Leading Self-Directed Work Teams

Great book with many examples and good advice on developing self directed work teams. It is by far the best book written on using SDWT. The only flaw is that the author should use more examples from healthcare and non-profit organizations.

Kimball Fisher writes about the heart of modern management, the need to develop employees at all-levels and tap latent organizational resources through the emphasis of employee involvement in team-based programs.Fisher makes many of his points through analogies, which makes his work a delight to read, and easy to remember. Two of his analogies have taken a firm hold in my mind. The first is about the difference between the Shephard and the Sheep herder, and the second about not "eating the sausage." Both analogies describe the need for management to support workers, so as to create quality and efficiency in the absence of rigid oversight.The book is well-written and easy to read, with information compartimantalized in understandable "sound-bites." The book is packed with models and concepts which promote the use of team based programs, and descibe the proper roles of team members and management.

This book is our standard as we begin to build the team concept. The quote, "If teams are the Religion, then this is the Bible" comes from a senior manager in our company who has PASSION for the team concept. I am an internal OD consultant and I have a healthy background in the development of self directed teams. I used to consider "Self Directed Work Teams, the New American Challenge" by Orsburn, Moran, Musselwhite and Zenger to be the standard. Since then I have read a lot of works on the concept of self directed teams, and this Fisher book is a great book, at the top of the heap. Reason? Because as a practitioner you can USE it.

It's always a pleasure to read a book written by someone who both understands his topic and has lived it. Kimball Fischer succeeds on both counts, and anyone charged with implementing self directed work teams would benefit from this work. When consulting with organizations on their process improvement efforts, reorganization and teamwork often become issues. This book is one of several that have helped me to assist my clients in addressing those issues. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me - [email protected].

After a thorough discussion of what a Self Directed Work Teams the author slides into a step-by-step description of how a supervisor/manager can transisiton to a team leader. I found the numerous tables and checklists to be understandable and complete. This book will make an excellent reference.