What Are Self-Managed Teams - Research Paper Example

Business 27 June Self-Managed Teams What are self-managed teams? Self-managed teams are teams that have been empowered to work with minimal supervision and also to make their own decisions, and are self reliant within pre-defined constraints (Cork 146). According to Pace, they are also known as self-directed teams (136). Although they are self reliant, they have a team leader though most of time, his or her roles are not very clear. The role and responsibility of the team leader is supporting the team and ensuring that the team has the necessary resources and information it needs, to effectively function. For example, in a company, there can be two or more functioning self-managed teams with each having a team leader (Cork 146). Members of the self-managed teams, like any other team should have characteristics that bring them together, these are such as; members should have a common goal, should have self esteem, and should also be open when it comes to communication. The members should also respect each other, be involved in conflict resolutions, and lastly, there should be a lot of tolerance and trust within the team (Belasen 149). 2. Types of self-Managed Teams There are two common types of self-managed teams. These are production or service teams and problem solving self- managed teams. Problem-solving self-managed teams. These are intended to identify problems and derive solutions that are initiated by employees and supported by management. These teams typically rely on mapping methods such as flow charts, to target processes for improvement (Belasen 150).They are able to achieve improvement using the following processes: a. Identifying the customers and their requirements. b. Defining the current process to meet the customer’s needs. c. They also determine the problem in the process, improve the problems they have identified and monitor, while planning for continuous improvement of the problem they have already identified (Belasen 150). Production or service self-managed teams. These teams are intended to function with minimum supervision, just like any other self-managed team. They are supposed to have maximum autonomy in goal setting, work scheduling, and conflict resolution in providing services to their customers or production (Belasen 150). 3. Characteristics of Self-Managed Teams A self-managed being one of the many types of teams, has some characteristics that it shares with other types, but there are those that are peculiar to it only. The following are the characteristics of a self-managed team: In self-managed teams, decision making and formal power are transferred to the team. This means that the team is designed in a way that leadership roles and responsibilities are shared (Belasen 150). There is no external supervision; that is, the objectives are adopted internally. In this case, work is designed to give the team ownership (Belasen 150). Being like any other type of team, there is a high level of interdependence. The members of a self-managed team must work together so achieve the common goal they have (Belasen 150). Norms and coercive control replace rules and formal bureaucratic control. Accountability in self-managed teams is collective. So, if one member fails, he or she fails the whole team (Belasen 150). Members of the self-managed team are multiskilled. This enables them to handle all requirements and cover for absent members, without interfering with the performance of the team (Belasen 150). 4. The Advantages (Pros) of Self-Managed Teams in Business Effective communication among the employees in the business. Self-managed teams usually foster communication, because the members of the team share common goals and objectives, and thus networking among the members is very easy, consequently boosting the performance of a business (Pride, Hughes, and Kapoor 297). High production in the business. This is because the members are multi-skilled, thus enabling them to handle all requirements and also cover an absent member. With this, the business is not affected and the result is increased production. Also, because the members of the team are involved in all activities of the business, the risks of the business failing is reduced because of the high accountability of each and every member (Pride, Hughes, and Kapoor 297). Boosts employees’ morale and reduces boredom. In a self-managed team there is no external supervision and the objectives are adopted internally and not from outside; that is, from the team members (Pride, Hughes, and Kapoor 297). Thus the members work towards the realization of the objectives they have set for themselves, and are hence motivated, unlike in cases where the objectives are set by external bodies. Also, because the team members are involved in ample activities, it reduces boredom and motivates the members of the team (Pride, Hughes, and Kapoor 297). Aids innovation in the business. As seen earlier, the self-managed teams’ work has been designed in a manner that allows the team members to own it. This ownership allows them to innovate anything that can increase production in the business (Pride, Hughes, and Kapoor 297). Easy conflict resolution in the business. This is aided by the fact that in the self-managed teams there is tolerance and respect among the members of the team (Pride, Hughes, and Kapoor 297). This allows high performance in the business. 5. Disadvantages (Cons) of Self-Managed Teams in Business Though the self-managed teams have proven to be very beneficial to businesses, they are not automatically successful in all cases. The following are the disadvantages of the self-managed teams in businesses: They are expensive to the businesses. Self- managed teams have been argued to be cheap, but in the real sense, they have additional costs, due to their high set-up costs such as training, and this may affect the money set for boosting a business (Mercer, Barker, and Bird 64). As seen earlier, members in self-managed teams have an interdependent kind of relationship; some members might prove to be uneasy and complicated and the performance of the business consequently becomes very low, because every member’s effort is needed to support the business (Mercer, Barker, and Bird 64). Leadership is unclean in the business. The self-managed teams make the team leaders powerless because every member is involved in decision making, and at times, this affects the performance of the business. The leadership roles are also not well defined (Mercer, Barker, and Bird 64). Conflicts may arise in the business. Conflicts may arise because the members are not in agreement on some issues and in turn, the business is affected (Mercer, Barker, and Bird 64). Additionally, being a type of team, the members can either be collaborative and easy to work with, or dysfunctional and counterproductive, and thus affecting business performance (Mercer, Barker, and Bird 64). There is lack of clear lines of accountability in the business. This is because everything is done as a team and thus affects the business performance (Mercer, Barker, and Bird 64). In conclusion, self-managed teams are self reliant within pre-defined constraints, because they are empowered to work with minimal supervision and make their own decisions. Despite this, self-managed teams have team leaders, whose roles are not clearly defined. Like other kinds of teams, members of self-managed teams should have a common goal, self esteem, are required to be open when it comes to communication, to respect each other, to be involved in conflict resolutions, and from the entire team, a lot of tolerance and trust are required. Self-managed teams can either be production or service oriented or problem solving oriented depending on the kinds of tasks they are formed to perform. Some characteristics of self-managed teams are similar to those of other types of teams, while others are peculiar to self-managed teams only. Self managed teams also have their advantages and disadvantages, as discussed in the paper. Works Cited Balasen, A.T. Leading the learning organization: Communication and Competitiveness. New York: SUNY Press, 2000. Print. Cork, B. Self-managed Teams. Location: Improve People, 2007. Print. Mercer, J., Barker, B., and Richard Bird. Human Resource Management in Education: Contexts, Themes and Impact. New York: Routledge, 2010. Print. Pace, R. W. 2002. Organizational Dynamism: Unleashing Power in the Work Force. Westport: Quorum Books.  Pride, William M., Hughes, R. J., and Jack R. Kapoor. Business. 11th ed. Mason: South Western-Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Read More