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Self Directed Work Teams

Self directed Work Teams: Consequences and Problems.

Organizations have been focusing on the diversity that has gained prominence concurrently with the movement toward team structures in the workplace. The simultaneous emergence of this trend provides a prime opportunity for organizations to merge the strengths of diversity with the collaborative vivacity of self-directed work teams (SDWTs). These teams provide advanced empowerment through flexible and joint tasks, joint authority, and participating in decision making which based on sharing information.   Self directed work teams as defined by Vecchio is a highly trained group of six to eighteen employees that is responsible for creating a specific product with each member sharing responsibility for performance.(Vecchio,2006) It is also defined as a group of people working together in their own ways towards a common goal which the team defines, they also handle compensation, discipline and act as a profit center by defining its own future.(Chatfield .n.d.). In summation, we can then say that for a team to be defined as self directed there must exist no clear cut supervisory function or hierarchy as each member of the team acts in a multi tasking role and can take up any such role as defined or spelled out by the team.
Despite the numerous criticisms of self directed teams in the organizations it isn’t without its benefits. In many business organizations, this concept of Sell-Directed work team was chosen by senior line managers for the following reasons, enhanced quality, efficiency and service, better flexibility, quicker response to technological change, fewer, simpler job classifications, better response to workers' values to mention a few. Self motivated teams have a simple and visible form of measurement. (Chatfield .n.d.) this is heighten because each individual is actively involved in the structuring and enforcement of performance yardsticks and corresponding rewards .It   also encourages zeal and a...