Self-Organization and Team Success

This article is based on a webinar I presented recently. Watch the Webinar here.

Self-organization impacts individuals. It impacts the entire team of individuals. It impacts the team leaders. It impacts leadership as an organization and the leadership of the organization. This is what we need to be thinking about as we dig into it.

Self-organization starts with each individual.?

Self-organization isn’t natural to us. Some people say it is, but let’s be honest: it’s extremely difficult for us to self-organize. It’s actually next to impossible. From nearly every perspective—evolutionary biology, psychology, anthropology—when you look at humans as a whole, we’re clans. We’re teams of people. We’re societies. We’re part of communities. We naturally want to find someone to lead.?

However, we still have to engage. We must work and make decisions within the team structure. Or you’ll find yourself back at the drawing board searching for a new team leader.?

The reality is that self-organization is the opposite of leadership. Leadership is positional; in our minds, the concept of leadership is hierarchical. So we must reflect on what leadership should be in the future for effectiveness, efficiency, and success.

The term “self-organization” turns leadership into a verb and starts talking about us as the leader. We lead in the area by which we influence.?

We must let go of the idea that self-organization equals anarchy, lack of control, fights, and inefficiencies. The concept of self-organization scares a lot of managers because it disrupts what they’ve learned. We need to realize that anger, manipulation, and all of that other stuff around negativity have a basis in fear. It’s like what Yoda taught Luke Skywalker.?

Traditional management structures fear losing their power because of a lack of trust.?

So let’s ditch all our ideas steeped in fear and open our minds to how self-organization can benefit our organizations.

Defining Self-Organization

Self-organization is the ability of a system to spontaneously arrange its components or elements in a purposeful (non-random) manner, under appropriate conditions but without the help of an external agency. It’s as if the system knows how to “do its own thing.” Many natural systems, such as cells, chemical compounds, galaxies, organisms, and planets, demonstrate self-organization.

So rather than anarchy, self-organization:

• Is a way to organize a group
• Allows decision-making and problem solving to happen at the source of the work
• Increases empowerment, which in turn increases productivity and morale

For self-organization to be effective, leaders must treat their team members as adults, not children who need constant monitoring.

There are three requirements for self-organization: autonomy, trust, and accountability.

Autonomy

Autonomy is the fundamental basis of a self-organized team. It represents independence or freedom of the will of one’s actions. On a larger scale, autonomy is the condition of being self-governing or having the right to self-government.

Although autonomy gives a great deal of power back to the individual, remember that it’s a two-way street that must be built on:

• Sharing guiding principles
• Common goals
• Communication
• Trust and accountability
• Self-esteem

As the employer, you are responsible for developing and adhering to core values at the corporate and department levels, aligning core values to personnel reviews, and creating realistic corporate and department goals. Additionally, it’s essential to communicate goal status, whether good or bad.?

You’ve heard a million times that you must lead by example, but it goes further than that. It’s crucial to provide support and guidance that knocks down barriers instead of creating them. Shift from micromanagement and control to coaching and empowerment.

On the other hand, your employees are responsible for their understanding of and commitment to your shared core values and goals. Additionally, they pledge to develop personal professional goals that align with department and corporate goals. They must be committed to open communication and actualized trust.

This autonomy gives them the confidence to do their job and ask for help when needed. The employee is responsible for acting and compromising instead of waiting to be told what to do and wanting everything their way. It’s all about striking a balance between the individual’s needs and the group’s needs.

Trust

Trust is something we’ve all learned from a very young age, but it manifests differently in the workplace.?

For a successfully self-guided team, building trust requires that the employer:

• Provides guidance and advice but allows the team members to make the final call
• Fosters the ability for the team to test, fail, and try again
• Gives the team opportunities to gain and build trust among each other
• Cuts pain points quickly, so you don’t allow a “sore to get infected”

On the other hand, the employee fosters trust by understanding they:

• Aren’t getting everything they want or think is “right”
• May need to accept a decision that hurts them in the short term or doesn’t offer instant gratification
• Need to accept decisions without continuous backseat driving
• Are a part of a team, meaning they continue to participate at 100% effort regardless of their belief

Less effort because something “wasn’t your decision” is completely unacceptable on any front.

Accountability

Accountability means that all individuals must account for what they do, accept responsibility for their actions, disclose their results honestly, and provide honest feedback—whether good or bad.

Although accountability requires effort and a consistently positive attitude, you can expect continuous improvement when you hold everyone to a higher standard.

Pulling Everything Together

Self-Organized Team Practices

For self-organization to work, it’s essential to start as a team and finish as a team. If you’re working in a primarily remote environment, more interaction will be needed to maintain an effective self-organized team. In these instances, technology is your friend!

As you transition to self-organization, it’s essential to inspect and adapt, focus on the work not the “roles,” and make decisions about output. Don’t anticipate everything shifting immediately—expect incremental improvement in product and process. As you move forward, deal with the issues facing output, such as people, tools, and technology. Ask your employees for vision, goals, and communication on goal status.

Self-Organized Team Challenges

The challenges with self-organization center around topics we’re not taught in university. We aren’t taught about conflict management or negotiation, but these are essential principles of self-organization. A self-organizing team should comprise individuals who are coaching themselves and receiving coaching from their mentors. By filling in the gaps between what we were taught at school, we can overcome the challenges of self-organization.

This requires that everyone possesses a willingness to accept accountability, understand each other’s personality traits, and collaborate with team members. Another challenge you’ll want to be aware of is dealing with the evolution that tends toward the group looking for or selecting a leader.?

Celebration!

As your team grows in self-organization, you must celebrate the steps taken in the right direction. This can be as simple as giving a compliment or saying thank you. As a leader, you have a responsibility to do what you said you would do—not doing so is worse than doing nothing!

Acknowledge your team publicly and adjust your language from “my” and “I” to “we” and “us.” There is no group owner—it isn’t “your” squad or “my” crew.

Celebration is all about enjoying the successes. Take the time to savor it, don’t just push on to the next target or point out issues when you’re celebrating.?

If you want to take it to the next level, you can celebrate your team by:

• Writing a handwritten note
• Giving someone a LinkedIn recommendation or shout out
• Telling a quick positive story about a team or individual over Yammer
• Buy the team a meal

If you continue showing appreciation for your team’s commitment to self-organization, they’ll continue to do the work.

To delve into the critical skills your team needs for self-organization and more, watch the full Webinar here or download the presentation slides.?

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