Self-management
The Scrum Team's ability to choose who does what, when, and how, without being told by anyone outside the team.
What it means
The 2020 Scrum Guide replaced 'self-organizing' with 'self-managing' to emphasize that teams also decide who does the work, not only how. Self-management does not mean no leadership; it means the team has the authority to make those decisions internally.
Self-management requires trust from the organization, clarity of goals (Sprint Goal, Product Goal), and a Definition of Done the team can commit to without external override.
Common mistakes
It is distinct from being unmanaged: the Scrum Master coaches self-management, and the Product Owner still directs what has value, but the Developers decide how the work happens.
Example
Rather than a manager assigning tickets, the Developers pull the next highest-value item themselves during the Sprint.