FIVE REASONS TO CHOOSE MANAGEMENT 3.0

A self-managing team, or the transition of a manager from horror to a state of light elation

Management 3.0 will show you how to build a self-managing team, which is definitely a more pleasant work and management environment. The text was written in a satirical spirit – read. presents the world through comic exaggeration, but does not have to propose any positive solutions. Although not entirely, because some inspirations for choosing positive solutions to the indicated problems did appear in the content.

An introductory story to the issue:

You start a meeting with your team after a week that you would most like to erase from your diary. Alternatively, he left blank pages for each day. It was 5 days of meetings, correcting reports, confirming plans for the coming months, of course, when you have the least time for it… problems one after another, every day the email inbox screams with unread messages, and Krysia and Maciek went on leave because they couldn’t handle it anymore. And probably rightly so. Yes, it’s those few days in the year that you want to forget as quickly as possible. Erase from memory. Crumple the page from the diary with that date and triumphantly throw it into the trash. As if it were just a failed imagination…

So you start this meeting on Monday after such a week, and 5 minutes in, you find out that a week ago there was an escalation from an important client. You already feel that twinge in your heart. Adrenaline doesn’t ask, it just shoots hard into your bloodstream and you already see the coming days, which will be more empty pages in your diary… then you start to feel like you’re dreaming… like it’s some kind of fairy tale. What’s happening? Maybe you’re already in heaven, because the previous week was even worse than you expected? Maybe it’s already your sixth coffee today that has raised your brain waves to a slightly illegal level?

All this feeling of ecstasy comes from the fact that Kasia has actually already called that client, explained the situation, and gathered information about what exactly this Vietnam is about? Then, together with Karolina, they called several other departments to gather key information about what really happened on our side that caused such a mess… Konrad came up with two or three solutions on how you can approach this, and together they propose that you all sit down for 15 minutes today as a group of four, make a decision on what to do next in this situation, and plan the next steps. Does it sound like utopia? It can be done in practice. This is exactly what a self-managing team is.

„We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein

First: Management 3.0 gives you a new way of thinking about how to solve previously 'unsolvable' problems. A lot of inspiration and tips on how to solve them systematically, not just temporarily.

Be like Einstein, meaning if you have a recurring problem, seriously look for a different solution. You come to the office one Monday and on your way to your desk, you are greeted by a smiling team. Everyone smiles to greet you, some give you a high-five, others say ‘boss, let me know if I can help with anything this week.’ Or ‘I have an idea on how to increase our productivity and I am happy to take on its implementation.’ Alternatively, ‘I know that the holiday season is approaching, so if there are any conflicts, I am happy to adjust my plans’… yes, that’s utopia. Probably most of the readers realized after the first sentence – Monday and everyone is smiling? Yeah, right…

Nevertheless, questions about how to maintain team engagement, how to ensure its efficiency, how to motivate individual members, probably come back to you like a boomerang from time to time? Following Albert Einstein’s advice, you can use a different way of thinking about management (as served by Management 3.0) to solve problems arising from management in the Management 2.0 model.

“Smart people believe weird things because they can intelligently defend their beliefs, which they acquired in an unintelligent way” – Michael Shermer

Second: Management 3.0 shows what action strategies you can add to your competency panel to respond to changes occurring in the value systems of people in your team.

Generation X, Generation Y, Generation Z – we already know everything, in practice, it amounts to very little.  Just as the industrial revolution pushed people from fields to factories, and the digital revolution moved them from factories to offices, the internet revolution (also known as the digitalization revolution, the fourth industrial revolution) is transporting us into a reality where the barrier between humans and machines is disappearing. Such changes have always caused social, cultural, and systemic shifts, which manifested in subsequent generations.

Whether we like it or not, we are witnessing a shift in the value system, particularly in relation to work, with the most noticeable differences appearing between generations. So if you have seven, ten, or more years of experience in the role of a manager or you believe that you manage people at least very well, it is worth considering the statement: ‘maybe look for inspiration for something new?’

Third: Management 3.0. Besides the team management strategy, it provides tools that you can use in your team literally the next day (e.g., after training) – Kudos, Champfrog motivators, Delegation poker.

Be a good manager, they said. Resolve conflicts and give feedback, they advised. Cool! But any specifics? More or less willingly, we will agree that we need to take care of our team somehow. Help our ‘geniuses’ manage various issues, not just those related to specialized knowledge. There are already plenty of ideas on what competencies a manager should not have to take care of their team. Communicate effectively, manage stakeholders, set goals, resolve conflicts, provide feedback, motivate employees, manage change… and we could probably go on for a while. However, when we do our own soul-searching and ask the question: ‘What specifically have I done in the last few months (one or two things) to systematically ensure better communication?’ How to efficiently manage change? When asked, ‘How to ensure feedback in the team?’ the most common response is ‘hm…’. It’s simply not that easy – for each of the mentioned competencies, it would be useful to know (and use!) at least two or three tools.

Fourth: An added value resulting from a self-managing team is the additional time for the manager to engage in strategic activities.

If the team can independently solve most problems, ensure the onboarding of new members, develop expert competencies, take care of providing feedback, and monitor the progress of their projects, it frees up a significant amount of time for the manager to focus on tasks that, for example, allow for better alignment of the team’s/organization’s system with the employees’ needs.

Employee engagement in co-creating the team culture makes a serious ally for us, who can support us in difficult situations. It is most often referred to as the rule of social influence (mainly social proof). The mentioned ally can support the manager in difficult situations, so that they do not exhibit the attitude of #Iknowitall or #Iambosssothatshowitshouldbe.

Fifth: Management 3.0 is a forge of soft skills within the team.

You send people to training, during meetings you talk about how important good communication is within the team and with clients. You assign tasks where people can prove themselves – lead a meeting, take on the role of a moderator… you talk about open communication, organize training on feedback. Then a situation arises where you feel like you’re back in kindergarten because Johnny argued with Charles and now he won’t correct tasks for him anymore. Another time, Kasia comes to you and states that the clients from Germany are rude in conversation and you should do something about it, after all, you are the manager of this team…

Human beings are social by nature, and regardless of our preferences, we must cooperate with people to accomplish tasks. However, for this collaboration, we also need special skills such as: managing our own emotions, communicating our needs, asking and posing questions when we have doubts, etc. Unfortunately, today’s educational system (and the previous one as well) does not include lessons on collaboration or homework related to creativity or conflict resolution in its curriculum. That’s why we have to address this in adulthood, when 42-year-old John or 31-year-old Kate throw a tantrum and get offended over something that may be beyond our control (as managers).

If you decide to work with the team in the spirit of management 3.0, you will need to engage your entire team in this change. Joint decision-making or explaining delays in task completion to the team (and not the manager) are excellent opportunities for developing social skills. Discussions about the team’s values, how we want to work to be effective and in a pleasant atmosphere, are incredibly opening for people. Even if at first we feel uncertain, maybe a bit uncomfortable, over time this feeling is replaced by a sense of understanding and fulfillment. People feel good in environments where rules are clearly defined. Both those regulating our positions and those regulating our cooperation.

Are you intrigued by the idea of Management 3.0?

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