The
idea of self-managing teams is not a new one, I am fairly certain I have been
involved in them since middle school. In
the education setting the idea of a teacher assigning a task or problem to a
team of learners is not unusual, in fact, it was common. When this type of learning occurred it was up
to the students to assign roles, meet deadlines, and complete the task
accordingly and often with little help from the teacher. The teacher would only become involved when a
group had a question they were unable to answer or there was an obvious disagreement
happening. So if this type of team was
appropriate for middle school tweens, then why is it so controversial with
adults? My answer is that teachers are
there to allow students to learn, and often in their own ways, but leaders
sometimes feel they always need to be in absolute control.
Brown
(2011) defined self-managing groups as “an autonomous group whose members
decide to handle their task” (p. 349).
So in other words, an external leader give the team a task or problem to
solve and the team gets to decide how to solve it. There is usually an internal leader from the
team who may be responsible for communicating with the external leader as well
as keeping the team on task. As long as
deadlines are met and the task or problem is solved the team is on their own in
regards to logistics.
While
this concept seems easier enough, it gets a complicated reputation, and not
from them team members themselves usually but from the external leaders and
upper management. Many leaders do not
understand how a team can lead itself and if they are successful them where
does that leave them. In the video
(2013) they mention that in “some ways it's a bit of a paradox how do you lead teams to lead
themselves”, but that answer to that is you teach them how. The role of a leader is often thought of as
the person that holds the control, but in reality, a good leader should be
empowering employees. A good leader is a
teacher, someone who instills their knowledge onto others for the future
success of the company. Once the leader
has taught their team how to make decisions and think for themselves it is time
to stand back and watch them in action, just as a teacher would.
Letting
go of control is often a leaders toughest job, especially when they have been
taught themselves that they need to always be in control at all times. When employees are empowered and given the
opportunity to make decisions within a company they begin to feel more a part
of it. This feeling will translate into
a better work ethic and more personal investment in the company. As Brown
(2011) stated, “these teams are generally more effective than traditionally
managed work teams” (p. 353). They also
have increased competency and higher work performance.
All
aspects point to self-managed teams being the newest weapon in a leader’s arsenal. I have worked on many self-managed teams, one
for almost every class I have taken in my leadership degree, and I enjoy the experience. It has taught me a lot about expectations,
deadlines, and working with a diverse population often across time zones. I also believe they play an important role in
the workplace and have used them in the past.
In one instance the team not only solved the issue but also did it in a
way I would have never thought of, so I ended up learning something from them. It’s time to let go of the old way of
thinking about leaders, as dictators, and see them more as empowering teachers.
Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experimental
Approach to Organization Development (8th
ed.). Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Professional Development Training. (2013). Self Managing
Teams - Debunking the
Leadership Paradox. Retrieved
September 22, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nRP3AwwSCk
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