File: self-organization

This is Ziptone's file on self-organization. On this page you will find an overview of all relevant articles about self-organization. The file is regularly updated. Ideal if you want to keep up with this topic.

Last update: March 6, 2023

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Everything you need to know about self-organization
Conceptions of self-organization
Experiences with self-organization

Everything you need to know about self-organization

Does self-organization fit into the contact center? – The home care organizations Cordaan and Laurens stopped, VGZ has just started self-organization. Why should you start with it in customer contact and what should you take into account? The basics about self-organization and self-management.

Conceptions of self-organization

The seven pitfalls of self-organization – Self-organization is never 'finished'. That is why it is not obvious to regard self-organization as something that you as a manager simply 'implement'. Professor Mandy van der Velde therefore considers the implementation of self-organization as 'organizational change' – a process that takes years rather than months before it is fully completed.

Ten tips for self-rostering – Self-organization is not an end in itself, but a means to achieve another goal. Organizations can use it to increase their attractiveness as an employer by tapping into the work preferences of younger generations. You can also work on better employee satisfaction along the way of self-organization. Self-rostering is one of the ways to give employees more influence on the organization of their work.

Flexibility: healthcare sector vs customer contact sector – The new Balanced Labor Market Act makes flexible labor more expensive and more difficult to organise. It will therefore become even more attractive for organizations to look for opportunities to increase their own flexibility and thus be less dependent on hiring flex workers. Or are there also possibilities to reduce your need for flexibility? This article also discusses self-rostering.

Experiences with self-organization

The ROI of autonomy: the business case for self-organization – Self-organization is in line with a deep-rooted need of people to develop. But is there a clear business case in addition to that motivation? Yes, says science: lack of autonomy leads to energy loss and people dropping out. In addition, little room for learning and development leads to a decrease in the quality of work. The Amsterdam water company Waternet started working with self-organization and is positive about the results.

Personalized service requires agent empowerment – Seven years ago Cygnific, the contact center that, among other things, customers of KLM and Air France helps, started with Lean six sigma. Director Ramón Delima is pragmatic about what modern customer service should be: what you can script, you should automate and differentiating service comes down to personalization, which requires giving agents far-reaching powers. These agents are then also an important source of actions aimed at continuous improvement.

Wall displays are not for managers, but for employees - Bee Cygnific – the contact center that serves Air France KLM customers and does much more – real-time information provision is part of the transition to a Lean Six Sigma organization. Cygnific not only looks at information about the customer, but also information about the process. Wall displays are not for managers, but for employees.

What problem do you solve with self-organization? – Employees want more and more autonomy in their work and to be managed differently, but success is not guaranteed. At the KSF HR Congress 2019, VGZ and Cordaan talked about their experiences. Bee VGZ 'working differently' forms a large part of VGZ's change programme. The classic front and back office are being transformed into several multidisciplinary teams that must be able to help specific customer groups from start to finish. Five such teams form a circle, which is controlled by a circle leader. Each circle is supported by management functions such as a coach, a wfm specialist, a data specialist and a learning expert.
Indoor Cordane the introduction of self-steering was reversed. It was not widely supported in the management, there was no good underlying vision and frameworks were also missing. In addition, there were also operational problems, for example in the area of roster competencies. Cordaan had to put the brakes on, because turnover and absenteeism among the nurses increased. One of the underlying causes was the complaint that nurses no longer got around to their actual work: 'we are managers who have to plan and assess'.

Self-managing teams at CosmosDirekt – Is the status quo (with high customer satisfaction) sufficient to successfully enter the future? Insurer CosmosDirekt decided to get started with self-managing teams, in order to be ready for the future. The solution was sought in 'offering more customization for the customer' and increasing employee satisfaction by means of self-managing teams with more responsibilities. Product specialists were first brought together in the self-managing teams and the difference between first and second line was eliminated. First of all, a pilot team of 18 employees was formed, which would be the first to get started with the new approach.

High NPS with self-organizing teams at Drukwerkdeal.nl Print deal strives for high customer satisfaction, as a result of a good relationship with the customer. What's the best way to bring that back if you've strayed off the path due to rampant growth? Drukwerkdeal looked at e-commerce companies such as Coolblue: what do they do there that makes customers so satisfied? “Because we are mainly active in BtB and deliver custom work, we always make our own translation. In the search for solutions, several small, self-managing teams were also considered. We were inspired by Zappos, among other things.”

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