Self-Management is an organisational model wherein the traditional functions of a manager (planning, coordinating, controlling, staffing and directing) are pushed out to all participants in the organsation as opposed to a select few. Each member of the organisation is personally responsible for forging their own personal relationships, planning their own work, coordinating their actions with other members, acquiring requisite resources to accomplish their mission, and for taking corrective action with respect to other members when needed.

To bring about this change we needed support and coaching from someone with knowledge and experience of organisational change and “Going Teal”. We had the good fortune to discover Susan Basterfield. Susan’s approach is to create the conditions to allow what the organisation is naturally drawn to do to emerge. The metaphor she likes to use is that of a scaffold – “if we can build and secure a scaffold, and provide the tools, the team members will create something of their very own, and something only they can create.” Susan is the co-author of Reinventing Scale-Ups which is an excellent read.

As an organisation we are committed to the concept of bringing the whole person to work and we all use one-page profiles. I am excited to look at how people can bring their ideas to their teams and work out the best way to work locally in the different areas we offer support.

Some of the work we have been doing over the past year is being explicit about our values and redefining our mission statement as a whole organisation and developing a shared purpose within each team.

For more information click link to video from Jan.