Hrm 531 Week 6 Self Managed Team

Part 1:

Conventional leader-focused teams or work units miss out on the leadership potential of their members. Self-managed work teams are higher performing, more self-sufficient, and have more engaged members. Such teams set their own goals, plan and manage their work, and require little or no supervision. Their members are more accountable, better problem solvers, and more flexible. However, building effective self-managed teams requires personal and organizational commitment, considerable effort and time, and a willingness to change. Management must be willing to let go of authority, and team members must learn management skills and accept responsibility for their results. This transition is not easy, but it is possible. Total team cost includes the direct cost of team members salaries, wages, benefits, incentives, and discretionary expenses like travel and supplies and the indirect cost of management and organization overhead. These costs should be organized into a team “checkbook” showing budget, actual, and projected full-year amounts by category.

Team value can be determined using external benchmarks like industry best practice metrics or an estimate to outsource the team’s work or internal unit cost measures for the team’s output.

It is essential that the team determine the cost of both easier and more difficult tasks to get the most accurate picture of team value. This will also reward team members for working on more difficult tasks. Once the value creation model is built the team should review it regularly to see how they compare to other teams, ensure resources are well allocated and identify the team or organizational obstacles to improvement. The model itself should be periodically reviewed for accuracy and

usefulness.
Part 2:
The culture analysis toolset helps teams evaluate their knowledge, networks, and culture so they can make process and team structure design choices to improve their learning ability. The voice of the team assessment determines how well team members display the behaviors, feelings, and attributes required for team success. The knowledge assessment begins with a review of the team’s desired performance outcomes and the identification of the knowledge domains areas of organizational capability linked to them. The knowledge within each domain is classified as either fact-based or skill-based and learning methods for both types of knowledge are identified. The skills matrix outlines the skills and skill levels needed by a team. It focuses on both core skills needed by team members to perform their roles and enabling skills to help them become leaders. To become leaders, all team members must analyze their workflow to be sure they are doing essential work as quickly and as well as possible. This analysis starts with the process mapping tool and focuses on state changes. These are the groups of work activities that change or convert the characteristics of the product or service delivered by the organization. For example, an inside sales team converts general customer needs into orders for specific items. By evaluating state changes a team can eliminate variability, waste, and bottlenecks in its work processes. Visual management uses broadly accepted management principles combined with fine arts like photography, painting, music to improve team performance by transforming their workspace into an inspiring, data-driven environment.
References:
The Complete Guide to Hiring and Firing Government Employees, AMACOM, © 2009, ISBN 978-0814414507.
Managing Government Employees: How to Motivate Your People, Deal with Difficult Issues, and Achieve Tangible Results, AMACOM, © 2007, ISBN 978-0814408872.
Reply 1:
I read your Discussion. Good work on it. I would like to add some more points to it. For teams to operate like self-contained businesses, they must know their cost and the value of their output. These form the team value creation model which is the business lens through which teams must view their outputs and processes. Organizing teams around a state change or group of state changes makes it easier to identify their output. To effectively measure cost and output, teams should directly receive feedback on a frequent and timely basis. Teams require data analysis, meeting management and problem-solving skills to make the right decisions with this data. Organizations must provide teams with time for these activities, a climate to identify problems and recommend solutions, and the authority to act on their decisions. The greatest barriers to implementing the Five-Stage Team Development Model are team member resistance and lack of knowledge. Power must be transferred; roles have to change, and people need to leave their comfort zones. The best first steps are to educate the team through formal training, observe successful teams, and describe how the change will benefit them and the organization. Also, soliciting and answering questions through group and individual channels, being candid about the challenges ahead, and involving everyone in planning and implementing the change can help. Anyone that is still resistant should ultimately be asked to leave the organization. By creatively displaying the team’s mission, vision, goals, and metrics, and emphasizing the importance of team members and customers, visual management uses the team’s physical environment to constantly focus them on their purpose and objectives.
Reply 2:
Good Discussion. I agree with your points. I am adding some more points to it. Total team cost includes the direct cost of team members salaries, wages, benefits, incentives, and discretionary expenses like travel and supplies and the indirect cost of management and organization overhead salaries, wages, benefits, rent, general administration. These costs should be organized into a team “checkbook” showing budget, actual, and projected full-year amounts by category. Team value can be determined using external benchmarks like industry best practice metrics or an estimate to outsource the team’s work or internal unit cost measures for the team’s output. It is essential that the team determine the cost of both easier and more difficult tasks to get the most accurate picture of team value. This will also reward team members for working on more difficult tasks. Once the value creation model is built the team should review it regularly to see how they compare to other teams, ensure resources are well allocated and identify the team or organizational obstacles to improvement. The model itself should be periodically reviewed for accuracy and usefulness. Discovering and diffusing new knowledge and using it to create value for customers is a high-performing team’s greatest advantage. The newly discovered knowledge that is not managed is soon lost or forgotten. Knowledge diffusion and use are inherently social activities that rely on the quality and reach of social networks—and are more difficult than discovery. Their environment reinforces their successes and helps make work more meaningful and fun. Visual management also shapes the way customers, peers, and stakeholders view a team’s contributions and prospects.