McGraw Hill Training Series Leading Self Directed Work Teams

Self-directed work teams are rapidly replacing traditional boss-driven organizations whose entrenched autocratic management styles have become obsolete. This reveals how supervisors in any company can take advantage of the leadership skills that make and keep major corporations competitive. Featured by "Business Week", "Fortune", and "The Wall Street Journal" as the cutting edge of corporate management, self-directed work teams (SDWTs) are rapidly replacing traditional boss-driven organizations whose entrenched autocratic management styles have become obsolete. In major companies like Kodak, Apple, Walmart, and Honeywell, SDWTs have transformed personnel into a creative and competitive workforce. "Leading Self-directed Work Teams" reveals how supervisors in any company - large or small - can take advantage of the leadership skills that make and keep major corporations competitive. Focusing on hundreds of practical, time-tested examples, the author explains innovative practices such as Kodak's 13 Room, where a division created its own board of directors comprised of team members who assumed leadership of the business. This book also examines team leader practices learned from Procter and Gamble experiments - managing by principle rather than by policy and setting boundaries that change as the team matures. In addition, this practical, step-by-step guide explains the intricacies of helping traditional supervisors change to SDWT leaders with: a weekly activity guide to help team leaders remember critical activities; easy-to-access tips and checklists summarizing key concepts and strategies; a special chapter focusing on "3 days in the life of a team leader"; and practical solutions for typical team leader problems. In the increasingly competitive marketplace every corporation needs a leg up, and "Leading Self-directed Work Teams" shows how to create that edge from the shop floor to the executive offices.