How To Lead a Self-Managing Team?

Vanessa U. Druskat

Jane V. Wheeler

Presented by

Muatasem Faden

July 25,2011

Vanessa Druskat

B.A., Psychology; Indiana University, Bloomington. M.A., Organizational Psychology; Columbia

University, Teachers College. Ph.D., Social Psychology; Boston University. Spent eight years on the faculty of the Department of

Organizational Behavior at Case Western Reserve University. In 2003, became an Associate Professor of Organizational

Behavior and Management at the Whittemore School of Business & Economic at the University of New Hampshire, and teaches undergraduate, MBA, and executive MBA courses.

“Building the emotional intelligence of group” (with Steve Wolff), was selected for inclusion in the Harvard Business Review list of breakthrough ideas for 2001.

Expertise and interests on group dynamics, team process effectiveness, team leadership effectiveness, leadership development, emotional intelligence, emotions in teams and organizations, cross-cultural management.

Jane Wheeler Associate Professor of management at Bowling

Green State University’s College of Business

Administration. Director of the Institute for Organizational Effectiveness. Expertise in organizational behavior, organizational

development, leadership, teams, and emotional intelligence. Worked on a CBA research grant, “The Important of Political

Skills for the Supply Manager”, with Dr. Hartley were awarded in 2009.

The key business experience she brings to the classroom is her 20 years of consulting stories from her former positions at NYEX Corporation (New England Telephone) and AT&T.

Received numerous awards and certifications in her positions as staff manager, staff director, account executive, and market administrator.

Although a team is independent in terms of its activities and decision making, must still: - continually receive direction from higher levels in the

organization;- and report to the hierarchy through an accounted person

for the group’s performance. However, conflict signals regarding how to go about are

mostly received.

Why should a self-managing team require any leadership?

The process is required specific behaviors that are grouped in 4 basic functions: Relating, Scouting, Persuading and Empowering.

How to Manage The Boundary Between The Team and The Larger Organization?

EXTERNAL LEADRS who stood out at those capabilities were able to drive their teams to superior performance.

Early 1960s, self-managing teams were basically unheard of until first initiative (General Foods Corporation) practiced it on their dog-food production line for more than 30 years old.

In 1977, a field study found out that; teams criticized their external leaders for being too controlling, while external leaders complained that they were too lax.

External leader’s role is confused at all organizational levels; (Large Midwestern Bank).

Researchers and studies reported: External leader role is more complex than the traditional

manager role. External leaders who struggle with their role usually end up

exercising too much control, which then undermines the self-managing team’s ability to get work done.

The success of a self-managing team greatly depends on its external leader.

Managing in No-Man’s Land

The Work of the External Leader

Four Functions, Eleven Behaviors300 Self-Managing Teams

at Large Manufacturing Plant of a Fortune 500 Corporation

Relating External leader needs to move back and forth between the

team and the boarder to build relationships.

Through:

1. Being socially and politically aware. Superior external leaders had consistently demonstrated an understanding of the boarder organization, the individual concerns, and decision-making criteria of important constituencies.

2. Building team trust. Superior external leaders also consistently recognized the value of building good relationship with their teams, even to the point of achieving insider status. “little time to spend”

3. Caring for team members. Superior external leaders are mostly considering the personal problem of the team member as impediments to getting work done. (disability leave)

Scouting External leader should demonstrate three behaviors:

1. Seeking information from managers, peers, and specialists. Superior external leaders need to seek information from others in the organization either as advise or response to technical questions from the team. “us against them”

2. Diagnosing member behavior. Superior external leaders also need to read their team members accurately as important leadership capability.

3. Investigating problems systematically. Superior external leaders are more likely to use systematic approaches to investigate a matter in a potential problem. And gather more data or inputs from the team member.

Persuading External leader should apply two behaviors:

1. Obtaining external support. Teams often need support from the boarder organization, and superior leaders are able to perform this supporting role more effectively.

2. Influencing the team. Effective external leaders also need to adopt a swaying their teams to decisions that best met the needs of the organization. However, those leaders had:

- already built the trust with their teams;

- systematically investigated the problem at hand;

- used their external contacts to obtain all necessary

information.

(Information from accounting department)

Empowering External leader should demonstrate three behaviors:

1. Delegating authority. Superior external leaders have great option over the amount and type of authority that they delegate.

2. Exercising flexibility regarding team decision. Teams don’t always make good decision, and a major responsibility of eternal leaders is to prevent serious mistakes. (the proposal as open-mindedly as possible)

3. Coaching. Involves a number of activities like working one-on-one with employees, giving feedback, to the team, and demonstrating certain behaviors. It adds strengths to team’s confidence, and increases their ability of self-manage skills.

Empowerment

“a construct that ties personal competencies and abilities to environments that provide opportunities for choice and autonomy in demonstrating these competencies.” described by Rappaport. (Short, P, 1994, 494)

Dunst (1991) has suggested that empowerment consists of two issues:

1. Qualifying experiences, provided within an organization that fosters autonomy,

choice, control, and responsibility.

2. Which allow the individual to display

existing competencies as well as learn

new competencies that support and

strengthen functioning.

(Short, P, 1994, 494)

Work Functions A research with interviewed countless teams from different

business sectors identifies the key work elements that need to be addressed, if a team is wanted to be successful as follow:

1. Advising information

2. Innovating new product

3. Promoting can be sold

4. Developing alternatives

5. Organizing plans

6. Producing standards

7. Inspecting quality

8. Maintaining efficient

9. Linking activities(McCann & Margerison, 1989, 54)

Potential Concerns Related to SMWT Resistance A study by Kirkman, B., Jones, R., and Shapiro, D. expects

to find Self-Managing Work Team (SMWT) – related concerns relating to:

① team members’ perceptions of trust; Trust must barely be earned by all parties, it can easily be lost, as well.

② team members’ cultural value; Cultural values that are mismatched with management plans will likely lead to be resisted.

③ team member’s tolerance for change;

is the fear that one will not be able to

develop new skills and behaviors that are

required in a new work setting.

(Kirkman, jones & Shapiro, 2000,77-80)

Team Selection process

As per the research done by Wageman, R. the selection of effective teams of profitable organizations depends on:

① Consistently meet the needs of their customers.

② Who have been operating increasingly well over time.

③ Whose members are engaged in and satisfied with their work.

And the selection of ineffective teams of profitable organizations includes:

① Frequently fail to meet the needs of their customers.

② Who have been operating increasingly poorly over time.

③ Whose members are engaged in and dissatisfied with their work.

(Wageman, 2001, 563)

Druskat, V. & Wheeler, J., 2004. How To lead a Self-Managing Team, MIT Sloan Management Review, 65-71. Retrieved from EBSCOhost

Kirkman, B., Jones, R., & Shapiro, D., 2000. Why Do Employees Resist Teams? Examining The “Resistance Barrier” to Work Team Effectiveness, International Journal of Conflict Management, 74-92. Retrieved from EBSCOhost

McCann, D. & Margerison, C., 1989. Managing High-Performance Teams, Training & Developing Journal, 54-60. Retrieved from EBSCOhost

Short, P., 1994. School empowerment through self-managing teams: Leader behavior in developing self-managing work, Education, 493-502. Retrieved from EBSCOhost

Wageman, R., 2001. How Leaders Foster Self-Managing Effectiveness: Design Choices Vs. Hans-on Coaching, Organization Science, 559-577. Retrieved from JSTOR

References

Questions