courtesy, sensitivity, and respect. Considers and responds appropriately to the needs and feelings of different people in different situations.

Resilience: Deals effectively with pressure; remains optimistic and persistent, even under adversity. Recovers quickly from setbacks.

Flexibility: Is open to change and new information; rapidly adapts to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles.

Problem Solving: Identifies and analyzes problems; weighs relevance and accuracy of information; generates and evaluates alternative solutions; makes recommendations.

Team Building: Inspires and fosters team commitment, spirit, pride, and trust. Facilitates cooperation and motivates team members to accomplish group goals.

Accountability: Holds self and others accountable for measurable high-quality, timely, and cost effective results. Determines objectives, sets priorities, and delegates work. Accepts responsibility for mistakes. Complies with established control systems and rules.

Decisiveness: Makes well-informed, effective, and timely decisions, even when data are limited or solutions produce unpleasant consequences; perceives the impact and implications of decisions.

Influencing / Negotiating: Persuades others; builds consensus through give and take; gains cooperation from others to obtain information and accomplish goals.

References

Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to organization Development. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

Huy, Q., & Tesluk, P. (2008, September 22). Self-managing teams: debunking the leadership paradox. Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBnR00qgGgM