Giving your team autonomy and empowering them to make more decisions is a must in the workplace now. Many businesses are shifting their organizational structure to create a more agile workplace. One method is implementing self-managed teams.
Building self-managing teams can boost performance and unlock creativity, freeing people from the pressure and constraints of traditional management hierarchy. However, it also involves risks and can be a pretty frustrating experience if misapplied.
So let’s discuss the nature of self-managed teams in more detail. In this article, we will outline what self managed teams are, benefits and challenges of implementing self managed teams, and lastly, how to implement them in your organization effectively.
What are self-managed teams?
A self managed team, also known as a self organized team, is a group of employees who collaborate and are responsible for their tasks without the supervision of a manager. These employees don’t follow the traditional work model meaning there is no hierarchy within their organization. Self managed teams have decision-making power which cuts down on delays and shortens the workflow length to get projects done more efficiently. Each member takes ownership of their roles, responsibilities, and schedules.
Common characteristics of a self managed team
How do self managed teams differ from traditional team structures? Let’s take a look at the most common characteristics of self managed teams.
- Autonomy: In a traditional hierarchical work model, not every employee has the same amount of decision making power. This typically means longer workflows as employees wait for higher management members to make a decision. With self managed teams, every member has the autonomy to manage their own tasks and processes. Giving them more decision-making power and speeding up the process.
- Shared responsibility: Each member of the team takes ownership and responsibility for ideation, planning, creation, decision-making, and outcomes of their projects.
- Collaboration: Self managed teams distribute power in a horizontal manner which means everyone is an equal contributor and every person’s voice matters.
- Clear goals: Goals are clearly defined and understood by everyone, so no back-and-forth with stakeholders and doers.
- Defined roles: Everyone agrees on the division of tasks as well as who is responsible for what. It makes ownership and accountability more transparent.
- Cross functional skills: Team members learn various aspects of a project, gaining diverse skills that enable them to perform a wide range of tasks without relying on external support.
- Accountability: Each person is fully responsible for their tasks, fostering a strong sense of ownership and building a close-knit, reliable team.
- Flexibility: Roles and responsibilities will be changed depending on your business needs. This enables groups to be agile and flexible in terms of their skills, job titles, and experience.
What makes a self-managed team unique?
Team members are collectively responsible for their projects rather than a single leader taking individual responsibility for the outcome of their team’s tasks. This structure encourages open communication and provides unique benefits in comparison to traditional hierarchical teams.
Key benefits to self managed teams
Changing from a traditional team structure to self directed teams can be a difficult transition. This requires your team members to be open-minded as well as your company to be motivated to expand employees’ experiences. By shifting the team dynamics and implementing self-managed teams, your company can enhance their team performance. Additional key benefits are :
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Higher productivity
Research suggests that a higher sense of motivation increases productivity levels in the workplace for your entire team. In turn this leads to greater employee engagement which cultivates a positive work environment.
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Autonomy
Employees gain strong self management skills, conflict resolution skills, and can confidently and actively be part of the decision making process.
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More Agile Workplace
Team members can work independently and adapt quickly without direct supervision. This is the key difference between a traditional workplace and a self managed team. There’s no conventional manager so everyone in the team is equally a team leader.
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Increased efficiency and productivity
The organizational culture fosters a sense of shared responsibility which encourages cross functional skills and training. As more team members gain new skills, this ensures each member has the necessary skills required to effectively complete their projects.
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Higher employee engagement and satisfaction
A traditional hierarchy in the workplace stifles innovation and demands a lot of effort from a single manager. Thus harming the work culture environment. Higher employee satisfaction leads to better performance and overall positive feedback about the organizational structure.
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Faster decision-making and innovation
The shared accountability makes it easier to define KPIs and outcome goals which takes out the back and forth when it comes to including stakeholders in the process. Team members can offer their perspectives, ideas, and feedback throughout the process. It’s easier to turn ideation into a reality without being bogged down in approval requests from team leaders like in traditional teams.
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Reduced management overhead
Self-managed teams help individuals learn and develop the skills needed for traditional management positions. Due to the collaborative nature of these teams, it is common that the project lead can change depending on the project. In a rotation like fashion, this allows each member to gain leadership skills, adapt easily, and act as a project manager.
Challenges when it comes to self managed teams
Implementing self managed teams comes with its own set of challenges. It’s important to assess whether this approach is a good fit for your workplace before making the transition. Potential drawbacks include:
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Lack of leadership
Teams may not receive proper training on leadership causing friction in the team rather than harmony. If this is the case then your company will not see increased productivity and providing leadership training may be needed before implementing self managed teams can happen.
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Accountability issues
Team roles encompass many responsibilities therefore it can be hard for self managed teams to own their work. This may lead to team members not taking accountability for a mistake or uncompleted tasks as they may not feel responsible and take full ownership.
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Need a sense of strong team skills
Effective self management relies heavily on strong team dynamics. It can be tricky to achieve team goals if your team lacks collaboration, communication, or conflict-resolution skills. Ensure to provide training on how to work cross-departmentally, aligning opposing priorities, and how to gain strong leadership skills.
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Potential for conflict
Self managed teams leave room for miscommunication which can cause conflicts within the organization. Different team goals, unclear outcomes, or uneven power distribution can cause misalignment. Conflicts typically arise when teams don’t clearly define roles and outcomes.
Implement Self-Managed Teams
It’s crucial to assess your current workforce and understand if participating in a self-managed team is appealing to them. This will determine the success of your organizational structure as they will not only need to possess certain skills, but also motivation to work in a non-traditional way.
Before establishing self managing teams at your workplace, take into consideration these 5 steps.
1. Establish clear goals and expectations. There needs to be a tangible objective that is clearly outlined and defined. This gives your team a direction on how to structure themselves and create a plan of action. Moreover, make sure you defined the scope of success and what that means for this project and their team.
2. Foster a culture of trust and accountability. Self managed teams rely on themselves for solutions and problem-solving decisions. Ensure you are building a team where members don’t fear sharing their ideas with everyone else and members can offer positive feedback and constructive criticism.
3. Provide the right tools and technology. Ensure you’re setting your team up for success by giving them proper resources complete their own work. Oftentimes these are platforms that digitalize and automate time-consuming tasks.
4. Offer continuous training and support. You can’t expect your workforce to transition into self-managing teams flawlessly. Provide them with the opportunity to build these skills, communication, and team dynamic before giving them their first project. Additionally, think about providing new team members with mentors to guide them through projects while still giving them autonomy over their roles.
5. Measure success and optimize processes. Monitor your self-managed teams regularly and improve workflows when problems or disruptions arise. As you are tracking their progress, provide them with feedback and alternative solutions if needed.
Related: While monitoring your self-managing teams and you’ve realized your employee’s performance dropped. Create a PIP to get them back on tack. Watch this short video about performance improvement plans.
Tools for Managing Self-Managed Teams
In order to assess if your self-managing teams are working in your company, it’s essential to track progress. Utilizing the proper tools for communication and collaboration can help your team succeed. Digital platforms to help carry out projects like shared calendars or pending tasks empower your team to organize their workflows, track progress, and maintain visibility into project timelines. However, accurate data and reporting are also crucial to measure advancement, making business management software like Factorial a valuable asset. A solution like Factorial helps ensure productivity and team harmony while preserving the autonomy that makes self-managed teams thrive.
Factorial provides valuable insights into your team’s productivity, enabling you to make data-driven decisions with features such as:
- Generating reports on expenses, project timelines, turnover rates, and employee performance
- Tracking training progress to ensure your team is upskilling or reinforcing key skills
- Assigning tasks and monitoring projects to meet deadlines
- Creating a centralized location for information such as contracts, resources, and expenses
- Conducting performance reviews to gain insights into your team members
