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| <mainDescription><p>
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| A "self organizing team" has the authority to choose the work that it will perform and the responsibility to do that
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| work in the way that it chooses.&nbsp; Important aspects of a self organizing team&nbsp;are:
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| </p>
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| <ol>
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| <li>
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| The team selects its own work. At the beginning of an iteration the team collectively selects the <a href="./../../../openup/guidances/termdefinitions/work_item_EE5CE155.html" guid="_jyVgcEvKEdunZcj9T5hrMQ">work item</a>s from the prioritized <a href="./../../../openup/workproducts/work_items_list_39D03CC8.html" guid="_rGNWsCbSEdqh1LYUOGRh2A">Work Items List</a>. Work selection is performed within given constraints, including
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| the priorities set by <a href="./../../../openup/roles/stakeholder_9FFD4106.html" guid="_dTa6gMAYEdqX-s4mWhkyqQ">Stakeholder</a>s, time (such as the length of the current <a href="./../../../openup/guidances/concepts/iteration_C20B1904.html" guid="_lam4ADkBEduxovfWMDsntw">Iteration</a>), the budget, and the skills of team members.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| Individuals select their own work. Individuals are empowered to select their own work. Someone will choose to do
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| something because they are good at it and know that they can do the work effectively, because they want to gain
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| more experience at something and hope to improve their skill-set by working with someone with such experience, or
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| because they know that the work needs to be done and that it's their turn to do so. Although an individual fulfills
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| one or more roles on a project team that doesn't imply that the person is constrained to only doing specific types
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| of work.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| The team determines how to perform the work. At the beginning of an iteration the team will hold an "all hands"
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| planning meeting where it determines the general strategy for doing the work and the tasks required to do so. More
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| detailed planning, if required, will be done on a just-in-time (JIT) basis by the individual(s) doing the work.
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| Note that the team is still constrained by your organization's standards, technical infrastructure, regulations,
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| and so on.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| Everyone commits to the work. The team commits to accomplishing the work that it has agreed to do by the end of the
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| iteration. Individuals also commit to doing the work that they say they will do, although as the iteration
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| progresses various tasks may be renegotiated as required.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| The team coordinates regularly. To ensure that the work is accomplished the team must coordinate its efforts
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| effectively. This is typically done through daily stand up meetings of the team and impromptu discussions between
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| individuals.
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| </li>
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| </ol>
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| <p>
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| This is a participatory approach to decision making where everyone has the opportunity to provide input and to listen
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| to the decision making process. The goal is to make decisions at the right place within the organizational structure,
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| empowering teams by giving them both the responsibility and the authority to get the job done. It improves motivation
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| amongst team members, and thereby their productivity, by giving them control over their work.
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| </p>
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| <h3>
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| Project Manager Responsibilities
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| </h3>
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| <p>
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| There is still work for the <a href="./../../../openup/roles/project_manager_E657F936.html" guid="_0a0o0MlgEdmt3adZL5Dmdw">Project Manager</a> on self organizing teams. The project manager must still:
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| </p>
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| <ol>
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| <li>
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| Provide leadership. Team culture and project vision must be nurtured and evolved throughout the project, and
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| direction must be provided to the team.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| Mediate disagreements. The manager must be prepared to step in and make a decision when other team members are
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| unable to come to a decision.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| Ensure that team members grow their skill-set. From time to time the manager may need to motivate individuals to
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| take on new tasks that are outside their comfort zone or to work with others to help those people gain new skills.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| Ensure that the team respects their limits. Self organizing teams have the authority to make decisions within the
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| scope of their responsibility, but that doesn't mean that they get to rethink everything that they feel like. For
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| example, the development team must still conform to the technical infrastructure and to the business strategy of
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| your organization: they likely don't have the authority to change these things even though they may not fully agree
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| with them. When an issue falls outside their scope of responsibility the team must either accept it or collaborate
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| with the people with the appropriate authority.
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| </li>
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| <li>
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| Summarize the project plan. External stakeholders, such as senior management or business representatives not
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| actively involved with the team, will want to know the current status of the project and the team's current plans.
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| The project manager may be required to summarize and communicate this information to those people.
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| </li>
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| </ol>
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| <h3>
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| What This Isn't
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| </h3>
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| <p>
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| The concept of self organizing teams often sounds like anarchy or non-management to traditional IT professionals, but
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| nothing could be further from the truth. Although self organization relies on team members being responsible and mature
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| it is tempered by the guiding hand of a good project manager. It is also tempered by organizational standards,
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| infrastructure, and external regulations. "Self organizing" doesn't mean that you have complete freedom to do what you
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| want.
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| </p>
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| <p>
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| Self organization isn't necessarily a consensus-based approach either; sometimes individuals will disagree with a
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| decision but will choose to go along with the will of the team. Nevertheless, consensus isn't ruled out by this
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| approach but it certainly isn't required.
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