The Transition to Self Managing TeamsThe transition to self managing teams can be a subtle and demanding process. Here we examine models for managing the transition phase and use the notion of emotional intelligence to explore teamwork. Transitions and overwhelmOrganizations we talk with which are thinking about self managing teams, are often overwhelmed by the prospect. They frequently ask “How do we get there from here?” Others we have worked with start down the path but encounter problems with managers and are not clear what has gone wrong.This article considers transition and its management. It is based on experience with associates working with multinational organizations implementing self managing teams. Transition - from where to where?Beckhard and Harris in Organisational Transitions argue thatAny major organisational change involves three distinct conditions -
the future state or where leadership wants the organisation to get to;
the present state, where it currently is; and the transition state, the
conditions and activities that must be moved through to reach the
future. The process usually starts with a need or desire for a new future state. The initiative for transition to self managing teams usually comes from one of three sources:
The first two sources provide a valuable excuse for "unfreezing" the organisation. It can lead to a rapid introduction of new working methods. By their nature, however, they are reactive, involving the organisation in having to catch up. The third approach may well be the most difficult (because it is proactive) ... particularly so if no clear commercial imperative exists. Whatever is behind the change imperative, describe the current and future states as clearly as possible. The greater the clarity, the more successful the transition. this isi because clear goals and targets provide an accurate yardstick to measure and evaluate progress. Self managing teams: describing the futureDescribing the desired future for self managing teams is complex because it typically goes beyond prevailing management or work paradigms. It requires the creation and sharing of some kind of vision for how the organisation will operate.Leadership capability also has to keep this vision open and powerful to identify and avoid obstacles. These will need to be overcome if the vision is to be achieved, without actually destroying it. These are difficulties in describing the future. How to overcome them? Two descriptions follow for how organizations have created pictures of the future state. These approaches involve people and help them understand the process they will be involved in - and indeed, to some extent, shape. Self managing teams: leading the transitionIn our experience, the role of managers is one of the most under estimated levers in successfully implementing self managing teams in the workplace.The development of managers is often left as a last consideration, or is totally ignored. This is a fundamental organisational flaw because creating self managing teams involves a power shift from managers to the teams. Unless managers are taken care of first, there will be concerted resistance. This can reach the point where the change process will be sabotaged or subverted by myriad conscious and unconscious actions. For success and effectiveness, managers must become an active and positive force for change. First, they will need to let go of their traditional sources of power. Have you prepared for this? Managers are likely to be used to getting information first; deciding who has access to it; making decisions; controlling; knowing best; applying rules and procedures and so on. They also develop higher level sources of power. These include coaching, training, delegating, managing processes, managing boundaries, working from principles and values. This development process to help managers lead change and take on new management styles cannot be achieved by just developing more 'doing' skills. The managers' transition: from 'doing' to 'being'Change in management appproach - and change in managers - is a critical issue in the transition to self managing teams.Most management development, after all, focuses on 'doing'. The majority of managers have to make a paradigm shift in order to change behaviours that have been encouraged and rewarded, often for as long as 30 years in some organizations. This cannot be achieved easily. The need to develop 'being' skills has been long recognised, but cannot really be learnt and applied like budgeting or forecasting. Emotional IQ, or EQMore light is shed on the concept of 'being' in the books of Daniel Goleman.In Emotional Intelligence - and many more on the subject - he demonstrates that IQ is very poor preparation for the 'turmoil, or opportunities, that life's vicissitudes bring'. Goleman argues that a greater predictor of social competence, personal effectiveness, self-assertion and coping with frustration is emotional intelligence. He cites the work of Peter Salovey at Yale who defines the five basic domains of emotional intelligence as:
This definition has much in common with a model to develop managers and team members for high performance work systems we used in Procter & Gamble ... and since then, with other organizations. Called a Continuum of Management Power and Influence, it has five elements:
Many organizations we have worked with do see the value and potential contribution of managers. They invest heavily in their development ahead of, and during, the implementation of self-managing teams. The process often requires up to six, one-week, highly experiential workshops over a 12-24 month period. These enable managers to become aware of how their existing beliefs and values empower or disempower themselves or others. Opportunities are also provided for managers to choose alternative beliefs and values to raise their effectiveness. The outcome is that they develop 'being' as well as 'doing' skills. This increases the effectiveness of their contribution. They participate more meaningfully in the design and implementation of the transition to self managing teams. Additionally, they develop skills to influence the behaviour of others in line with the organization's needs. Investment in the development of managers' "soft skills" and EQ is vital to creating a flexible and responsive team. Such personal-professional development can enable managers to create and live vision and values that serve as a true basis for creating successful self managing teams. These will fully meet the business needs as well as those of individuals, and take full advantage of the benefits that self managing teams bring to workplace. Self managing teams: other articles of interestIf you've enjoyed our article on self managing teams, you may be interested to read the following:Find more on the design of self managed teams in this article. Ideas about the essential differences between work groups and work teams are described in this article on groups v teams. This article focuses on the differences in the leadership of team vs group leadership.
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