Here are some clues to look out for when your organisation is on the way to becoming self-managing.
Many people give up on self-management when it doesn’t yield results quickly enough. It can be hard to see progress because it looks totally different in this new paradigm of work than in the old paradigm.
So here are some signs to look out for.
#1: Proposal culture
You know managers are no longer the only ones driving things when proposals emerge from unexpected places.
At Ian Martin Group when the pandemic hit, a person from Compliance and a person from Sales made a proposal on Loomio for what the thematic goal should be during the crisis period. The whole company consented and the decision went ahead with no centralised coordination needed.
#2: Co-produced meeting culture
In traditional organisations, the manager or leader steers the meetings and everyone else is a passenger.
What you want to see is meetings where multiple people steward the purpose of the meeting, including input on the agenda, interpersonal dynamics, and the outcomes.
#3: Feedback culture
Feedback is needed for individual and collective learning.
A CEO told me recently that her team gave a presentation where one slide said: “How we used to make decisions: the boss decided.” Ouch! She thanked them and was happy they felt safe enough to be so candid.
When you notice these signs, your job is to appreciate people… and then get out of the way.
From these seeds, more fruits will soon grow. Trust the process.
This post was created with Typeshare
