Self Managed Teams

A self-managed team is a group of employees that's responsible and accountable for all or most aspects of producing a product or delivering a service. A self-managed team also have direct access to information that allows them to carry out supporting tasks, such as planning and scheduling the workflow and managing annual leave and absence, in addition to technical tasks. Decisions made by self-managed teams are more effective because they're made by the people who know most about the job. Self-managing teams often take on lives of their own as team members take responsibility for their day-to-day responsibilities. Many of the initial efforts were in manufacturing facilities where the changing environment demanded employees operate differently in order to be competitive. Organizations such as General Mills, Motorola, General Electric implemented work teams because it helps with completing a large part of the production process. Team design includes management teams, problem solving teams, cross-functional teams and employee involvement teams. Team functioning is influenced by team tas...