In light of the video and the readings from
your textbook;
o What do
you see as some of the major benefits and drawbacks of self-managed teams?
o Would
you like to work within such a team?
o What
competencies would you need to develop to be an effective external manager of a
self-managed work team?
Self-managed work teams are becoming a growing trend in
companies around the world, as they offer a variety of different benefits to
both the performance and success of the company, as well as the ability to
solve new problems quickly in order for the companies to grow. The question becomes, as posed in the INSEAD
video, how do you manage a self-managing team and what types of benefits will
occur from these types of team? The role
of the external manager within the self-managing team can be crucial to the
success of the team, as they are there to help encourage and inspire the
members. I thought Paul Tesluk summed
this idea up well by discussing how the external manager needs to be flexible on
the means, but specific on the end results (INSEAD (2008, 1:50). In other words, the self-managing team can
make decisions and take formal responsibility for the process of reaching the
goal, but the goal should clear and specific for the team. Having a clear sense of vision for the team
and the organization is a valuable characteristic of self-managing work teams
(Brown, 2011).
Self-managing
work teams have the potential to offer excellent benefits to an
organization. When the organization is
set to support self-managing work teams, these types of teams can offer a more
effective approach to managing than traditional management within an
organization (Brown, 2011). Generally
self-managed work teams are comprised of 5-15 members who all offer superior skills
set and knowledge base that brings a rich diversity to the team. I always think about IDEO when discussing
effective work teams. IDEO, as I have
mentioned in previous posts, in an organization that thrives off self-managing
work teams. These teams are a perfect
example at how bringing together diverse, but knowledge backgrounds can really
offer an abundance of new ideas, processes, and execution abilities to the
team. Having these diverse backgrounds
encourages each member to participate and offer their own bits of knowledge,
while taking in and learning new ideas from the other members. This also helps to encourage trust and
respect between the members, while improving the quality of work because of the
diverse perspectives being offered. These results can be very beneficial and
successful for an organization; however, there are always risks and drawbacks
to self-managing teams, especially if the organization does not have a
favorable environment for these types of work teams. If an organization does
not have the proper foundation that would encourage success amongst
self-managing work teams, then the odds of success can be substantially lower.
It’s important that each member is clear on what their roles are within the
team and that they know what their responsibilities are. If members are confused about their roles and
the end goal for the team, then the odds of disagreements and unproductive
behavior will most likely increase. It
is important that self-managing work teams are managed very little, as the
members of the team will most likely become less productive if a external
manager interferes too much.
I think
self-managing work teams are the essence of a lot of the industries that I have
been exposed to. In creative fields,
I’ve always believed that more than anything, having diverse team members with
a high level of knowledge and a strong skill set for their background will
offer up some tremendous results. I’ve
never been a huge fan of traditional “teams” or “groups”, as I find them to be
very dull and lack innovation. Every
traditional group I have been apart of always seems to follow the same rigid
structure that always leaves me wanting to add more or explore more ideas and
develop more conclusions. With
self-managing work teams, I feel like you have a lot more opportunity to
explore and develop new ideas. They
follow a similar idea in that both traditional work teams and self-managing
work teams are all working toward reaching a goal; however, with traditional
teams, the area I have always struggled in was the lack of innovation due to
the constant suggestions and direction given by the leader of the group. I’ve always felt like I’m the type of person
that has so many ideas, but struggles to get them out in a way that makes sense
to other people, so when I am in a traditional group, I feel like my abilities,
strengths, and opportunities are often suppressed because I do not have the
means to express my thoughts. A
self-managing work team on the other hand, offers a lot more opportunity to
explore, share, and develop both as a person and as a team.
Overall,
self-managing work teams, in my opinion, seem like a really beneficial and
encouraging approach to the way we work today.
I do think that they need to be carefully implemented, as Brown
discussed in this weeks module, but I also think it is important that the
external leader understand their role as well.
In several experiences I have had in work groups, the external leader in
that situation fails to offer any inspiration or vision for the ‘why’ we are
working toward a goal. When I was in
college, I had a professor who really influenced my work and my development
both personally and professionally. She
was so encouraging and led her students in a way that was very similar to how
an external leader should lead a self-managing team. I remember she used to show us a slideshow on
the very first day of class that really summarized what her role was going to
be. It was just a slideshow with a few
pictures and a couple of quotes, but she would always speak to the photos. Her saying used to always be “I’ll be the
monkey on your back and the wind beneath your wings”, which I think was very
true of the way she taught and led her students. The parallels I see between her teaching style
and the way an external leader should lead focus mainly around the ability to
inspire and encourage each member (or student) to develop a strong vision. This idea is very motivating for my work. My professor had the ability to inspire, but
with that inspiration and vision she helped us create also came a sense of
responsibility to putting forth your best work.
She inspired you in a way that made you feel like you were not only
working for the goal, but that you were also working to not let yourself down
by not giving it your all. While I can’t speak for everyone’s motivation, for
me, this was definitely a reason that I continued to work through problems,
seeking out new solutions, because I felt like she really believe in each and
everyone of her students and there was no way you were going to let her down by
not giving it your all. To me, an
external leader should lead the same way; inspire and encourage a strong vision
for the members, but don’t interfere with their process for reaching that goal,
unless absolutely necessary. If the
leader can do this well, then the team should function at its peak ability and
level because they are encouraged by their own desire to be better.
References
Brown, D. (2011). An experiential
approach to organization development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall.
INSEAD. (2008, September 22). Self-managing teams: debunking the leadership paradox [Video file].
Retrieved from https://youtu.be/GBnR00qgGgM
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