Self‐directed Work Teams: A Key to World‐class Operations?

Presents some of the critical questions relating to self‐directed work teams (SDWT) – small groups of employees who are responsible for producing an entire product or product segment and for managing themselves and the work that they do. While some companies have used SDWTs for many years, interest in the concept has grown very rapidly in the last few years but because of large differences in work and workers, SDWTs are not a universally applicable concept. Any organization that is considering adopting SDWTs must ask a series of questions to determine if SDWTs “fit” their circumstances.