Wes Bucey said:
Actually, the concept had some merit. Google the entire phrase in quotes for about 4,000 hits ("self directed work team")
If you'd like to start a thread about the pitfalls of SDWT after you've familiarized yourself with the concept, I'd be interested in seeing what pops up. As I recall, executives couldn't stop "meddling." Think "funnel experiment." Often, teams were required to rotate team leaders every few months - the lack of hierarchy just is impossible for some folks to accept.
I've never been a part of an organization that tried the concept. I know for certain I never had a customer that used the concept. None of my suppliers who made custom goods to our design or specifications used the concept. Some of the suppliers from whom we purchased "commodities" may have had it, but we didn't inspect that kind of supplier closely enough to know.
I familiarized myself and actually attempted the concept in the mid-90's. I went through my library and found the book that I referenced called
Leading Self-Directed Work Teams by Kimball Fisher, McGraw Hill, 1993.
I scanned through the book again and found some interesting comments,
* SDWTs were started since the classic hierarchical work culture of the 60's and 70's would not work in the global world of the 80's and 90's and the need to use the workforce to regain the edge.
* Teams would be value/principles based rather than policy/procedures, with shared goals, information shared widely, emphasis on purpose not problem solving achievement.
* They are not successful without managment committment. Business Week and Fortune called them the wave of the future. It was an idea whose time had come.
* Much of the book talked about team leadership vs. bosses, team roles, facilitation, and empowerment.
I should read the entire book again for its idealism alone. We tried the concept with our customer service staff after comments about how they felt out of the loop with management. They were not prepared to take responsibility for hiring their co-workers, solving their own problems etc. There was also the realization that they were taking management roles without the corresponding pay or recognition and found out how hard it was to work out the people problems associated with being a team. It slowly and quietly ended as the realities of the negatives clashed with the positives for empowerment.
Maybe the future is here now and the idea should be tried again.
Bill Pflanz