The concept of a self-managed or self-directed team is nothing new, it is a concept that has been around for years and is becoming increasingly popular. The rise has been attributed to greater use of online tools that play a vital role in helping the members of a team to communicate with each other. 

Whilst it is more traditional for a team to be managed from the top down, a team who self-manage are more flexible and the approach that they can offer to a project can in turn be more innovative. 

How can you achieve this?

When it comes to leading a team, one that is self-managed is very different to one that follows the more traditional structure of a team with a clear leader. There are some questions you might be considering when looking at how you can help your team, from the project management apprentice to the old hand to manage themselves.

·      As project manager how can you lead the team?

·      When it comes to managers what role do they play?

·      How can you measure the success of your team?

The one thing that you do need to avoid doing when you want to help your project team to manage themselves is placing any external order on them – in other words be a member of the team rather than the manager of the team.

This is a less organised context for working in and by its very definition they team need to be free to collaborate with each other and work together towards the same end goal. 

This is where those project management qualifications can really help you to help your team so that you can effectively take a step back from managing them and instead become a member of the team itself, trusting the team to do what needs to be done. 

How do you lead?

As project manager you need to make sure that you are available to the members of your team, communicate clearly with them and make sure that you seek their feedback with clear up dates on where the project goals are up to. However, you should still allow the team to set their own goals and work with each other to resolve the issues that come up. 

Whilst you might not actively be leading the team it is still important to watch out for a few things. Be aware of any alignment, your teams’ initiatives still need to be in line with any corporate strategies that are in place. It is also a good idea to have the team present their outcomes on a regular basis this will allow to be more accountable for their goals and end results. 

Remember in order to help your team to manage themselves both you, and them, need to fully understand exactly what the goals are for a project and how they can be achieved.