Article discuss about how the self-managed work teams were formed in Chevron's Kern River Assert team; their responsibilities and how the success achieved through them.
Introduction.
Self-managed work team is a group of employees with various background working together to solve problems, improve productivity and eliminate waste in an institution. These teams have the responsibility and authority to identify problems, make changes/improvements and implement them in order to achieve team goals. In this article, it talks about how successful self-managed work teams were formed, how management influences on them to bring out to success path and what were the benefits gained investing in self-managed work teams properly.
R.V. Armstrong & Associates (n.d.) mentions are four basic requirements that all self-managing team members should have. They are; commitment, contribution, communication and cooperation Training for team members should be provided on all these aspects in order for every member to share their responsibilities. These training should also include skills such as team building, problem solving, conflict resolution as well as time management to empower team members. .
Managers should not create these teams for the sake of creating a team. Team to be provided with equally balanced thinkers and doers covering the process as well as defining boundaries of responsibility and authority. They should develop necessary training and assign team leaders to work as coach and facilitator. During initial period, there could be lot of break down in teams due confusion of the structure and different pace of work/learning by team members. Managers should provide coaching during this period. Also, they need to monitors for teams" performances and provide assistance and coaching that need to correct deficiencies. .
To achieve success in self managed work teams, tremendous effort, commitment, and support need from all members of the organization.