A635.7.3.RB - INSEAD Reflection

My reflection blog this week is to review the INSEAD video on Self-Managed Work Teams and reflect on some of the benefits and drawbacks of self-managed teams. I have been blessed to work in many types of industries from insurance, estate planning, writing computer software videos, military and my current career within aerospace. Not one of the industries were the same, but if you were good at your craft you  were automatically in that zone of being self-managed. There are benefits and drawbacks of self-managed teams and although I prefer to be on a self-managed team there are a few characteristics you must have to be a good leader. (Teskyj & Smith, 2008)

Benefits of Self-Managed Team

According to Brown, self-managed teams must have “members who are skilled and knowledgeable in their areas” (p 350) I think this is one of the most critical characteristic in being a part of a self-managed team. My current team where I am the only master scheduler there is a level of automatic trust that I can build and maintain a quality product based on my historical performance. Being that I worked for my current manager for over five years in another role, he knew my abilities and how they would contribute to the team. I also agree with our text reading that jobs design require “skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and job feedback” in order to be effective.  Although my team is comprised of a variety of individuals who have served in the military, their individual skill sets molded together is what actually makes us successful. Each person has a heightened amount of self-awareness and accountability. My team has the standard vertical leadership type of structure but we do a large amount of cross-functional integration with other teams meaning we need to have highly skilled and self-motivated employees.  (Brown, 2011)

Although our team is comprised of highly skilled employees that work well together we still have “responsibilities, goals, operational parameters, and deadlines’ and sometimes it would look like our manager is too much into our business but we have to have something to aim for in order to know we doing a good job. I recently had my mid-year with my manager and I shared a conversation with him that other team members didn’t know my military back ground and I assumed leadership would have told them prior to me starting the job. My manager stated that he did not want to taint others views of me and wanted me to gel with the group on my own efforts. He knew I am a high performer and would integrate great with the team. I thought his approach was unique because most often we tell our team about the new hire so they know the skill level of those joining the team. My leader knew I would be self-managed and jump right to help, and my feedback is that during everyone’s mid-year reviews commented on how helpful I was. To me this is clarity that you can be self-managed and have autonomy with little to no direction by your leadership team, as long as you have the skill sets to do the job. (Guest, 2017)

Drawbacks of Self-Managed Teams

If a team is completely self-managed there could be issues if you have new employees who cannot adapt to the specific structure because they don’t have enough skill sets or cannot manage themselves effectively. I have witnessed being a lead and having brand new team members directly out of college and although they have an education but they have little to no technical experience within our industry. I had to very cautious about reports they developed to make sure they were of sound quality and there was enough work to keep them busy. Because we has been a culture who is trying to embrace telecommuting as a norm verses a financial offset you definitely have to have employees who can be self-managed and self-accountable. I think self-managed teams may struggle for the equal treatment and insubordination. I know from in the past and as a high performer, I had a problem with a new leader who joined our team. I knew my job and was confused how this leader could come in all knowing and change everything. This was also before I took a lot of leadership courses and books I have read. I have become more open when ideas are shared and not so resistant.  I also think that self-managed teams have to be cognizant of their goals and objectives with confidence to ask leadership for direction if they are not producing. (Guest, 2017)

Competencies for External Manager

In the article “How to Lead a Self-Managing Team” in the MIT Sloan it stated that “81% of manufacturing organization deploy empowered, self-directed and autonomous teams” One could ask the question of why do we need leaders when we have teams that self-manage.  Regardless of how the team performs, leaders are accountable for the overall results of the team. I think the most critical competencies for external leaders is trust. I also think external leaders must be able to ask for information from other managers, their peers and highly skilled technical specialist. There needs to be a form of feedback communication between the leader and the team they are leading. In the manufacturing culture, my experiences are you have to have two major competencies such as effective listening and conflict resolution. Most often our team does not someone to tell us how to do the job but we need a leader to help guide us when there is conflict or risk. I look at our external manager as a cheerleader who is there to keep us motivated and help when we need something. (Wheeler & Druskat, 2004)

Conclusion

            In my twenty years in the Air Force and little over a decade in the manufacturing culture, I have pretty much been a part of a high performing team that is self-managed.  Being that I enjoy being left alone to work, I do find myself challenged with always being bother to make sure someone has enough work to do. However, with that being said it is my job to make sure work is balanced and aligned to the correct employee. With implementing the Culture of Accountability our work scope is aligned to our annual objectives of first time quality first, on-time schedule, and meeting our overall financial objectives. With that in mind we focus on shattering silo’s which is one initiative that is helping us integrate our functions and applying more accountability to our self-managed teams. It is definitely a challenge some days to ensure everything is balanced and I truly think feedback is something we use well in the company to ensure we are in alignment and everyone is happy.  I enjoy working within a self-managed culture because I am a self-starter who enjoys challenging work. It is a challenge to lead someone like me but I understand their drive and need to be successful.

References:

Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organizational Development. (Eighth, Ed.) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Guest, D. (2017). The Advantages of Self-Managed Teams In Your Business. Retrieved September 22, 2017, from David Guest: http://davidguest.com.au/buildingbusinesses/team/the-advantages-of-self-managed-teams-in-your-business/

Teskyj, P., & Smith, R. (2008, September 22). Self-managing teams: debunking the leadership paradox. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=41&v=GBnR00qgGgM

Wheeler, J. V., & Druskat, V. (2004, July 15). How to Lead a Self-Managing Team. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from MIT Sloan Management Review: http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-to-lead-a-selfmanaging-team/