People Appreciate Self-Selection

After each self-selection event we’ve been part of, participant feedback has been incredibly positive. Almost everyone is in favor of self-selection as the best way to design teams. Even those who initially fear and doubt the process come away with a positive attitude. Participants tell us they’re surprised by how productive and valuable they found the process, especially after admitting they were initially skeptical about its potential for success.

Most people like the squad they end up being a part of. Even those who may not be entirely happy with the end result fully understand and appreciate the reasons why they’re on the squad they are because they were part of the conversation and the process. Contrast that to those finding out they’ve been assigned a new squad by management selection and you can understand the different reaction self-selection generates. A number of people also tell us that they now work on the squad they expected to work on before the event took place, so participants seem to go into the day with a certain level of expectation about how the process will pan out.

At the end of every event we always ask everyone about their experiences and whether their expectations have been met. We also ask what they think of the process and whether they appreciate the results it generated. What follows is a sample of the survey we use to ask participants for their feedback.

The survey is a combination of questions scored on a scale of 1 to 5 that give us insight into what participants think and other questions that give us a kind of Net Promoter Score (question 7).^[11] We also include open questions so people can respond freely. We usually gain excellent insights from the open questions. Here are some of our favorite quotes from past surveys:

• "Freedom! Fascinating to see how it all worked out. Excellent result, and nice to know we were able to achieve it without having to get dictatorial."

• "It was a good way to bring issues to the fore quickly and show them visually. I kind of liked going round and seeing whether squads were formed or not."

• "It did give people the chance to choose where they wanted to go, but everyone was also thinking about what would work best for the company."

• "I did not observe tension or conflict, which was a great thing. Proved that this was a valuable exercise."

• “Got to chat with people I’d only seen around the office but not really met yet. Also the fact that we actually get to do this at all. Would never even have been considered in my last company.”

At the self-selection event at Trade Me, it was interesting to notice that people in their thirties and forties, who had been in the workforce longer than others, had much more awareness of what a privilege the opportunity to self-select was (especially when compared to recent graduates). People working in their first jobs probably assume this is normal, and hopefully, with their expectations being met and such a positive experience, it soon will be!