Building adaptive, self-managing teams in a culture of continuous improvement - Interview with Lizzie Benton (Part 2)

Lizzie Benton specialises in workplace culture and has made a name for herself by helping create workplaces with a clear purpose and teams that can make their own decisions. She believes in being straightforward when it comes to changing how organisations run, and she supports ways of working that help people grow. Benton has worked in many different fields, and she’s good at coming up with new ways to work and setting up organisations where people manage themselves.

This interview explores how work is changing, with a focus on self-management and organisational experimentation. The importance of individual growth, accountability, and peer-to-peer support is highlighted for adopting self-management. As for experimenting with new ways of working, Lizzie stresses the importance of starting small, learning fast, and focusing on what truly matters.

Section 1: Self-management and accountability in high-performing teams 

Q: When we talk about self-managing teams or organisations, are we referring more to structural changes or a mindset shift? 

When we talk about self-managing teams or organisations, there is such a vast array of how companies have done it differently that you can’t pin self-management on one thing.  

Self-management by definition, is a team which has a high level of autonomy in the goals they set, how they work together, and are mutually supportive without the requirement of a traditional manager.  

Self-management can be found in traditional hierarchical organisations, but it’s most common in companies who have flatter hierarchies, or who have a more networked organisational structure.  

Whether you’re looking to flatten the hierarchy, or just increase autonomy amongst teams; self-management requires a mindset shift first and foremost.  

Numerous studies are starting to explore the correlation between mindset and self-management. For example, there is research currently taking place at Rotterdam School of Management, as well as a completed study by Irina Tarasova on the barriers to self-management.  

With my own experience, and research now coming to life, what we know is that self-management takes many layers of shifting our mindsets from an old way of working to a new way of working. These shifts are not easy, because for many of us our entire work lives have been based around outdated management practices which have conditioned us to think about work in a certain way.  

Self-management requires self-awareness, a strong desire for accountability, and a higher level of emotional maturity.  

Q: How does the implementation of self-management differ between SMEs and large organisations, or are they the same? 

The adoption of self-management varies greatly because there’s no such thing as “implementation”. This is often where companies can go wrong, believing that self-management is something that you can install like a new piece of software.  

As we often say in the realm of self-management and new ways of working – the goal isn’t to be self-managed, as if it’s somehow a superior operating system. The goal is to create your own unique way of working that enables people and business to thrive together.  

There are examples all over the world of how both SME’s and large organisations have begun to create their own way of working. Some call it self-management, others create something more bespoke and unique that has elements of self-management.  

For example Buurtzorg the dutch healthcare company has more 15,000 employees and operate with self-management. There is no formal hierarchy and no managers.  

Or 10Pines, a software engineering company in Argentina with 100 employees, who operate with self-management, and even go so far as to set their own salaries.  

There are now 100s of organisations and businesses who have decided to ditch the traditional business blueprint and build their own way of working that is more fit for purpose. No two are the same, which makes the journey of self-management a more holistic approach to building purpose-driven and sustainable businesses.   

Q: What key mindset shifts and skills are required for team members to effectively self-manage?

Self-management asks a lot of people, and in many instances this way of working can feel too much. This is not to say they are unable to work in this way, it is purely the reality of how we all need something different from our worklife.  

Self-management requires a growth mindset, high self-awareness and emotional intelligence, and building the skills to set goals and take accountability.   

No longer are people relying on a manager for everything. The team collectively has to work together to create their goals, overcome tensions and support each other’s development.  

Self-management comes with greater responsibility, to yourself and to your team.  

For example, if you’re frustrated with a colleague, you can’t just go to a manager to moan about it and expect them to say something on your behalf. You would have to address the tension yourself. You would of course have the training to have such conversations such as this, and a manager may act like a coach in some instances; but ultimately it’s on you to address the frustration.  

This is a stark difference from many ways teams operate. Commonly people either go to their manager or HR to resolve their grievances.  

As I mentioned earlier, this isn’t for everyone, because it takes a lot of energy and vulnerability to work in this way. Due people’s different life circumstances, some people just want to show up to work and be told what to do – I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. We all need work to work for us.  

Self-management isn’t easy to adopt even as an individual, which is why so many companies who operate in this way have long and thorough recruitment processes, so that the individuals can get as best an idea as possible as to what this way of working will feel like.  

Q: How can leaders maintain accountability within self-managing teams? 

In self-managing teams the traditional practice of accountability of rewards and punishments is dropped for a far more holistic approach.  

To begin with every team member has a very clear role and responsibilities that they are ultimately accountable for. This is by no means a job description or a title. These roles and responsibilities are co-created as a team so that people can take full ownership and set their own goals. This immediately heightens the sense of ownership within the team, and clarity on who is responsible for what.  

In most self-managing teams these roles and responsibilities are clearly held in shared space for all to see, so there is also visibility across the team of who’s doing what.  

Self-managing teams also co-create their social contracts and boundaries so there is no need for unnecessary control mechanisms. Together as a team they have decided on the expectations and needs of how they will work together.  

There are intentional meeting styles in self-managing teams that keep the rhythm of alignment strong. For example, weekly stand-ups, and tactical meetings.  

And when all else fails, it’s on to feedback. If a team member is struggling, it’s a conversation that any team member can have with them. What differs here, is that the conversation comes from a place of curiosity and support, not judgement or criticism. The team is seeking to understand what’s in the way of the individual.  

Unlike in traditional organisations where leaders manage accountability with rewards and punishments; accountability is held in the team through their peers.   

Section 2: Experimenting with new ways of working 

Q: When an organisation identifies the need to improve a process or implement new ways of working, where should leaders start? 

A great place to start a new ways of working experiment, is to begin with addressing an existing tension or frustration. What is most felt amongst the team right now, and what could they try to improve this?  

We always begin with small experiments because they’re quick to execute, and give forward motion. When the experiment is over, we have something to learn from, and we can adapt accordingly, or move on.  

For example, I had one client who felt their hybrid ways of working was missing quite a few elements. So, we got the team together to co-create new boundaries for their hybrid set-up. This was then experimented with across a 3-month period, and we came together to understand how it had gone. In this instance, the team felt it was a success and wanted to continue with the set-up they had created. But they decided they would regularly check-in together to ensure it was still working.  

In another case, a client was transitioning from a strict pyramid hierarchy to a flatter structure as the new CEO wanted to operate in a more dynamic way. For this case we gave coaching to all managers and leaders to support them in learning how to build up psychological safety and learn to be more participative managers.  

The entry point will vary for every business. But it’s about finding where the energy is needed first to make an impact.  

Too often I’ve seen long drawn out change initiatives that don’t ever change anything.  

Q: What metrics or indicators should organisations track to measure the success of these experiments? 

Measure what matters is what I always say. Any experiment should have a clear purpose. What are you trying to improve? And from this, you can then ask, how will we know it has been a success?  

They are simple questions but provide strong answers to what you should measure.  

Don’t go overboard on measuring everything. And let’s be honest, some things are just simply not clearly measurable such as how much the energy changes in the room, or how creative people have become.  

Be clear on what you’ll measure and how you’ll measure it.

Check out Part 1 of the interview with Lizzie here.

HRD Connect Curators of the New Business Landscape. HRD Connect produces industry-recognized content for senior HR leaders. Through articles, case studies, Q&As, podcasts, events, and more, we offer truly progressive and cutting-edge insights designed to help people leaders address core HR challenges and add greater value to their business.

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