Self-Regulating Work TeamsAutonomous Work Groups

Lecture # 14

Self-Regulating Work Teams

• Self-Managed Teams

• Self-Regulating Work Groups

• Autonomous Work Groups

• Work Teams

Team

Changes due to Teams

• Teams take on traditional management functions:

• Planning

• Organizing

• Directing

• Controlling

Changes due to Teams

• Supervisors take on new roles:

• Coaches

• Facilitators

Coach

• Helping employees to

work up to their potential

• Learning from athletic

coaches

Facilitator

• Help the group work better as a group

• Help group members

with process skills

For Teams to be Successful…

• Task differentiation

“The extent to which the task of the group is autonomous and forms a relatively self-completing whole.”

-- Cummings & Huse

For Teams to be Successful…

• Boundary Control

“The extent to which employees can influence transactions with their task environment.”

-- Cummings & Huse

For Teams to be Successful…

• Task Control

The degree to which employees can regulate their own behavior in producing the product or providing the service.

-- Cummings & Huse

High Involvement Plant (HIP)

High Involvement Plants (HIP)

• HIPs are designed around the ideas of task differentiation, boundary control, and task control.

• Other critical characteristics of HIPs include:

Organization Structure

• Flat

• Team Based

Information System

• Open

• Springfield Remanufacturing Company opens books to employees, and trains them to understand the company’s finances.

Training

• Conducted by Peers (for tasks)

• Interpersonal Skills

Taught by supervisors or staff

Reward System

• Open

• Skill Based

• Gain Sharing (more comprehensive than profit sharing)

Selection

• Realistic Job Preview

• Team Based

Identifying Individual and Group Jobs

Social Needs

• Determine whether people are likely to be satisfied with individual jobs or work groups

Growth Needs

• Affect whether people will be satisfied by traditional work designs or by enriched, self-regulating forms of work

Technical Interdependence

• The extent to which employees must cooperate with each other in order to produce a product or provide a service

Technical Uncertainty

• The extent to which employees must process information and make decisions in order to produce a product or provide a service

Technical Interdependence/Uncertainty

Low Interdependence

Low Uncertainty

Traditional Job

High Interdependence

Low Uncertainty

Traditional Work Group

Low Interdependence

High Uncertainty

Enriched Job

High Interdependence

High Uncertainty

Self-Managed Team

Social Needs / Growth Needs

Low Social Needs

Low Growth Needs

Traditional Job

High Social Needs

Low Growth Needs

Traditional Work Group

Low Social Needs

High Growth Needs

Enriched Job

High Social Needs

High Growth Needs

Self-Managed Team

Lessons from REAL Teams

• 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls

• 72 Wins – 10 Losses

• .878 winning percentage

• Best NBA record ever

Lessons from REAL Teams

• Killer Bees, high school team in New York

• 1980 – 1993 went 164-32

• .836 winning percentage

• State Tournament 6 times

• Final Four 4 times

• State Champs 2 times

Lessons from REAL Teams

• School population varied from 41 to 67 total

• Never more than 19 boys

• Team never had more than 7 members

Lessons from REAL Teams

• Reading High (Mass.) boy’s track & field

• Hasn’t lost a league dual meet in 29 years

• Tied once in a 1973 meet

Lessons from REAL Teams

• Both the Killer Bees and the Reading High teams cross-train.

• The members can fill in a variety of tasks.

• What does this say about specialization?