Self-Managed Teams LO10786

BARAK ROSENBLOOM (REGION#u#10.ETA.ROSENBLOOMB@DOLETA.GOV)
Wed, 30 Oct 1996 14:23:29 -0500

Replying to LO10752 --

Responding to:

We are told that we are going to a 100% Self-Managed Team for 1997
including evaluations of each other and pay treatment (optional). I am
interested in information, insights as we move into this "new world"

--------------------------

Our 33-person office has, over the past several years, become as
self-managed as a federal agency can get. We make group decisions on
resources, policy, and strategy, and have complete control over
performance appraisals, promotions (within the federal boundaries), and
even our 'boss' - whom we elected!

We have been experimenting with a new perforance evaluation process,
beginning with "coaches" - the old supervisors who, in the formal system
which we must accomodate, must be evaluated in the fall, while the rest of
us are evaluated in the spring. The process we used is designed around
specific behaviors and team dialog. There are five or six sections, each
with several behavioral scales. The team evaluating has a dialog about
the general section, and comes to a common understanding about how the
coach functions. After scoring (on an informal thermometer), the team
then identifies strengths and opportunities for improvement for each of
the six sections. When the process is done, the team sits down with the
coach and talks about the outcomes. Most of us work on several teams -
the teams came together and decided how best to handle the feedback. Some
had very different impressions of the same coach and were able to identify
opportunities; others found more consistency in a coach.

The office was very excited by the process, and will be improving it so
that it can be used for all staff in the spring evaluation. If anyone
would like a WordPerfect copy, just let me know.

We designed the tool around the process used in the Simply Better!
Self-Assessment System that we created in this office. We worked with
dozens of organizations to take the principles in the Baldrige award and
turn them into an accessible tool which produces not a score, but a
greater understanding within an organization of how it functions and what
it can do to improve. We've had tremendous success with it, and have been
hearing from many people - public and private sector - that it is a great
tool. If anyone would like to download it for free (your tax dollars paid
for it), our web page is www.ttrc.doleta.gov/simplyb

Barak Rosenbloom
Troublemaker
U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
Seattle, Washington 98101
206-553-4543 x8030
rosenbloomb@doleta.gov

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BARAK ROSENBLOOM <REGION#u#10.ETA.ROSENBLOOMB@DOLETA.GOV>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>