What Is an Autonomous Work Group?

Similar to an individual with autonomy at work, an autonomous work group is a team of employees granted autonomy or independence over the work they do within an organization. This autonomy includes independent decision-making related to a specific work function, project or job and independent freedom to assign individual members specific tasks within the group.

Basics

  1. Autonomous work groups have become increasingly prevalent in the latter part of the 20th century into the 21st century. This has taken place in conjunction with efforts by many organizations to become leaner, removing redundancy in mid-level management. Work groups have been given responsibility and oversight of particular tasks within organizations and granted freedom to make decisions that eventually produce the most favorable outcomes on those tasks. The autonomy generally comes with complete independence in activity, aside from monitoring and evaluation from a supervisor or team leader.

Benefits

  1. The general purpose of using autonomous work groups is that several individuals working together toward a common task or project goal should typically come up with broader and stronger ideas that one person working alone. Other benefits of autonomous work groups may include sharing of responsibilities, built-in support mechanisms for employees, better overall ideas and results, creative exchanges and a sense of belonging and importance -- all of which are important elements of employee motivation on the job.

Drawbacks

  1. Despite their prevalence, autonomous work groups are not entirely free of potential challenges or drawbacks. With complete independence, work group members may take advantage of the opportunity to work at a moderate pace. Additionally, internal battles may ensue, with group members fighting over authoritative control. Resistance to change is also a significant potential disadvantage, as autonomous work group members are often more likely to resist company policy changes or new assignments of responsibility.

Communication

  1. Advances in communication technology have changed the nature of the autonomous work group in the early 21st century. In fact, the work group may not even function within the same physical office space thanks to opportunities for electronic communication. Some companies have linked employees together around the country or globe using electronic communication devices. This can enable employees with similar expertise or complementary expertise, depending on the team, to work collaboratively despite physical distance.