The self‐directed team

To stay competitive on both local and global scales, companies have to respond rapidly to their customers and to the increasing role of information technology. One way of answering the demands that face today’s management, is to increase employees’ implication in the organization by empowering them. The shift from top to bottom authority to a team‐oriented organization is part of this process. Self‐directed teams (SDT) are a key element in making this shift work. In this paper, after a brief definition and description of this kind of team, we will focus on conflict management as an important factor for their success. Conflict and its mechanisms will first be developed, its consequences on group decision making will be studied at the SDTs level, and a set of conflict management alternatives will finally be presented.