Self-Management

When a team is empowered to decide who does what, when, and how - it can be termed as a Self-Managing Team. The self-managing team is responsible and accountable for all or most aspects / decisions of planning, producing and delivering value.

To enable people or teams in an organization to self-manage, the structure of the organization /and the team must be relatively flat. The team must be shielded from hierarchy. People must have the needed empowerement to make necessary decisions related to their work.

Some of the well known large-scale Organizations that are successfully operating and growing based on the principles of Self-Management:

• Morning Star (Tomato Processor, USA)
• Buurtzorg (Healthcare, The Netherlands, Worldwide)
• Semco Group (Manufacturing, Brazil)
• Patagonia (Outdoor Apparel, USA)
• Haier Group (Consumer Durables, Appliances, China)

See also: Self-Managing Teams