What Is a Self-Managed Work Team?
The self-managed work team, also commonly referred to as the self-managed natural work team, is defined as a work team in which employees work with little or no supervision from managers. Self-managed team members plan and manage their own day-to-day work activities as well as conducting other supportive functions generally provided by managers and supervisors. For example, team members may conduct performance evaluations rather than being evaluated by a manager or supervisor.
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Work Group vs. Work Team
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One identifying quality of the self-managed work group is that it consists of a team of employees, as opposed to a work group. Mark M. Chatfield, P.E., vice president for Engineering Leadership at the Interaction Research Institute Inc., defines a work group as a group of employees who work together. The element that distinguishes a work group from a team is the existence of a common goal. While members of a work group, for example a group of employees working in attached cubicles within a department, may work in close proximity to one another, team members work toward a common goal.
Identification
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The self-managed work team is commonly confused with the self-directed work team. In both instances, team members determine how best to accomplish work tasks with little or no direction from supervisors or managers. However, the self-managed work team must work toward a common goal that is defined from outside of the team, while the self-directed work team sets its own goals. The self-managed work team is typically self-directed in all but the setting of its overall goals.
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Benefits
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The self-managed work team can provide many benefits to the organization. Higher levels of creativity and innovation, motivation and quality decisions are all possible benefits. The self-managed work team is also typically capable of working quickly to respond to changes from outside the team. For example, workers on a self-managed work team can potentially respond more rabidly and effectively to industry changes than a simple work group.
Considerations
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While properly conducted work teams may provide a plethora of benefits to the organization, a failed self-managed work team can cause a great deal of damage. For example, self-managed work teams that are plagued by poor leadership or dishonest team members may lead to low levels of productivity. Meetings may be unproductive, costing the organization a great deal of time and money. Additionally, team building can be very time consuming and expensive to the organization.
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References
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