MANAGEMENT SPECIAL............ Self-managed teams get a role at India Inc

Self-managed teams get a role  at India Inc

It is too early to say that the `boss' or manager has become completely redundant. However, the concept of self-managed teams (SMTs) is gradually making inroads in the service sector or in servicerelated operations in India. Once, SMTs were confined to process-driven operations at factory plants, which were easier to break down into smaller tasks. It is too early to say that the `boss' or manager has become completely redundant. However, the concept of self-managed teams (SMTs) is gradually making inroads in the service sector or in service related operations in India. It is too early to say that the `boss' or manager has become completely redundant. However, the concept of self-managed teams (SMTs) is gradually making inroads in the service sector or in servicerelated operations in India.Once, SMTs were confined to process-driven operations at factory plants, which were easier to break down into smaller tasks.

Mastek, a Mumbai-headquartered technology company , has adopted the SMT concept across the organization. “I've stopped thinking like an employee and starting thinking like an entrepreneur,“ says Ben Salins, a technical specialist. His colleague, Kshama S Saple, a user experience designer, adds, “It gives me courage to voice my opinion, teaches me to take ownership. Leadership is no longer a position or title, but an action or an example.“

When the company introduced the SMT concept termed as `Mastek 4.0' around a year ago, it expected that such a drastic change would take three years to take root. However, the transformation is nearly 60% complete, resulting in more empowered and happier employees, and highly satisfied customers who witness more positive interaction, energy and enthusiasm.

Bijou Kurein, ex-president & CEO at Reliance Retail and former COO Titan, affirms, “SMTs driven by business goals, aligned to corporate values and adaptive to the needs of the market and customers will be the norm of the future.“ A few retail chains in India are known to have introduced the SMT concept in certain pockets or showrooms.

Kurein says that SMTs are especially useful in meeting the challenges of managing distributed workforces, such as sales teams in retail sectors. “How else can you compete against a local retailer in Karol Bagh who has introduced a new scheme, or respond to a customer who demands higher discounts or has a genuine problem with his purchase? The primary objective is to achieve your business goals and deliver customer satisfaction,“ he adds.

The potential of SMTs in service functions is very high, says S DeeRam explains, “In the past, company-level goals cascaded down the line into departmental and individual key result areas (KRAs). The process is now reversed.Each team sets its own goals, for example, in terms of customer impact, growth and profitability and contribution to the community . Following the principles, ` Agile' goals are set quarterly and delivered in monthly prints. At the company level, these team goals are aggregated to form company-wide goals.“

Mastek has also dealt with the problem of performance evaluation in an SMT set-up where there are no bosses, in the traditional sense.

Lubna Kably

TOI7SEP15