|
SELF-DRIECTED TEAMSby Lincoln E. BittnerAs management struggles with the changing economy and the need to maximize profits, many concepts are created to deal with doing more with less people. It is from this challenging environment that the self-directed team concept was developed. Some companies have had great success and others, like the one in the following story, have struggled to make them work. As a manager, your job is to take an objective view of what is happening in any given situation and provide direction that will gain your company the desired results. Now the disclaimer: The story that follows is purely fictional, no matter how close it comes to your situation. A Change In The Air: The ConceptA change was in the air. Julie knew that her company's deliveries were not on time and that they often got the order wrong. As a Customer Service Manager she was the one handling the worst of the calls from customers upset by the lack of service. Julie found herself spending most of her time cleaning up orders that had gone terribly wrong. Julie knew that the problems she faced were the result of many departments making errors, and she had not had any success in organizing some meetings to discuss and possibly resolve these problems. The product return rate was at almost 15% for credit, and she knew that if the company did not start working on these problems soon they might have to consider layoffs, or worse. One morning a surprise visitor from the corporate office called a meeting. In it, Julie and others were told that the current general manager had been terminated, and a new “interim” general manager was taking over. Julie figured that this was the opportunity she had been hoping for. If she could convince this new manager to hold executive meetings and require the attendance of all managers, then maybe the problems could be resolved. She left the meeting feeling more positive than she had in quite some time. Over the next two weeks it became clear that this new general manager had his own idea of how to resolve the problems facing the company. He immediately started firing all of the various department managers. Julie figured that she was soon to be terminated, and was quite surprised when the general manager brought her into his office for a meeting. In this meeting, Julie was given the additional duties of coordinating the efforts and information flow to and from the field sales staff, managing a new high tech product through the development stage, and assisting in content development for the company's new web site. Although she was very excited to have this once-in-a-life-time opportunity, she was concerned about who would oversee the customer service department. He told her that his research into the division's problems showed there was a lack of communication between the various departments, and that his experience proved that the problems usually came from management. He told Julie that he intended to phase out all management except himself and human resources. This would effectively remove all roadblocks to communication within the company. He went on to explain that if the customer service department could improve communications with the customers, then they could take more calls. This would lead to greater clarity among the customers, which would lead to more precise orders. Better precision in the orders received would allow the order-processing department to be more efficient, and would reduce the mistakes being made in production. Julie was surprised by this theory. As the customer service manager, she had researched many of the complaints that the customers had made about the finished product. She had found that many of the mistakes that were being made because the production department workers were not reading the order notes. This was happening for various reasons, but the most prevalent reason was due to illiteracy, not because the orders were incomplete. To improve communications with the customers, he said that he needed to remove all roadblocks to internal communication, and he felt that a manager was a roadblock. Without a manager “getting in the way,” he felt that the customer service associates would discuss their issues among themselves, thereby gaining from each other’s experience. This would, in his mind, lead to a natural progression of improvement in communication and efficiency within the entire company. When he finished removing all of the managers, the staff would have no choice but to communicate with each other, which would also improve the quality of the final product. The department currently consisted of two groups. The first group, made up of call center associates, handled general telephone inquiries. The second group, made up of specialists, handled order clarification and problem resolution issues. To create a self-directed team, he intended to dissolve the two sub-groups of customer service associates and make them one big group. He asked Julie who in each group showed the greatest leadership potential. He told her that he intended to hold a customer service department meeting in which these key people would be introduced as a steering committee. This steering committee would decide the course of action for each phase of the recombination process, and would be the go-to people for the problems that could not be resolved by the groups’ members. Julie had mixed feelings about this new manager's course of action, but knew that she was powerless to change the process. It was clear that he had decided to proceed, and there was no turning back. A meeting for the entire customer service staff was called for that afternoon. The steering committee was introduced at the start of the meeting, and their duties were outlined to the other customer service associates. The general manager outlined his plan, and answered many questions about how a self-directed team operates. At the end of the meeting, the general manager requested that all associates extend their cooperation and understanding to the new committee. As the meeting broke up, Julie overheard many negative comments about the course of action that was taking place. Some of the committee members were not well liked by the rest of the department because they tended to be overbearing and self-important. Other associates thought that they should have been allowed to vote on who would be in the committee. Comments were also made about the lack of management being present to consult with about problems. The steering committee met often to decide the course of the combination of the sub-groups and to outline the new duties of each of the team members. One meeting lead to another and soon the rest of the group found themselves handling the workload of the committee members. There was little consulting with the rest of the team by these members, and an elitist attitude soon developed among the steering committee that began to alienate the other employees. Shouting matches broke out, and the other employees practiced subterfuge in an attempt to get the committee members dethroned. During all of this chaos, customer service declined. Customers were kept on hold longer and longer waiting to speak to the few employees who had time to help them. Because the customer service representatives were unhappy about this new plan, they did not go out of their way to help the customers. Calls were not being returned, orders did not get processed as quickly, and the general demeanor of the employees was noticeably worse. Change ManagementNow that you have read through this story, take some time to ponder the situation and determine what the best action for this case needs to be. As has been proven by many companies, self-directed teams are effective. What would you do that is different than the general manager's strategy mentioned in this story? What tools would you use, and how would you introduce them? The sad reality is that many companies are initiating self-directed teams without properly researching the process or considering the impact of change on their organizations. The result in the companies I have studied has been that managers are finding themselves working longer hours to cover the workload not being done by the employees to whom the tasks are assigned. This is because these employees are left to figure out for themselves what is happening, and how to go about accomplishing this new directive. In many of the cases that I have seen, the employees do not even believe that this change is permanent, and therefore don’t take it seriously. In my example, the employees were spending an inordinate amount of time in meetings attempting to decide how to run their department. This was due to a lack of direction and preplanning by the organizer of the change initiative. The result of this lack of planning meant that the staff was not performing the duties they were hired to do, and confusion resulted because they had not agreed on the most efficient way to proceed. In short, there was no ownership of the process by all of the employees involved. The reasons for the failure of the change initiative is that the new manager did not:
Culture “Culture is defined as the underlying beliefs, values, and assumptions held by members of an organization and the practices and behaviors that exemplify and reinforce them.” (The Manager As Change Agent, Gilley, p.61) To create a self directed team you will need to understand each of these factors intimately. This process of understanding cannot be done by viewing the organization from the outside as the manager in my example did. You must first spend some time interacting with the members of the department before you can begin to decide how to present such a drastic initiative such as implementing a self-directed team. Staff StrengthsThe manager in my example did not take into consideration the strengths of each staff member in the department. He operated on the assumption that he held the power to the success of this initiative, which meant that he was missing the obvious. The employees are the ones who perform the daily functions. It is the manager’s job to understand the strengths of each person in the department, to discover how they interact with each other, and to create an environment that promotes growth through risk-taking and delegation. As you observe your employees, take note of the things they do particularly well. Notice which employee the others go to with particular needs. This is the hidden culture, and strength, of the department that will give you clues to the informal power-holders of the team. These strengths are the ones that you will need to consider and take advantage of as you determine the course of your initiative. The Silver BulletOur new manager stated that he felt that the biggest roadblock to communication was management. He mentioned that his research into the division’s problems relates to a lack of communication between departments, and that if he can get this department communicating better among itself and with the customers, this will fix the problems. There is no silver bullet. You cannot fix an entire company’s problems by working on just one department. He did, however, have the right concept, however poorly stated. If the self-directed team concept did improve communication coming from the customer service department, and other departments adopted the communication lessons learned, then conceivably the interdepartmental communication would improve. It is important to remember that communication is a two way street; Information must be flowing both directions to have complete communication. Discuss The Initiative With Those AffectedIn my example, the manager went about terminating managers without anyone knowing what his plan was. He worked in a vacuum, and did not discuss his plan until Julie’s boss was removed and her duties were changed. The people who were hired to perform the daily duties had no input into the process. This resulted in a great deal of anxiety and hostility because of fear of the unknown. Any change initiative that you attempt will require careful planning, input from the affected parties, and precise execution to succeed. Those people who will be required to follow through with your initiative will not take ownership of it unless you allow them to have some input into the process they will be executing. Remember that nobody is as smart alone as the group is together. Many of the problems that will arise during the implementation stage will be identified by the members of the department, and thus can be avoided or at least minimized. This does not mean that you will necessarily use all of the ideas that you are given. You need to be willing to listen to all of the ideas presented, and show proper respect for them. The employees need to know that they can trust you, and that you take them seriously. Failure to do this will result in the ultimate failure of your initiative. You do, however, need to make it perfectly clear that the initiative will proceed despite the inevitable attempts to derail it during the discussion. |
|---|
If you will recall, immediately after being introduced as the new general manager by the corporate officer, this new manager began to change the management structure by firing all of the managers over the various departments. He effectively removed the support structures that the staff had come to rely on without regard for the culture of the business. He finally discussed his plans with Julie, but as far as she knew he had not discussed them with anyone else. Everyone was feeling the anxiety created by this drastic process, but only Julie had heard the reasons for the changes.