Autonomy Regulation in Teams
In the context of their interaction patterns, teams regulate how close the coupling of their members is on the action level. This is what decides how severely team members’ scope for autonomy is limited, and, respectively, how much they (have to) balance the interests of the team with their own interests.
In teams that value freedom, everybody has much scope. Whether this refers primarily to temporal aspects of action (everybody works when they want to), to social aspects (everybody is allowed to avoid everyone) or to technical aspects (everybody does what he considers correct) or to everything, all together, varies a lot.
In teams, which orientate themselves on security, everyone must operate according to team norms. Nobody can simply do as they wish. The secure connection and integration is produced by expectations of shared behaviour (everyone arrives punctually at 8 o’clock for the meeting, Muller and Huber can speak, the others listen!). Everybody knows this and usually they stick to it.
Teams can also mix such interaction patterns. For example, during work times everyone is free, during reporting there is strict discipline.