A635.7.3.RB_MaceRoyce
Self-managing teams are beneficial due to their ability to create, improve, and sustain their own operation. Their autonomy comes from the horizontal organizational structure that self-managing teams thrive in. Everything becomes about the team and its ability to operate with little to no external supervision. The power and strength of these teams come from their freedom to operate independently without external forces weighing them down.
The only con to a self-managing team that I can think of could come in the form of "groupthink". MacDonald (n.d.) cites that self-managing teams may become overly cohesive and avoid confrontation or raising issues. This behavior could stifle any process improvement or creativity and/or cause the team to become stagnant. A system must be placed in order to avoid this pitfall such as a team meeting an outside observer, or some other type of monitoring system.
I would definitely like to work in a self-managing team and feel as if I would thrive in it. An opportunity recently presented itself for me to be part of a Continuous Improvement Process (CPI) team within my organization. I think that I will take advantage of the opportunity and volunteer to take part as this team will be autonomous with the goal of improving something with little to no outside supervision.
One major point that I will make with this team prior to organizing will be in reference to its rank structure. Although the military has rank and members of this team will range in rank, I find it important to encourage all members to respect and encourage ideas at all levels. If we as a self-managing group allow ourselves to revert back to our rank structure it will likely inhibit the group's ability to generate new ideas or create new processes.
I think that in order to be an effective external manager, one must communicate organizational goals while maintaining the integrity of the self-managing team. Balance is the most important aspect of leading these self-managing teams as the external manager must satisfy the needs of their own management while simultaneously supporting and empowering the self-managing team's autonomy. While external managers and their own leadership chain may be tempted to be more hands-on with their self-managing teams, an effective external manager can avoid this temptation and avoid upsetting the team's dynamics or creating any perceived interference.
Brown (2011) reminds us that external managers should be very aware of how self-managing teams operate. They must understand the warning signs and problems that can arise in a self-managing team. Additionally, the external manager must work closely with the team, give and receive quality feedback, and reward great performance. Many times, self-managing teams fail due to a lack of understanding about how these teams operate and/or teams do not identify issues due to a "groupthink" mentality. Simply put, an effective external manager knows his or her "role" as it relates to self-managing teams and are highly educated on how they operate on all fronts.
References
Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.). Boston,
MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
MacDonald, L. (n.d.). What is a self-managed team? Retrieved
from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/selfmanaged-team-18236.html
The only con to a self-managing team that I can think of could come in the form of "groupthink". MacDonald (n.d.) cites that self-managing teams may become overly cohesive and avoid confrontation or raising issues. This behavior could stifle any process improvement or creativity and/or cause the team to become stagnant. A system must be placed in order to avoid this pitfall such as a team meeting an outside observer, or some other type of monitoring system.
I would definitely like to work in a self-managing team and feel as if I would thrive in it. An opportunity recently presented itself for me to be part of a Continuous Improvement Process (CPI) team within my organization. I think that I will take advantage of the opportunity and volunteer to take part as this team will be autonomous with the goal of improving something with little to no outside supervision.
One major point that I will make with this team prior to organizing will be in reference to its rank structure. Although the military has rank and members of this team will range in rank, I find it important to encourage all members to respect and encourage ideas at all levels. If we as a self-managing group allow ourselves to revert back to our rank structure it will likely inhibit the group's ability to generate new ideas or create new processes.
I think that in order to be an effective external manager, one must communicate organizational goals while maintaining the integrity of the self-managing team. Balance is the most important aspect of leading these self-managing teams as the external manager must satisfy the needs of their own management while simultaneously supporting and empowering the self-managing team's autonomy. While external managers and their own leadership chain may be tempted to be more hands-on with their self-managing teams, an effective external manager can avoid this temptation and avoid upsetting the team's dynamics or creating any perceived interference.
Brown (2011) reminds us that external managers should be very aware of how self-managing teams operate. They must understand the warning signs and problems that can arise in a self-managing team. Additionally, the external manager must work closely with the team, give and receive quality feedback, and reward great performance. Many times, self-managing teams fail due to a lack of understanding about how these teams operate and/or teams do not identify issues due to a "groupthink" mentality. Simply put, an effective external manager knows his or her "role" as it relates to self-managing teams and are highly educated on how they operate on all fronts.
References
Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.). Boston,
MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
MacDonald, L. (n.d.). What is a self-managed team? Retrieved
from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/selfmanaged-team-18236.html
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