Creating Self-directed, High-performing Teams

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Let's take a closer look at some of the business literature, by breaking the assignment into three section and looking as the questions individually below. You can then draw on the information for your final copy. There is plenty of information so keep what fits. I also attached one supporting resource on high performing teams.

1. You are making a case in a manager's meeting to facilitate the company's transition to using self-directed, high-performing teams. You must convince the other managers that while this is a long-term initiative, its benefits will be huge.

You might consider defining and explaining self-directed teams as compared to normal work groups.
It is a long-term initiative, but its benefits are huge. For example, self-directed teams (sometimes called self-managed teams) are empowered work units, or autonomous work teams that function in their truest sense without supervisory authority. In fact, team members are interdependent, but the role of supervisor usually is missing. A self-directed team is as much a team as any other, but it has a unique management structure - no supervisor. By comparison, a regular work group reports to a supervisor who is part of the group. In many such cases, the supervisor does much of the same work that the group members do, or he performs a higher level of the overall work that the group must accomplish. Self-directed teams, on the other hand, report to a manager, but generally no management personnel are part of the team's ongoing and daily operations. The role of manager or supervisor, in the case of a self-directed team, is replaced by all the members of the team. Together, they plan and execute the work, day in and day out, carrying out the directions set by management above them. It isn't unusual for only one manager to oversee several self-directed teams (http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-1397.html).

2. A well-planned approach is important, and many will need to have training to learn some of the team-building skills necessary to make this a success. You realize that for some this may be ...