Self-organization: More Success, Less Chaos

New structures and modern order in teams

Today a project member, tomorrow a manager and at the same time a specialist – depending on the tasks, your own role in the project changes during the various phases . The classic boundaries between management, executives and the team are becoming weaker and weaker in the modern working world or are disappearing altogether. How it works? With good self-organization .

New Work changes collaboration

Changed structures, modern processes, flat hierarchies, flexibility and a new mindset – these are just some of the values ​​of New Work . In many teams, agility is at the top of the agenda and is constantly being taken to a new level. A central aspect is personal responsibility at company and team level as well as at employee level. And personal responsibility means self-organization.

It is therefore all the more important to work in a self-organized manner, to achieve goals and implement them in the best possible way. Because chaotic working days lead to less progress, missing deadlines and endlessly long to-do lists .

1. Definition: What is self-organization anyway?

Self-organization describes the structural order of the employees , but also in the team and across companies. So far, there is no uniform definition – rather, self-organization takes place in different areas.

In self-organized teams, New Work is the focus : flatter hierarchies and working with more personal responsibility. At the team level, goals are set, standards are established and work content is created independently. For employees, self-organization means a clearer structure in their working day, keeping an overview of to-dos and being as productive and stress -free as possible when implementing them.

Self-organized teams work differently in every company

The extent to which a company or team works in a self-organized manner can only be decided and influenced by the organization itself . In some teams, limited self-organization with little room for maneuver does not lead to free development of the project participants, so that the full potential is not exploited. In more traditional teams , too much freedom can quickly become overwhelming , leading to chaos and ultimately dissatisfied employees.

Learn self-organization

First of all, self-organization can be learned. This works best with the right methods , tools and tips . As soon as the right techniques for better self-management have been found, goals are automatically achieved much more easily, concentration is increased and time is saved in everyday life. The skills learned can also be used in a wide variety of areas – and the private sphere can also be optimized with it.

Also Read: 10 Tips To Stay Organized As A College Student

2. Methods – easier to implement

In order to work self-organized as a team , different methods can help with the implementation. The methods not only help with better self -management , but also involve the entire team . They help with the definition of goals, clear time management and create focused work .

Six popular methods

• SMART goals: With the formula, project goals are placed in a temporal context , formulated in a tangible way and described in detail .
• ALPEN method: In five steps, the technique creates a visualization of the daily routine as a (digital) list or table, minimizes buffer times, ensures success and promotes self-discipline .
• Eisenhower principle: In the Eisenhower method, tasks are sorted according to their priority. This makes it easier to select unimportant tasks.
• Pomodoro Technique: This time management method divides the effort of tasks into 25-minute slots . There is a 5-minute break between each slot.
• Two-minute method: This technique minimizes the mental chaos by immediately completing all small to-dos that take less than two minutes to complete.
• Pareto Principle: Also known as the 80/20 rule, 80 percent of the result is achieved with 20 percent of the effort . So we often need much less time for tasks than the actual effort to get the same result.

3. Self-organization tools for more focus

With digital tools , self -management is implemented simply and easily . What used to be formulated on loose slips of paper is now entered into digital to-do lists . A cloud solution not only enables access from the office, in the home office or on the go, but can also be shared with team members at the same time – without direct exchange.

4. Self-organized with the right leadership: What suits us?

With the change in how teams work together and employees carry out tasks independently, leadership in the team also changes. Even self-organized teams need leadership – just not in the classic sense.

Leadership is just a role

Company-level leadership is no longer limited to management, but is distributed to more or even all employees in the organization. Management is no longer assigned to just one person, but changes. This has the advantage that the responsibility for tasks is placed on the respective specialists. In agile teams in particular , this flexible way of working is often used to create self-organized teams.

The prerequisite: management and employee roles must be trained. This means that each project member must also know which role he or she represents. Management positions in particular cannot be held by all employees, as some lack the certain expertise.

Conclusion: More success through the right organization in the team

Self-organization means not only getting an overview of your own desk , but also means organizing within a team, a department or the entire company. In order to achieve successful self-management, suitable methods and tools can help with implementation. Above all, teams with a modern corporate culture say goodbye to classic hierarchical structures and rely on the personal responsibility of their teams.

Also Read: Tips To Stay Productive While Telecommuting