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How does self-organisation really get going? Consulting on an agile organisation in the education sector

Case of an educational company in the context of Neuwaldegg’s consulting for agile organisations.

The owner of a German insti­tute for further educa­tion has taken a bold step: it has been relying on 100% self-orga­ni­sa­tion based on SCRUM product logic for two years now. The teams form around the respec­tive products and work accor­ding to the SCRUM prin­ci­ples. The members have diffe­rent roles in diffe­rent teams. But somehow the whole thing isn’t really getting going: some products are not selling, subli­minal conflicts are noti­ceable, many people are feeling a lack of direc­tion and craving more leader­ship.
The aim is to find out what frame­work condi­tions the orga­ni­sa­tion and its members need so that self-orga­ni­sa­tion can develop its full poten­tial. They want to learn from our expe­ri­ence with hola­cracy and self-orga­ni­sa­tion to set up a process that addresses the fears and concerns of indi­vi­duals and makes them workable and creates a more effec­tive orga­ni­sa­tional structure.

Who is responsible for what and who decides what?

First of all, a joint cultural analysis is started, hypo­theses are formed and the initial direc­tions are deve­loped. The follo­wing topics emerge: it is not clear to indi­vi­duals who is respon­sible for what and who decides what, as there is little formal defi­ni­tion. Informal manage­ment struc­tures have been estab­lished but the owner is still the central focus. Hurt from the past (such as deva­luing between trai­ners and staff) is still present.
During the first phase, work is done on what needs to be intro­duced on the formal side to create more secu­rity within the orga­ni­sa­tion. For this purpose, diffe­rent roles are defined with tasks in the teams, rules of trans­pa­rency are intro­duced and the meeting proce­dures are laid down. There is always space for indi­vi­duals to voice their fears, which streng­thens confi­dence in the process and in the future.

Purpose creates a common middle ground!

In the second phase, the focus is more on working methods and coope­ra­tion (tribe space). The purpose creates the common middle ground which ever­yone can gather around. The purpose prac­tices estab­lish the connec­tion to prac­tice by inte­gra­ting them into the teams and roles. Buil­ding on this, work can be done on common conflict and a common culture of discus­sion. Topi­cality and courage are helpful in this respect: as a result, deli­cate topics are discussed in public and worked on with the owner, crea­ting the neces­sary momentum. Indi­vi­duals prac­tice using tools on real topics that they can also use in ever­yday life. Extra roles are defined to act as supporters in the future.
The tempo­rary “Self-orga­ni­sa­tion” group supports the orga­ni­sa­tion and the teams in their deve­lo­p­ment processes by using the systemic cycle and takes over more and more of the consul­tants’ tasks.

Copy­right: Bera­ter­gruppe Neuwaldegg

The key is to take the emotional burden seriously.

The key is to take the emotional burden of the employees seriously on the one hand and to create concrete rules of the game at the same time, which regu­late the work in daily acti­vi­ties and thus provide relief. Authen­ti­city and credi­bi­lity emerge by mindfully dealing with sensi­tive issues and para­doxes, such as the owner’s role, the informal rules of the game around key people and smould­e­ring conflicts. The joint discourse on this topic restores strength and makes lear­ning possible.

Barbara Buzanich-Pöltl

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Bera­ter­gruppe Neuwaldegg
Gesell­schaft für Unter­neh­mens­be­ra­tung und Orga­ni­sa­ti­ons­ent­wick­lung GmbH

Gregor-Mendel-Straße 35, 1190 Vienna, Austria
T +43/1/368 80 70, office@neuwaldegg.at, www.neuwaldegg.at
Firmen­buch-Nr. 69063 p, Handels­ge­richt Wien

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