Self-organising teams have developed a lot of airtime in recent years, having been mentioned explicitly in the Agile Manifesto. The problem is that there is little guidance on how these teams work and how they need to be enabled, nurtured and protected. No “manual for Self-organising teams” explains how it works. So team leaders and managers in many organisations decide to just jump in without guidance and try to figure it out by themselves. I mean, how hard can it be? 

The truth is that creating a great team is hard enough, as any manager should already know. However, the concept of self-organising teams doesn’t make this process any easier. Trying to enable or participate in a “self-organising” team can be difficult and extremely subtle in what works and what doesn’t. It can be personally confronting on many levels and requires a level of tolerance, agility, commitment, and discipline that is far away higher than most ordinary teams.

I would have thought it was both fundamental and obvious that you cannot manage a “self-organising team” into existence. You can create the environment and structure, but then it is, by definition, up to the team members to manage themselves with suitable guidance and support from the organisation.

But often, the first thing that happens is a team’s manager calls a meeting and announces, “Congratulations, you guys are now a self-organising team!”. The second sentence can be one of:

1) “Now, here’s what I want you to do.”

2) “Now, off you go and self-organise yourselves for the next sprint.”

Or a similar statement.

Either of these two sentences from a manager can be dis-enabling. The first immediately undermines the announcement of the first sentence by continuing directive behavior. The second sentence (unless closely followed by subtle influence and support) basically puts the onus back on the team, but without letting them know anything about what just happened. The obvious questions arise but are unanswered:

•     What are our boundaries?

•     What can and can’t we decide as a team?

•     Who do we turn to for problems?

•     What resources are available to help us make this transition?

It is unsurprising that self-organising teams cannot start or gel. This just creates an excuse for managers to step in and say, “This isn’t working,” and go back to past practice.

This book aims to provide guidance on how this works for both managers and leaders who must still participate in this process and the participants, team members, and managers who are all now part of this team structure. There are answers to the obvious questions or at least ways of defining and agreeing on the answers.