Misery Management. Although these managerial actions can stop team progress immediately, there is tremendous opportunity for learning in each of them. The IS
manager’
s challenge is to remain open and somewhat vulnerable to learning while challenging the team to participate in a successful conversation on inferences and actions. One strategy is for the manager to schedule specific times, whether at the end of each team meeting or at another time, for free-flowing discussion of open-ended questions.
Because team members are also responsible for building the team relationship and moving closer to the vision, they need to learn to be more comfortable voicing respectful critiques of specific situations. In addition, team members need to be willing to participate in the deliberate effort necessary for the successful implementation of the team-based organization.
As dialogues continue, the group may realize that there is a need for increased decision- making and problem-solving effectiveness. Remember, the managers and the teams do not know, intuitively, how to achieve this. It is the responsibility of the
entire membership of the organization to push the edges of the envelope to experience its own empowerment. Managers are responsible for coaching and mentoring increased empowerment of the the team and for supporting its success.
Misery Three: Misalignment of Support Structures
Implementation of the team-based structure in an IS department or division may be the best structure for the function. However, if the balance of the organization is not making the move at this time or ever, potential misery is possible.
Relationship to the Balance of the Organization. Teams are encouraged to work directly with internal customers and external suppliers to provide quality and innovative services. The internal customers and external suppliers, however, may be accustomed to working and establishing a relationship with organizational management. This situation can cause great misery if not well supported by the IS
manager.
Misery Management. IS managers are responsible for building and sustaining the position that teams are the first line of assistance for all aspects of day-to-day operations and service provision. This can be accomplished through discussions with customers and suppliers about the new structure and its meaning for relationships and respective roles. The transition to smooth team interaction with customers and suppliers is not effectively handled in a single conversation, however, but rather through consistent and repetitive messages from managers delivered both proactively and reactively. The effectiveness of the transition and the minimization of this misery depends on the managers’
ability to stand by the structure change and
the teams while maintaining strategic and long-term relationships with the supplier and customer communities.
Alignment of Rewards. Another important facet of misery three is misalignment of the reward structure with the new team-based organization. Managers have professed the importance of teamwork and that the team will be evaluated and rewarded based on both team accomplishments and individual achievements. When managers do not follow through on their commitment and rate people as individual performers without mention of the performance of the team, the pain begins. The misery only intensifies if other managers are awarding performance in very different ways. Misery management in this case begins with the manager’
s ensuring that
performance evaluations and various reward systems are congruent with the team-based structure.
Blending with Highly Individual Contributors. Every IS organization has its prima donnas — people who are extremely talented in their particular area of technical expertise and who know their value to the organization. Generally, these individuals are pleasant while working with others but prefer to work with other highly technical people or alone. They also like to move ahead without the formality and baggage associated with work relationships and bureaucracy.
Because these individuals see little benefit from the team concept, they may escape the team training and relationship-building sessions. Other members in the IS
organization may wonder why these highly technical people are treated differently. If the expectations of the organization regarding these individualists are not well managed, the perceived lack of fairness and inequity may cause resentment.
Misery Management. Organizational managers need to take a united position on the purpose of the team structure and how various functions and individuals contribute to successful implementation of the teams. Although placing highly technical people on teams may not seem to make the best immediate use of their time or skills, IS managers who consider future required competencies will see the benefit of improved relationship and communication skills for all technical staff.
Managers should assess and clearly communicate the different development needs of individual contributors to team development and the team structure.
Misery Four: Personal Fitness
In today’
s world, personal physical fitness and healthful lifestyles receive a great deal of attention. A career has an element of personal fitness too. In this context, personal fitness is the match of the gifts and contributions of an individual with the receptiveness of the corporate culture and the opportunity to maximize these gifts.
There are times when the larger organization recognizes the gifts of an employee and seeks to develop this opportunity. More frequently, however, people in organizations become stuck in a situation, position, or occupation that is not a good match for them.
Lack of work fitness results in misery for both the person and the organization at some point. Waning or apathetic performance on the part of the employee affects productivity (i.e., organizational strength), especially as actions and contributions become more routine and less innovative over time. The organization is forced to bring in people capable of the higher levels of performance and competency. The original members of the organization are passed by for promotions and more-challenging opportunities.
Misery Management. Managing personal satisfaction and minimizing personal work miseries necessitates that an individual take charge of satisfaction. This can be accomplished in several ways.
Personal Preference. It is important for IS managers and professionals to understand their personal preferences for work and to recognize the types of activities, events, or projects they gravitate toward or away from. In addition, some individuals feel more comfortable with one type of organizational environment than another. As employees of an organization that is moving from an autocratic environment to one of higher levels of participation, IS managers may need to assess their personal preferences in the work environment as well as to ensure that there is a proper fit between the two. Knowing one’
s personal work and organizational preferences and
using self-observation to confirm initial thoughts or ideas help ensure personal fitness in the work environment.
Continuous Development. The larger organization usually provides the initial training and education on the reasons for the change to a team-based structure, the context associated with the change, and the intended direction. This initial introduction and context is only the beginning or the foundation upon which to base continuous learning and to build competencies. The larger organization does not necessarily know what a manager’
s shortcomings are. It is the responsibility of IS managers to implement methods to identify the developmental needs of the IS organization and its teams and to promote a learning organization. Ongoing learning needs to be planned fully and deliberately.
Performance Tuning through Reflection and Coaching. IS managers should take the time to reflect on their style and competencies. At the same time, they need to remember myth one — managers know how to do this — as well as to learn from the experience of athletes, who continue to use coaches throughout their careers.
Few managers use the coaching technique, and even fewer women remotely consider its use. A coach serves to guide a person through self-reflection activities and other exercises that provide objective perspectives about current competencies and the desired state. Some people use a mentor for this purpose, but most mentor relationships are established to provide encouragement and advice and do not reach the level of a coaching relationship.
RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION
Recognizing the myths associated with self-directed teams and managing their related miseries are important first steps along the road to successful self-directed teams. Awareness and acknowledgment that miseries are a natural part of the growing cycle of living structures — like organizations — provide some grounding for the normal feelings of discomfort and excitement associated with significant change and the transformations yet to come. Through deliberate, respectful, and thoughtful management, IS managers can minimize or eliminate some of the miseries that accompany the transformation to teams.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Block, P. Stewardship: Choosing Service over Self-Interest. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1993.
Kline, P. and Saunders, B. The Ten Steps to a Learning Organization. Arlington VA: Great Ocean Publishers, 1993.
Melrose, K. Making the Grass Greener on Your Side: A CEO’
s Journey to Leading by
Serving. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1995.
Nadler, D.A. et al. Discontinuous Change: Leading Organizational Transformation.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995.
Shipka, B. “Softstuff Application: Developing Work Teams in Technical Organizations.” In Community Building: Renewing Spirit & Learning in Business, ed.
K. Gozdz, pp. 95–102. San Francisco: New Leaders Press, 1995.
Chapter 20: Improving IS Performance: The
Role of the Value Chain