The story about John and his team is going on on Olga
Henggi Blog…
John and his team were on their way to a countryside hotel where
they were going to spend two days together. It was the so-called team-building
event that they had every year. John’s team didn’t know that he was going to
reduce his positional authority. What results will decentralization of
authority bring? …
It was a nice sunny summer’s day. John and his team
were on their way to a countryside hotel where they were going to spend two
days together. It was the so-called team-building event that they had every
year. Each time it was almost the same – some sport activities, workshops, some
kind of treasure hunt. As a result the team members were often bored and gave
negative feedback. John had noticed that his team often preferred criticizing
rather than coming up with their own ideas and realizing them. Maybe the
problem was that his team was a traditional one without any elements of
self-management. This time he decided to delegate authority to his team.
“Hey John, will we play drums this time?” Sam asked
with a touch of irony. Emily laughed: “By the way, nobody has told us yet what
we are going to do. I remember how boring it was last time. John, what have you
prepared for us?” Peter and Sam started criticizing their company’s management
for lack of creativity. Ruth was listening to music through earphones and
didn’t participate in the conversation. Mike was concentrated on the beautiful
landscape as they were driving down the road.
Half an hour later they arrived at the hotel, left
their luggage in their rooms, and gathered in a conference room. John took his place
between Peter and Ruth leaving the “boss” chair for someone else. Mike was a
bit late and when he arrived he realized that the “boss” chair was the only
vacant seat. “Ha… You mean I should play the first chair?” Mike asked giving
his colleagues a big smile. “Feel free and occupy this seat,” John said “there
will be some more surprises today. For example, I’d love to reduce my
positional authority during these days and let you perform as a self-managed
team.” Ruth couldn’t believe it was true – John was an appointed leader who was
leading his team successfully. She couldn’t understand why he wanted to
delegate his authority. “Aha.. Good news! At last we have democracy in our
team,” Sam exclaimed happily. But Ruth worried whether a self-managed team
model could work well because their company had not used and welcomed this
model yet. Emily looked confused: “You took me by surprise. Could someone explain what a self-managed team
means?”
It was Mike who replied after a short pause getting
out of his chair: “Hmm.. I guess a team member’s role is interchangeable and …”
After Mike finished his explanation Peter expressed some concerns about
changing the team model. The other team members immediately started discussing
advantages and disadvantages of self-managed teams. John was all ears realizing
how important it was to start this discussion. Mike’s words interrupted John’s
thoughts. “John, what exactly should we do now? I think we should still receive
some direction or instruction from you.”
John explained calmly that he was not going to change
the team model in general and put pressure on his colleagues. He said softly:
“But it would be great to learn some elements of self-management and use these advantages
for our team. The direction of our activity could be the following: for
example, defining the areas of team responsibility. What do you think?” His
words relaxed the discussion because he had managed to move inside the team.
“Well, I guess it has been an invitation to brainstorm,” Peter said suggesting
his colleagues not waste time.
The first step had been done – the team was ready for
the next creative phase. John was curious about ideas and ways of reaching
consensus. He wondered: “What results will decentralization of authority
bring?”
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