Self–managed Teams: An insider's story
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Helen Sanderson |
TEDxUniversityofHertfordshire
• April 2018
What is it really like to be part of a self-managed team? Is self-management the answer to happiness and engagement at work?
Helen Sanderson gave up the power of being a CEO to be part of a self-managed team, and is happier, more productive and has deeper relationships with her colleagues.
As in the UK only 1 in 10 people feel engaged at work, she is clearly in the minority. Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer of Stanford University says that the workplace is literally killing us, and in the US it is the 5th leading cause of death. In the UK, Professor Michael West says that ‘50% more staff in the NHS report damaging levels of work stress compared to the general working population’.
Yoga classes and nap rooms will not fix this, something fundamental has to change. Could self-management could be part of the solution? Pfeffer says that healthy workplaces offer autonomy and social support.
Helen gives the inside view of how this happens in self-managed teams: how you organise without a manager, being accountable to each other, and how bringing your whole self to work underpins everything.