The Benefits of Self-Managed Teams

Start from a position of trust. More freedom leads to more learning, and more understanding leads to better performance. By focusing on execution, we limit the system’s growth potential. By making ourselves indispensable, we make our teams and organizations less resilient. Once a decision has been made, it should be shared along with the rationale and perspectives that shaped it so that others can learn, too. Consensus is impossible at scale and needs to reflect how adaptive systems work. Recognize that freedom and autonomy feed motivation. Create an environment where it is safe to try and fail, and teams will learn and grow in extraordinary ways.

Push authority to the edge of the organization — where the information is — so teams can adapt and steer. Structural mediocrity has an inertia all its own. Self-managed teams are lean — small enough to move fast. But they are also multidisciplinary, containing all (or most) of the skills they need to achieve their mission. Two people per team is advisable. More than three team members will require a management layer for coordination. Each individual should be able to manage individual and combined workloads. None of the individuals are on top of the other but in support of each other.

Delegating authority over each part of your system to individuals rather than teams is advisable. This way, you can divide the defined and separated components among your engineers. Doing so will help prevent them from creating low-quality work and allow them to produce their best work. Focus on the input of teams that interact with the market rather than those at the organization’s center.

[¹]: Brave New Work: Are You Ready to Reinvent Your Organization?