When thinking about self-managed teams and leadership, on
the surface those two things do not sound like an obvious pairing… How do you
lead a self-managed team? Self plus managed equals that it manages itself. No
brainer, right? Not so fast. Leadership does not go out of style, it is
applicable to basically all things, or at least that is my take on it. The way
you think about leading, about leadership, just needs to take on a different
shape in your mind so that it can be applied it to various concepts. This is no
exception. Self-managed work teams are an “autonomous group whose members
decide how to handle their task” (Brown, 2011, p. 349). These types of teams
have responsibility and authority to make decisions on how to organize their
work without a formal supervision.
There is a brief video from INSEAD concerning self-managing
teams: debunking the leadership paradox. The concept of the self-managed work
team is discussed along with how it seems like a contradiction or paradox of
leading teams that manage is within the team, which I thought was such apropos
wording, clever and worth repeating. These types of teams need leadership but
not in the same way a directive style team would. It is kind of like apples and
oranges, they are both fruits, but you go about consuming them a bit
differently. As self-managed teams are becoming more prevalent; examining the
leadership processes made me realize there are major benefits and some drawbacks
of self-managed teams.
Something I see as a major benefit is that the composition
of a self-managed team aligns well with members who have a high level of
expertise and knowledge. To have such competent individuals would all you to
create a high-performance organization if lead correctly. The potential is
endless. I feel strongly about self-managed teams and empowering the
individuals that are closest to the ‘customer’ of the organization, whether
that is a patient, student etc. It can be a powerful tool to creating an
experience that does not give way to runaround, a type of efficiency that our
technology craving, lightening quick society thirsts for and delivers a process
that can be immediate and responsive.
The downside to self-managed teams seems to be really just
nit-picky stuff when weighed in comparison to the benefits and potential. It
would not be prudent to micromanage such a team, although not something I would
necessarily recommend anyway. Due to the expertise and skill of the members it
would actually be rather counterproductive; it would interrupt the processes
and workflow put in place by the team essentially negating the concept of a
self-managed team. In the video it was likened to being on an “authority
balance beam”. Another drawback is that
while the processes were being worked out mistakes or upsets can happen and
these need to unfold and play out so that they team can learn from it and
adjust their processes until they find what is right and effective. Lastly,
avoiding growing an environment where the members are engaged in groupthink
would also be important to watch out for because as well-mannered and
intentioned being agreeable together may be, it does not move you forward. You
cannot get stuck standing still, you have to keep growing and healthy conflict
can be a part of that. Teams need to be cohesive and also find ways to
challenge each other.
In a lot of ways I identify with self-managed work teams for
the team I am part of at my organization. Though our organizational structure
is not flat, we reap the benefits of autonomy in our work. Something that I
found shocking when I came on board is that when I interviewed I never spoke to
anyone from Human Resources, other than filling out paperwork once I accepted
the position. The team interviews and chooses who we want to work with and it
is like a dream because we know what types of personalities will blend and what
will clash. Something else I enjoy is that if we see the need to change our
communications or try something new we can try it and if it works well we
implement the process and if it doesn’t we think of how it can be improved. I
am not sure we would do as well with what we are tasked with otherwise.
Having been immersed in a self-managed work team, I recognize
that if I were to be an effective external manager some of the competencies
that I need to develop. I enjoy helping others; I am very hands on and
instructive. I feel that through my knowledge sharing that I have a bit of
being a teacher in my blood. I also have a great deal of hand holding inside of
me because I want to go above and beyond making every detail as easy as
possible. I have to remember I am not a concierge and part of learning is not
doing the fishing for someone else, so to speak, but teaching them to fish and
feed themselves. Allowing myself to pull back and not suit up to take the field
and jump in the game would be a huge challenge for me, especially since it is
basically much of what I know at this point in time. Leaders of self-managed
work teams should possess the ability to get the team formation in place to
become self-managed. Beyond that you are there to assist the team to work
toward their goal, remove obstacles, and provide training and coaching. It is
the type of leadership that does not solve all of the problems for their team
but steps aside and allows the team to use problem solving techniques knowing
that the biggest responsibility of leadership is to only intervene for odd
events, out of left field disruptions and emergencies.
References:
Brown, D. R. (2011). An
Experimental Approach to Organization Development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle
River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
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