SELF – MANAGED WORK TEAMS

Presented by: Prachi Sharma

The Sociotechnical Systems Approach

social technical

Biological &psychosocial laws

Mechanical & physical laws

Self-managed Work TeamsThey are groups of employees who are responsible for a complete, self-contained package of responsibilities that relate either to a final product or an ongoing process.

Team members possess a variety of technical skills and are encouraged to develop new ones to increase their versatility, flexibility, and value to the work team.

The team is responsible for monitoring and reviewing the overall process or product, as well as assigning problem-solving tasks to group members.

The teams create a climate that fosters creativity and risk-taking, in which members listen to each other and feel free to put forth ideas without being criticized.

Model of Self-Managed Work teams

TeamTask Design

Team Process Interventions

Organisation Support Systems

Team Functioning

Team Performance and Member Satisfaction

Team Task Design

Task Differentiation

Boundary Control

Task Control

Team Process Interventions

• Training programs

• Workshops

• On the job training

Organisation Support Systems

Recruitment and SelectionTrainingEvaluation and Reward SystemsLeadership Support SystemsUse of Freed-up time

Application Stages

I. Sanctioning the design effort

II. Diagnosing the work systemIII. Generating appropriate

designsIV. Specifying support systemsV. Implementing and

evaluating the work designsVI. Continual change and

improvement

Results of Self-managed teams

REPORTED SELF-MANAGED TEAMS SUCCESSES

Harley-Davidson *Returned to profitability in six years

John Hopkins Hospital *Patient volume increased by 21 percent * Absenteeism was cut

Hallmark *200 percent reduction in design time * Introducing 23,000 new card lines each year

Liberty Mutual *50 percent reduction in contract process time * Savings of more than $50 million per year

Volvo *40 percent reduction in time spent on each year *4 percent increase in production output * Inventory turnover increased from nine to 21 times a year

Flip side of the coin• Improvements in job satisfaction but no effects on job

motivation, work performance, organizational commitment.• Major benefits are economic , deriving from the needs for less

supervision.• Undermined individual discretion, autonomy and initiative.

Succeeding with self-managed workteams – the chevron way

The Kern River Asset Team is made up of 80 employees and is a part of Chevron's Western Production Business Unit and South Valley Profit Center

Main task -produce oil from Chevron properties in Kern River Field in Bakersfield, Calif.

Prior to 1995, the Kern River Asset Team was itself a profit center with many small asset teams spread over a wide area and with a traditional hierarchical organization

problemsEach asset team was responsible for all the work processes -it was difficult for teams to link those processes to broader objectives.

Since individuals did not work together daily, they could not develop broader, big-picture knowledge of the processes they managed.

Duplication of work processes and poor utilization of resources.

A new structure

• Kern River Profit Center was downsized to the Kern River Asset Team

High-performance teamsEmployee empowermentProcess improvement

• A design team was formed to draw up plans for the self-managed work teams

• Members were selected from every area that was affected by the reorganization

Contd…

• interviews and meetings-the design team reviewed tasks from each functional and operational area

• Clearly defined boundaries were set for process-specific responsibilities for each group.

• 11 self managed teams- 5 to 8 members-balanced for technical expertise and social and leadership skills.

Training for the teams

each team prioritized its tasks

grouped them into work processes

chose the ones on which to focus

identify opportunities for improvement

Each process flowcharted to list suppliers and customers and measured to provide a baseline for determining future productivity.

The road to success • A coach for each team, who met

regularly with a guidance team to monitor overall progress and effectiveness.

• A training program to develop basic skills such as team-building, problem-solving, communication, conflict resolution, and time management, as well as participation, responsibility, and empowerment.

Bumps in the road

Unfamiliarity with the new organizationNew daily routinesAdjusting to limitations of duties imposed by the new plansFocus on specific (and process-related) team responsibilities. Personal, cultural, and behavioral adjustmentsAttending team meetings was no longer enough

The root

LACK OF COMMUNICATION !!!

Finding a place

Adding more asset value than competitors had through exploration, development, and acquisition

Generating more profit per barrel than competitors

Ensuring that all business activities are fully compliant

The results

Despite some early confusion, many process improvements have been initiated:

Chemical pump repairSub-surface pump usageAutomatic well tester service

conclusion

“Successful re-engineering of an organization with self-managing teams is not a quick fix. It requires a great deal of effort, commitment, and support from all members of the organization.”