Balancing autonomy and boundaries
in a self-organised setup
In this article, I will try to combine the theory of balancing autonomy and boundaries with the experience of this challenge in our consultancy firm of around 100 employees.
Balancing autonomy and boundaries
in a self-organised setup
In this article, I will try to combine the theory of balancing autonomy and boundaries with the experience of this challenge in our consultancy firm of around 100 employees.
The new trend of self-organization
Self-organized organizations have been gaining popularity in recent years as a new way of working. These organizations operate without a traditional hierarchical structure, and instead, employees work together as equals to make decisions, set goals, and manage themselves. While this way of working can bring many benefits, such as increased creativity, flexibility, and motivation, it can also pose challenges, especially when it comes to balancing autonomy and boundaries.
In that wake, our consultancy decided to go down the path of self-organization some years ago and by now, we are right in making this relatively new system work for us. With the organization growing in size and reach, we encounter increasing challenges of said balance between autonomy and boundaries as we have leaned toward autonomy too much in the recent past.
Autonomy – The allure of freedom
Autonomy is the freedom to make decisions and act independently.
In a self-organized organization, autonomy is a crucial element.
It empowers employees to take ownership of their work and be accountable for their decisions.
Autonomy fosters creativity and innovation by allowing individuals to experiment and take risks.
It also promotes a sense of belonging, as employees feel valued and trusted by the organization.
When I joined atrain and was presented with the high level of autonomy that I was awarded, I was amazed. I have a strong need for independence and would describe myself as proactive and curious, so the setup of self-organization felt like the perfect environment for me.
There are no clear-cut hierarchies with people telling others what to do and not do, so I could get involved in many things that I found interesting. Having started as a more internally focused solutions expert, I soon felt like supporting our customer-facing colleagues with my existing facilitation experience as well.
In this, the system allowed me to create my path that combines both the creative and intellectual aspects of creating new solutions and the interactive and social aspects of delivering said solutions to our customers.
Boundaries – a necessary evil?
Boundaries are necessary to ensure that autonomy does not lead to chaos.
Boundaries provide structure and guidelines, preventing individuals from acting in ways that are not aligned with the organization’s values and goals.
A lack of boundaries can lead to confusion, frustration, and ultimately, the organization’s failure to achieve its objectives.
Boundaries help maintain consistency and stability and they create explicit guidance on how to behave, preventing the organization from becoming too chaotic or disorganized.
As an organization that encourages autonomy and empowerment in all teams,
the right level of boundaries is a constant struggle for us.
Some people actively disagree with the implementation of structures and processes that could provide clearer boundaries. There seems to be a fear of overly rigid structures that stifle flexibility and introduce unnecessary bureaucracy. This has resulted in silos within customer-facing teams that hinder resource fluidity and cross-team collaboration. Our current challenge is now to transform our culture to incorporate embracing the need for clear processes and compliance with said processes to enable efficiency in our operations. This efficiency could then enable us to invest even more time into pro-bono projects without diminishing the commercial results of the organization.
The struggle of struggles – maintaining the balance between extremes
This purpose and values should guide decision-making and be reflected in the boundaries established within the organization. Boundaries should be designed to ensure that individuals can operate within them without feeling constrained, but at the same time, they need to be explicit and clear.
To utilize a sports metaphor to illustrate this point, you can imagine the ideal interplay between boundaries and employees as the interplay between the playing field, rules, and referees on the one side and the players on the field on the other side.
Without a known set of rules and clear white lines on the field, players would struggle to have clarity about what is allowed or whether a point is scored.
And how do you manage to create that balance, you might ask?
Unfortunately, as so often in life, there is no simple answer to a seemingly simple question.
To make matters worse, this is not a stable balance that you can achieve once and then move on to tackle new challenges. Our increasingly VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world requires constant adjustment to maintain this fragile balance. All boundaries should align with the organization’s values and culture in this balance. Having arbitrary rules that do not seem to add value or are not aligned with the organization’s identity will create friction and frustration. If there are necessary boundaries, then make sure their added value and how they contribute to the organization’s mission are clear for everyone in the organization. And once they do not add value anymore, it is important to be open to reviewing and adjusting the boundaries in question.
Conclusion and food for thoughts
In conclusion, achieving the right balance between autonomy and boundaries is crucial for the success of a self-organized organization.
If we revisit the playing field metaphor, I’d like to offer these questions as a start for reflection:
- To what extent are members of the organization offered autonomy to make decisions themselves and shape their work environment?
- Is the organization offering enough explicit guidance for employees to allow them to fully capitalize on the autonomy that is being offered? Especially for newer colleagues, are you offering enough concrete guidelines?
- If you consider a pendulum that oscillates between the two extremes of autonomy and boundaries, where is the pendulum located right now? On which side of the fragile balance are you currently located and how could you start moving the pendulum toward the balance?
These questions are not extensive and answering them will not solve all your problems. Their purpose is to spark honest reflection and start important conversations around the topic of autonomy and boundaries. As a next step after these questions, consider asking your colleagues about their thoughts on the topic and their assessment of the balance between autonomy and boundaries.
If taken seriously, you can start creating momentum that will allow you and your organization to move the pendulum in the right direction.
About the author
About the author
As a solution designer, Jonas specializes in the areas of business strategy and organizational design. In this, he supports customers in implementing holistic and human-centric transformations of their organizations. His interest and experience in business, efficiency, and digital solutions allow him to contribute to internal initiatives as well.
Jonas got certified as a trainer and facilitator during his business and HR studies and discovered his passion for the field there. His broad profile includes having cycled the world for three years from New Zealand to Germany with his partner, distributing tiny houses for a manufacturer after building and moving into their own and running a small photography business on the side. Above all, Jonas is a curious realist always trying to strike a healthy balance between all the exciting things one could try and learn, usually failing miserably at that.
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