How Leadership Has Evolved
Leadership has evolved and changed over time as new ideas and strategies have entered the workplace. Participative Leadership is one of the exciting forms of leadership that seeks to reinvent the workplace.
Participative leadership is all about encouraging the entire workforce to contribute their ideas. It’s about including everyone in the decision-making process and letting everyone know that they have a voice.
There are all kinds of voices in your company. Some are loud and some are quiet, but they all have one. Participative leadership gives everyone the chance to hear their voice and say what’s on their mind.
It isn’t just the right thing to do. It makes the whole team feel engaged and has a positive impact on the productivity of work.
What is the Participating Leadership Style?
What is the Participative Theory of Leadership?
Participative leadership is a style in which managers involve their teams in decision-making processes. All team members discuss company decisions before any final decisions. They are also allowed to offer their input. Participative leadership approaches can take more time than other approaches, but they can also result in greater workplace teamwork.
How Does Participative Leadership Work?
Some managers favour adopting a laissez-faire attitude and giving all decision-making authority to their staff. Others adopt an authoritarian strategy in which they delegate authority and make decisions at the top. Participative leaders find a middle ground between these two extremes. There are different levels of participative leadership. The leaders act as facilitators. The group’s leader informs the participants and collects feedback to reach a decision.
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What are the Characteristics of Participative Leadership?
1. Communication
The concept of communication plays a huge role in participative leadership characteristics. To create a more productive workplace, communication between leaders and employees allows ideas to flow freely.
Leaders with strong communication skills will be able to collaborate with others to share their ideas and hear others’ perspectives. You will be able to manage other people’s ideas as a leader if you have effective communication skills.
2. Receptive
Being open-minded is almost always a rule in any organsation. An open-minded leader is receptive to ideas and criticism that can spur growth in the company. Morale increases if you can use ideas from other employees and install them into your business.
Other employees will be happy to see that you as a leader are willing to try out their ideas and adapt the business.
3. Reaching Out
Not every employee in your company feels comfortable speaking up, but the quietest ones frequently have the most to say. It is your responsibility as the leader of a participative organisation to listen to every voice. This will promote the flow of concepts that could transform your business.
The role of a leader is to support those who want to share but lack a voice. You can ensure that you hear their opinions, which will empower their work.
4. Curiosity
Curiosity will help you succeed because leaders are constantly seeking out new solutions to issues. Never leave any idea untested and continuously seek out creative methods of doing things. This will keep your business on the right side of history.
5. Motivating
It is your duty as a leader to promote conversation because it is rare for collaboration to occur on its own. Ideas and conversation can flow like never before even if you just gather a team to go over hypothetical scenarios.
A leader’s ability to inspire others is what enables employees to contribute fresh viewpoints to the business. Being open to ideas that you may not think will succeed will encourage productive conversation and sharing.
6. Cooperation
The ability to work together can make the difference between a participative leadership strategy that is successful and one that fosters unneeded competition. Collaboration between employees and ideas fosters a more cohesive work environment where employees feel like they are a part of a team rather than a rivalry.
A leader can use collaboration to bring people and ideas together for various projects. The combination of various perspectives and experiences will yield previously unattainable results.
7. Critical
As a leader, you will need to be able to think critically because you will need to assume responsibility and make decisions on behalf of a team. When a leader bases their approach to leadership on collaboration, it is up to them to decide what the team needs to execute the plan.
Anyone who can combine ideas with reasoned decisions can benefit from critical thinking as a skill. In a crisis, your leadership will be evaluated, and your legacy as a leader will reflect your capacity for critical thought and tough decision-making.
8. Awareness
Organisations with participative leadership bring everyone’s ideas together, in contrast to normal organisations where the majority of power typically rests at the top of the organisation. Being aware of other people and their perspectives enables you, as a leader, to take other people into account when developing a plan.
Empathy and understanding for others enable you to promote collaboration and guarantee that everyone feels included. You see to it that no one feels as though their ideas weren’t considered in the result.
9. Receptive
Just because you’re in a position of leadership in a company doesn’t mean that your opinions are always valid. You must be open to new concepts and approaches to solving problems. Who knows, a fresh idea you consider might alter the course of history.
Many people prefer to follow leaders who are open to new ideas because they believe their ideas will be better received by someone receptive to them. Many people only need you to listen and offer feedback; they don’t care if you don’t agree with or support the new idea.
10. Confident
A leader must have self-confidence before assuming responsibility for leading others. When you are confident in your ability to make decisions for yourself, others will have faith in you to carry out your responsibility when it comes time to make important decisions for the business.
It takes a team to generate ideas for participative leadership, but it takes a confident leader to act on those ideas. You will become that leader if you exhibit these qualities.
Related reading: Ultimate Guide on People Management Skills
4 Types of Participative Leadership
Participative leadership is an umbrella term for a variety of leadership and decision-making styles.
Consensus Participative Leadership
The leader in consensus participative leadership acts solely as a facilitator with no extra authority over the group’s other participants. All members of the organidation must concur before making a decision. This implies that the aim or decision may be modified or subject to negotiation until all parties reach an agreement. Individual votes are commonly used by businesses to make decisions.
Collective Participative Leadership
All accountability in collective participative leadership rests with the group as a whole. The facilitator will assist the leader, but all group members are responsible for the process and outcome. To move forward with a decision, the majority of the group must agree. Employees collaborate to decide on changes before implementing new processes or policies.
Democratic Participative Leadership
The leader has more power than the group in democratic participatory leadership. The group offers suggestions and ideas, and a vote on the outcome before the leader makes the final decision. Leaders may decide what changes an organisation might make after gathering information through surveys or interviews.
Autocratic Participative Leadership
Autocratic participative leadership gives the leader more authority than a democratic approach. The leader’s ideas have more weight than the group’s ideas. Employees may offer unique input, but a leader may still choose to ignore it in favour of their preferences.
What Situations are Ideal for Participative Leadership?
The best time for participative leadership is when you are not making decisions “under fire.” This makes sense given that organising strategy meetings can be a time-consuming process. In most circumstances, participative leadership would not be the best approach if something that required a prompt response would occur.
Even in creative environments, this style of leadership excels. Think about all the original concepts that could come up in a meeting to solve a problem that calls for various viewpoints.
The ability to find many solutions to a problem, as in the case of the product that isn’t selling, is another benefit of participative leadership. Your issue might call for several fixes rather than just one comprehensive one. A list of potential solutions can be compiled with the help of a team of problem solvers.
What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Participation?
Advantages of Employee Participation
1. It Motivates the Other Person
Employee motivation always follows participation. You will create a more positive environment when you participate with a group of people in a setting.
Additionally, the employees may have the opportunity to demonstrate greater creativity and analytical prowess.
These possibilities will increase their motivation even more.
There are more opportunities to notice positivity and changes if you work in a motivated and enthusiastic environment. After all, that is what we want to see.
2. Saves Money and Manages Time
Employee participation also saves time and money, which is another advantage.
It is actually one of the most straightforward and efficient methods for managing money without wasting a lot of time. After all, participatory decisions accomplish that.
As a result, you will have much less time to put them into practice. You will also be able to profit from full success participation at the price of such participation.
Disadvantages of Employee Participation
Despite being one of the best methods of management in companies, it also comes with several disadvantages you must learn about.
1. Risks of Security
The unfortunate thing about employee participation is that there are security risks involved. This typically entails disseminating important data and information to a larger group of employees.
The majority of the information is sensitive and required to make important decisions, and the business might be concerned about its employees discussing it outside the company.
The risk of sensitive information leaking increases with the number of people who are aware of it.
2. The Union May Raise Objections
There might be some union objections as well. Some labour representatives worry that the organization will use employee involvement or a program of involvement that could discourage employees from using independent union representation.
The establishment of labour organisations by businesses must continue to be prohibited by law.
Employees must also be allowed to create programs that use or even manipulate an existing one in order to thwart their efforts to secure independent representation. This is considered to be a proper labour practice.
What are the 5 Advantages of Participative Leadership?
Decisions are More Likely to Get Acceptance
Your staff will be more receptive to decisions and policies voted on. This lessens the opposition that new company policies will encounter and hastens the process of putting new concepts into practice. Employees have a personal stake in the success of new company policies by participating in the process of creating and approving these policies. This allows the company to respond quickly to policy changes.
Enhances Employee Morale
Employees who have a say in how the company operates feel personally responsible for its success. Staff morale remains high because employees appreciate the opportunity to participate in company decision-making. Employees will also take a more active role in improving working conditions if they know they can directly influence workplace policies.
Encourages Innovative Thinking
You will have a variety of options to choose from when you encourage employees to voice their opinions on business-related issues. The staff must be deeply involved in how the business runs to take part in decision-making for it. Employees who take part in leadership can use their imagination to design workflows that are more effective and help the business run more smoothly.
Increases Staff Retention
Employees who led in a participative manner have access to more than just the chance to increase their pay by performing well. It offers your employees the chance to actively shape the future success of the business. Employees are more likely to stick with a company if they can participate in its expansion and see their plans come to fruition. This will increase employee retention and lower turnover costs.
Reduces Competition and Increases Collaboration
Competitiveness is common in office environments, especially among high achievers. While a healthy sense of competition can increase productivity, excessive competition can lead to sly manoeuvres, backstabbing, and other disruptive behaviour. However, when employees take part in decision-making, the atmosphere frequently changes to one of collaboration. Workers view their coworkers as associates working toward shared objectives that will benefit everyone, as opposed to seeing them as rivals.
What are the Weaknesses of Participative Leadership?
Slow Process
The fact that it typically takes longer to make decisions and take action is a significant disadvantage of involving others in the decision-making process. Participatory decision-making is not useful when you need to make a quick choice to meet a deadline or seize an opportunity. Inviting and debating various viewpoints typically takes more time than simply making an autocratic decision and communicating it to others.
Less Successful When Using Unskilled Workers
The failure of participative leadership theories to adapt to various workplace settings is another drawback. Large manufacturing organisations may find it more challenging to make business decisions using a participative leadership style.
Levels of skill also matter because hiring a lot of unskilled labour may make business decisions more difficult. Or, a worker with poor interpersonal skills might not have a voice during a democratic process. Thus, a smaller, more skilled workforce that can offer management well-informed input is best suited for this leadership style.
Conflict Potential
There is always a chance that conflict will develop whenever a problem or opportunity is discussed by several people. This is especially true if your employees have strong opinions. The constant application of participative management may cause interpersonal conflicts among team members. Employees may take it personally and avoid interacting with others if they believe that they are being purposefully disregarded or challenged in their opinions.
Fundamentals of Participatory Leadership
This kind of leadership is defined by a number of factors. The fact that participative leadership is a form of democracy is its most crucial characteristic. All team members are urged to participate in decision-making.
One common system for participative leadership is to follow this process when there are decisions to be made:
- Give the group information.
- Talk about the choice to be made.
- Talk about solutions to the issue at hand.
- Consider those concepts, then sum up the conversation.
- Make a decision as a group.
- Collectively carry out the choice.
The discussion in the process outlined above will have a leader who directs the conversation and presents the topics for consideration, but everyone on the team is given the opportunity to speak. The decision-making process starts after everyone has voiced their opinions on the current problem.
What are Examples of Participative Leadership?
Bill Gates
Bill Gates, the creator of Microsoft, is a prime example of participative leadership. He accepts advice from teams and colleagues. He is aware of the importance of valuing team members’ knowledge and abilities.
Indra Nooyi
Indra Nooyi, the chief executive officer of Pepsico, is aware of the value of teamwork. She regularly communicates with her staff to learn about their emotions and ideas. She has occasionally written personalised letters to employees and their families. One of the elements that contributed to Pepsico’s success was its leadership style.
Carlos Ghosn
The CEO of Renault and Nissan is an additional illustration of a leader who uses participatory leadership. He understands the value of employee input during decision-making processes. He thinks that workers have experience and can contribute significantly to operations improvement.
Jim Lentz
Lentz, the president and chief executive officer of Toyota Motor North America, Inc. He is one of the best leaders to have demonstrated how efficient it is to lead a team directly through difficulties and failures to successfully address issues. He appeared on a website to respond to inquiries from thousands of people when millions of Toyota vehicles were recalled due to defective brakes. Even though it’s challenging, taking the lead pays off and inspires others to do the same.
Bob Diamond
Bob Diamond has achieved great success thanks to Margaret Thatcher’s deregulation of the financial markets in the UK. He took calculated risks and collaborated directly with others while being cautious and aggressive to make Barclay a major player in the international financial market. His company overcame obstacles without a government bailout, even during the severe credit crunch and scattered bank failures, even acquiring American assets to continue expanding.
James Parker
The needs of the employees must come before one’s own to be a participative leader, and Parker has done this at Southwest Airlines. Following the 9/11 attacks, all airlines were grounded, and Southwest employees were seen taking their customers out to enjoy things like movies and bowling, as well as having them involved in other activities to help pass the time. While other airlines were laying off employees, Southwest began profit-sharing instead.
Is Participative Leadership Theory the Most Effective?
You probably have a dominant leadership style if you are the organization or business’s leader. Studies and theories on various leadership philosophies and what functions best within an organization have been conducted for years. While some studies claim that participative leadership is the most effective approach, others have produced mixed findings.
A good leader will need to employ a variety of leadership styles because they frequently need to adapt their problem-solving approach depending on the particular problem, circumstance, or setting.
You might discover that in one situation you need to exude more authority, while in another you would be better served by participative leadership. Sometimes you might know more about a situation than your team, while other times you might discover that involving your team brings up ideas you might not have thought of. Take a look at our article to choose a Leadership Pattern and get the best from your team.
Participative Leadership in Education
Learning is a collaborative process. It is not done ‘to’ the student. When designing the curriculum, an effective school leader will seek faculty input so that the teachers can inform the administrator based on their understanding of how students learn and their prior classroom experiences. Speaking with teachers also guarantees that they will have a personal stake in the objectives the school sets for students.
Parents must participate in the educational process as well. Parents will be watching their children as they finish their homework. They must have the ability to inspire students at home and instil in their kids the value of education every day. Additionally, parent volunteers are very helpful in the classroom, on field trips, and in other aspects of academic life.
Finally, students need to believe that they are in control of their education. Instead of viewing students as potential disciplinary cases, participative leadership assumes that students are naturally curious and want to learn.
Participative Leadership vs Transformational Leadership
Both styles rely on team decision-making. Individual strengths and skills are the foundation of transformational leadership. Typically, the team looks up to the leader as an example. Participative leadership, on the other hand, does not take into account individual strengths. The team as a whole collaborates and is led by the leader.
Conclusion
Participatory leadership can provide numerous benefits to an organisation. A leader who employs this style effectively will be able to involve their entire team in the organization’s operations. Crowdsourcing opinions and contributions transform decision-making into a collaborative effort that draws on the skills, ideas, and expertise of all members.
Though there are risks to implementing participative leadership, these can be avoided by an effective leader. Understanding a leadership style’s potential weaknesses is just as important as understanding its strengths.
If you want to understand the benefits of different leadership styles – and the situations where a change might be warranted – check out our article regarding choosing the best leadership patterns
Making Business Matter offers various effective leadership courses. Join our Leadership skills training now! And check out our ultimate guide on Leadership Skills.
