Introduction
A self-directed, high performing team (SDHPT) is a concept within the field of Organizational Development (OD) that refers to teams that are highly concentrated on their goals and which achieve superior results. They normally outperform all other teams and surpass all expectations. The members of the team have detailed roles, and their skills and experiences are normally complementary to one another. The team exhibits a high level of collaboration and innovation. The team is also very tightly-knit and employ processes that are supportive of reaching the goals (Robin, 2015).
Characteristics of SDHPTs
The first characteristic of a SDHPT is that the members have shared vision and goals. The team members work hard in order to establish shared goals that reflect the priorities of the team. They are able to clearly explain these goals and are each one in the team understand all the other members perfectly. There is also a sense of shared leadership and accountability in the team. This means that each member is in fact, a leader in his own right, and is willing to be held accountable for all the joint actions of the team. There is also continuous learning and development in the team (Anderson, 2015).
There are those who say that these SDHPTs are those who not only perform work, but who also manage the work – thus if the team is made up of rank-and-file workers, then they also perform the work of their supervisors and managers. This allows the supervisors and managers to focus on facilitating, teaching and coaching these teams aside from simply directing and controlling them (Williams, 2010).
A fifth characteristic of SDHPTs is that the members abide by all the rules and protocols set for the team. Each member knows exactly what is expected of him and how his contribution will work towards the success of the team. If everyone is ambiguous about their role and what they are supposed to do in the team, then there can be no teamwork therein. Next, they are supported by an excellent performance management system, and are led by a high-performing leader. Great leaders are those who place authority and power in the members of the team. These empowered members then know what they are supposed to do, and they are committed to the goals and the strategies used to achieve these goals (Daft, 2015).
The members have shared vision and goals;
There is a sense of shared leadership and accountability;
There is continuous learning and development in the team;
The members do the work and manage the work as well;
The members follow all rules and protocols;
There is great support from a performance management system;
The team is led by an extraordinary, high performing leader.
Challenges in Creating and Managing SDHPTs
Before any SDHPT can be created and properly managed, team leaders or project managers must always perform all the pre-work that is necessary. The pre-work includes:
The formulation of objectives of the team. The objectives must be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. If the objectives are not clear, then the team may be going in different directions and may not accomplish any of the objectives that have been set.
The competency of the team leader and the individual members of the team must be competent enough in order to manage their own independence and the work of the team. If the team members are not competent enough, then the team may lose its self-direction and the ability to perform as expected.
The team and the supporting management must have a comprehensive communication system so that the flow of information from one point or person to the other is aided, and so that the information and messages are directed to the proper person and remain accurate during the transmission.
There must be monitoring and evaluation systems in place such that for every milestone or phase in the work, the team and management would know if the objectives were achieved for that phase. Thus, before the next phase of work is entered into, the team would know if it is ready to take on the next phase, and that all deliverables from the previous phase have been submitted and pass the standards and objectives set for that phase.
Reward systems could also be installed in place in order to provide awards for excellent work, especially when all the objectives set in the first place have been attained (Simkovits, 2012).
Recommendations for Success
The first recommendation in order for any SDHPT to be successful is for the team to have a clear vision of what they want to be within a specific period of time. One can do this by making the vision specific or directed to the team itself. List all the competencies of the team members – this is a list of what the team members can bring to the table. There also must be a compelling reason for bringing the team together, such that they are willing to part of the team and give their valuable contributions.
The second recommendation would be for the team leader to instill a sense of accountability in each of the team members. When there is no accountability, the team will be subject to delays, ill feelings, conflict within the team and conflict with entities outside the team, and other similar situations. If people are not accountable for their actions, then there can be conflict in the team and nothing will be accomplished. The absence of accountability may be a sign that there is distrust among the members of the team. The team leader and management must be shining examples of accountability, so that the other members of the team will follow suit. Trust-building exercises can be included in the pre-training and orientation sessions of the members of the team.
Finally, the spirit of shared leadership must also be developed in the team. In the team charter, the model for shared leadership must be included. In the individual roles and assignments of each team member, shared leadership practices must be included. Shared leadership instances along with solo achievements must be rewarded as well (Smith, 2004).
Helping Struggling Managers and Improving Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Skills
If there are managers who struggle in managing their teams, perhaps they were not actually well-prepared to lead these SDHPTs. What is important that while managers are able to identify potential SDHPT leaders, these leaders themselves must also be trained to lead these kinds of teams. Leaders should be trained to mentor and coach the other team members, instead of the leader finishing the unfinished work of the team members. Thus the team leader is left out exhausted and can no longer mentor his team.
Conflict resolution and negotiation are skills that are acquired through learning and practice. The leader must be trained in the same and must practice these as well. When the team is being prepared, the leader must undergo training in these two areas, and should select members of the team whose characteristics are best suited for these skills. They can be assigned conflict resolution and negotiation as part of their key result areas, and can also help train the other members of the team in the same. What is important in training in negotiation, it is essential that team members be taught that negotiating must end up in a “win-win” situation, such that both parties benefit from the negotiation activities. Negotiation today is all about compromise (Philips and Gully, 2011).
A training plan for a leader to include all the necessary key result areas (including negotiation and conflict resolution must be designed, and managers should mentor these team leaders so that they will able to exhibit the qualities that are expected of them after the training and during the administration of the team itself as it begins and finishes its work.
References
Anderson, D. 2015. Organizational Development: The Process of Leading Organizational Change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Bard, R. 2015. Strategies to Achieve High Performance in Hybrid Project Teams. Retrieved from: http://publications.lib.chalmers.se/records/fulltext/221870/221870.pdfo
Daft, R. 2015. The Leadership Experience. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Philips, J. and Gully, S. 2011. Organizational Behavior: Tools for Success. Mason, OH: South Western Cengage Learning.
Simkovits, H. 2012. Self-Directed or Mis-Directed Work Teams? Retrieved from: http://www.business-wisdom.com/articles/ArtclSelf-Directed.html
Smith, S. 2004. The 5 Top Reasons Why Business Teams Fail and What You Can Do About It. Retrieved from: http://actionplan.com/pdf/SidSmithart.pdf
Williams, R. 2010. Self-Directed Work Teams: A Competitive Advantage. Retrieved from: http://www.qualitydigest.com/magazine/1995/nov/article/self-directed-work-teams-competitive-advantage.html
