Self Managed Teams — An alternative structure in disability support teams
Not that very long ago I was a big proponent of the Team Lead and/or Personal Assistant as part of a team that supports a disabled person*. You know, the star person who provides leadership to the rest of the team, who could be heavily relied on to continue team machinations and keep things on track. They would do the coordination of team activities, manage the schedule and drive the team to meet the person’s outcomes, keeping the culture and focus on the person in check. In fact I wrote a blog about how everyone needs a Personal Assistant — which I still maintain is relevant for many. When the right person is in that lead role, life runs very smoothly for the person with a disability. But for many, this star team member is at worst elusive, and at best transitory.
What happens when a key person leaves? Or someone you thought could lead aren’t the ‘right’ person (or once was a good fit but no longer are)? We can’t expect paid people to be in a person’s life forever and yet their absence can leave an enormous gap — emotionally and administratively. Often it’s the family who has to step in and pick up the slack (if there is family available) followed by an intensive and often fruitless recruitment drive. It can leave the person with a disability feeling vulnerable, disillusioned and distressed.
This got me thinking about different ways teams can be organized. In a past life as an Organisational Change Manager, I came across the notion of a Self Managed Team. Also known as self organisation, it comprises of a team of people who still bring in their unique skills and attributes but share key tasks and communicate in a way where they can manage themselves without a designated leader. In this scenario, the team collectively reports to the disabled person, organises themselves for meetings and schedules and collectively problem solve. Each team member is able to back up the others so when someone leaves or goes on holiday, all aspects of the work can continue with limited disruption.
The self managed team model works best when there is access to a team coach who is not involved in the day to day running of the team. Rather, they are skilled and available to guide, support and mentor. It helps if they have some professional counselling or facilitation skills, but it is key that they get to deeply know and be deeply known by the disabled person.
The benefit of being outside of the team is that the coach themselves is less likely to be caught up in the team dynamics and remain clear eyed on the purpose of their role and that of the team. This role should be paid to allow consistency and accountability. Also, recruiting a coach seems to be far easier than recruiting a Team Lead as there may be a wider range of professional and skilled people willing and able to take on this role.
We don’t give team dynamics and structure the attention it deserves. We need to remember that teams are made of a bunch of humans having to work with each other. And wherever there are human teams there are very human team dynamics.
Laloux in “Reinventing organisations” shows different organisations (and teams as ‘mini’ organisations) demonstrate certain aspects that reflect the structure of the team (see below). We often consider whether someone is a good ‘fit’ but don’t take the time to understand what they are needing to fit into.
Laloux’s model seems to suggest that working as a highly structured, hierarchical team is less ‘evolved’ than working as a self organized, harmonious whole. I’m not sure that is the case — I believe team structure should reflect the way of working that best suits the needs of the person being supported. Some disabled people prefer a hierarchical structure and prefer to develop a more transactional relationship with support workers, building in levels of authority.
Having said that, the notion of a self managed team is not generally considered or known especially for someone who has complex support needs and where decision making is not straight forward. Here are some of the benefits:
- A self managed team is more likely to be more sustainable and ensure better continuity of support during big changes, allowing families to maintain their natural family relationships no matter what is happening.
- The ‘boss’ is always the disabled person. Team politics is generally reduced.
- Self management can help keep service providers from taking over someone’s life in times of a crisis such as if a parent dies. Too often when a parent does the lions share of the management of support and then no longer can, too few people can step in. Then a provider is rushed in, often at the detriment to the choice and control of the person with a disability.
- Self managed teams organise themselves and share/rotate key tasks such as coordination. If workers leave or go on holidays, they work out between themselves the allocation of tasks and assist in recruitment so supports can continue seamlessly.
- The team accesses support and guidance from the coach rather than the person or the family who often have enough to deal with. A good coach mediates conflicts within a team and provides a buffer between any team discomfort and the disabled person and the family.
Despite the many benefits to self managed teams it takes work and intention. It can be difficult to shift a team from an existing hierarchical way of working to self organisation. Humans naturally gravitate to hierarchies — often deferring to someone who has more knowledge on certain topics, have a different kind of relationship to the person with a disability or have been in their role longer. What can happen in a hierarchy is an ‘overfunctioning’ of a team lead or key worker resulting in an ‘underfunctioning’ of other team members. Teams need training and focussed coaching so each member is empowered to take initiative, liaise mindfully with each other and have awareness of how their own energy affects the dynamic of the team and the person they are working for. The focus should always be on the person being supported but this can get sidelined when a team faces uncertainty and conflict.
Using a self managed team model may not be for everyone. It depends on the person’s personality, support needs and home life culture on what team structure works best. But its important to know that team structure drives a team culture.
Self managing teams in my view is an important strategy to ensure sustainability and continuity of support that deserves a lot more consideration, and could make life a lot smoother for many people with disabilities and their families having nurtured a rockstar team.
*This blog uses ‘disabled person’ and ‘person with a disability’ interchangeably to reflect people’s preferences
