A631.4.3.RB - INSEAD Reflection

 A631.4.3.RB_Manglona, Matthew-Napu_INSEAD Reflection

Brown (2011) stated a self-managed work team “as an autonomous group whose members decide how to handle their task.” Some of the major benefits of self-managed teams is that there is effective leadership present, there is continuity among the members, and there is a self-operating team ethic that goes on which brings productive results for an organization. I personally like being a part of these types of teams because there is a disappearance of micromanaging from higher ups because of the trust that there is instilled within our team. One major benefit is that the team is kept to a small unit which allows for information to be shared constantly, which presents little to no disconnect in the realm of communication.

 Some of the drawbacks is the trust factor that is supposed to come within these specific teams. Langfred (2004) discussed that the more trustworthy the employees are the less the organization will monitor them. (p.386) Sometimes (in my experience) is that these self-managed teams operate solely on their own that once there is a slip up the higher ups put a microscope on them until they fix themselves to the standard they are expected to perform at. The trust factor plays a crucial role in my opinion because of the possibility of being micromanaged. The other drawback is what Wolff, Pescosolido, & Druskat (2002) stated “Emergent team leaders hold no formal authority and team willingness to follow their lead can end at any time.” (p. 508) I see this as when teams rotate or alternate team leaders for specific projects that “continuity” I was speaking about earlier will or may drastically change and cause chaos among the group members.

Brown (2011) discusses that to be successful the teams need to be carefully implemented. (p.353) So yes, I wouldn’t mind working on a self-managing team so long as there is careful studying on who is going to be put on a respective team. Some questions would be, are they willing to be open to ideas presented by others? Will they be willing to take risks? Will they be willing to not take “no” for an answer the first time? That is my dream self-managed team.

The competencies that need to be developed is that there needs to be a painted picture of what is needed by the organization such as the vision and mission to the goal at hand. Also there needs to be patience to achieving results. Some people in my organization I know expect results to be delivered ASAP just because a team is assembled. So I know patience needs to be established.

References:

Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experimental Approach To Organizational Development (Eighth ed.). Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Langfred, C. W. (2004). Too much of a good thing? negative effects of high trust and individual autonomy in self-managing teams. The Academy of Management Journal, 47(3), 385-399. doi:10.2307/20159588

Wolff, S. B., Pescosolido, A. T., & Druskat, V. U. (2002). Emotional intelligence as the basis of leadership emergence in self-managing teams. The Leadership Quarterly, 13(5), 505-522. doi:10.1016/S1048-9843(02)00141-8