Unit-2 Participative Leadership, Delegation and Empowerment

Introduction A leader displays the authoritarian leadership style when subordinates are told what is to be done and how it is to be done without the leader consulting others for advice or ideas. The participative leadership style involves the ideas and advice of others. Allowing the group or unit to have a say in the decision making progress is good for morale. This leadership style means that you merely listen to the advice of others.

Participative leadership is a style of leadership that involves all members of a team in identifying essential goals and developing procedures or strategies for reach those goals. From this perspective, participative leadership can be seen as a leadership style that relies heavily on the leader functioning as a facilitator rather than simply issuing orders or making assignments. This type of involved leadership style can be utilized in business settings, volunteer organizations and even in the function of the home.

One of the main benefits of participative leadership is that the process allows for the development of additional leaders who can serve the organization at a later date. Because leaders who favor this style encourage active involvement on the part of everyone on the team, people often are able to express their creativity and demonstrate abilities and talents that would not be made apparent otherwise. The discovery of these hidden assets help to benefit the work of the current team, but also alerts the organization to people within the team who should be provided with opportunities to further develop some skill or ability for future use.

The participative style of leadership is a method of guiding people based on democratic principles of inclusion. She is a leader who focuses on employee input, team concepts and shared decision making. This type of manager should possess certain qualities in order to fit well with this style. She must be engaged, communicative and open to discussion and modifications of her own ways of thinking as she leads and works through business issues. Involved The chief feature of a participative leader is his involvement. He is physically present with his employees during much of the workday. His involvement encourages the staff to come together in working on tasks. They know he will be there contributing with his labor, ideas and support. A participative leader is always in the mix of what is going on so he is able to help work through issues when they first arise. Open to Suggestion A democratic system of leadership requires the manager to listen to others and consider their ideas. The supervisor realizes his own methods and concepts are not the onlly ones that are valuable. He is humble enough to accept when someone else presents a better alternative or an improvement on his own ideas. While the final decision still lies with the leader, the input of others is beneficial to all. This democratic leader is respected by his staff for keeping his mind as well as his door open. Team Builder Collaborative efforts define a participative environment. The leader guides his team to produce an enterprise that is a result of group accomplish. To do this, he must meld a mix of diverse workers with sometimes conflicting ideas and methods. He works to use these differences to form a team that works efficiently and progresses through challenges both material and personal. For example, the leader might find it necessary to help work through a technical issue with software and then, in a short space of time, help solve a disagreement between employees regarding workload. The participative

leader must be supportive every step of the way to make this team environment succeed. Empowering The participative leader empower others. This is someone who is willing to share the spotlight by giving her employees the opportunity to make major decisions. She is also there to support these workers when they make mistakes and need help in solving problems. This leader invests much of her own success by placing it in the hands of those she supervises. As a result of her extensive time and efforts, she observes the professional growth of her staff. According to the Management Study Guide, workers under this type of leader become proficient, optimistic and stay motivated.

According to Yukl (2010), most of the theorists acknowledge the four decision procedures and those are: 1) Autocratic Decision: a manage makes his or her own opinion without asking the opinions or suggestions by others and has no participation.

2) Consultation: a manager asks followers for their opinions and suggestions, and later a manager make his or her own decision after seriously consider followers concerns. 3) Joint Decision: a manager discusses the problems with followers and made decisions as a part of the team. 4) Delegation: a manager gives an individual or group the authority and responsibility for making a decision. < Not participative Highly participative >

Autocratic decision by leader

Leader proposes decision, listens to feedback, then decides

Team proposes decision, leader has final decision

Joint decision Full delegation with team as of decision to equals team

There are many varieties on this spectrum, including stages where the leader sells the idea to the team. Another variant is for the leader to describe the 'what' of objectives or goals and let the team or individuals decide the 'how' of the process by which the 'how' will be achieved (this is often called 'Management by Objectives'). The level of participation may also depend on the type of decision being made. Decisions on how to implement goals may be highly participative, whilst decisions during subordinate performance evaluations are more likely to be taken by the manager. One potential disadvantage of participate leadership is the time factor. This leadership style does often involve the need for more time before action is taken. This is only natural, since the very nature of participative leadership means allowing input from every member of the team. However, the extra time necessary for this process often leads to decisions that ultimately benefit everyone to a greater degree than faster decisions that are limited in scope..

Effective participative leadership allows the talents and skills of all the team members to be utilized in arriving at decisions and taking courses of action. While the team leader is usually still responsible for making the final decision, this sharing of functions within the team provide the perfect environment for everyone to provide input that has the potential to make that final decision more well rounded and ultimately profitable for the company as a whole. In conclusion, participative leadership has so many ranges to make decisions and allowing others to make final decisions when manager or organization authorizes. It is necessary to discuss with followers to exchange their thoughts to have a better outcome in the organization. Therefore, not all of the people can make their own decision, but it will qualify what a team has done to make a decision to solve the problem together to bring a success into the workplace.

Sources: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-participative-leadership.htm http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/styles/participative_leadership.htm Yukl, Gary (2010) Leadership in organizations (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall

Participative leaders involve followers in the decision processes. Participative leadership includes describing a decision problem to a group of followers and asking for their input on the implications of various alternative solutions already developed by the leader. It also involves holding informal conversations with individual followers to draw their ideas out and listening carefully to understand and incorporate their information into a decision solution INTRODUCTION TO PARTICIPATIVE LEADERSHIP AND EMPOWERMENT

Participative leadership is a style of leadership that involves all members of a team in identifying essential goals and developing procedures or strategies for reach those goals. From this perspective, participative leadership can be seen as a leadership style that relies heavily on the leader functioning as a facilitator rather than simply issuing orders or making assignments. This type of involved leadership style can be utilized in business settings, volunteer organizations and even in the function of the home.

NATURE OF PARTICIPATIVE LEADERSHIP Autocratic Decision ; Makes the decision alone Consultation; Asks others for opinions and ideas, but makes decision alone Joint Decision ; Discusses the decision with others; makes the decision as part of a team Delegation ; Others have the authority and responsibility for making a decision

Participative leadership also expands the range of possibilities for the team. When leadership styles that essentially leave all the direction and decision making in the hands of one individual, it is much more difficult to see a given approach from several different angles. When the leadership style encourages others to be involved in the decision making process, a given course of action can be approached from a variety of perceptions. This can often point out strengths or weaknesses to the approach that would have gone unobserved and thus unresolved without this type of participatory brainstorming and decision making. Effective participative leadership allows the talents and skills of all the team members to be utilized in arriving at decisions and taking courses of action. While the team leader is usually still responsible for making the final decision, this sharing of functions within the team provide the perfect environment for everyone to provide input that has the potential to make that final decision more well rounded and ultimately profitable for the company as a whole.

EMPOWERMENT Empowerment is defined as the giving or delegation of power or authority; authorization; the giving of ability; enablement or permission. Empowerment is based on the idea that giving employees skills, resources, authority, opportunity, motivation, as well holding them responsible and accountable for outcomes of their actions, will contribute to their competence and satisfaction. Everyone within an organization should be involved in managing customer expectations and improving quality. Empowered employees understand their role in supporting the vision by taking care of the needs of customer.

BENEFITS OF EMPOWERMENT Stronger task commitment

 Greater initiative in carrying out role responsibilities Greater persistence in the face of obstacles and temporary setbacks More innovation and learning Higher job satisfaction Stronger organizational commitment Less turnover

TYPES OF EMPOWERMENT

ECONOMIC- Comes from having enough wealth (money) to take care of our needs. POLITICAL- Comes from having a say in how things are organized and how decisions are made. CULTURAL- Comes from being free to practice your culture. SOCIETAL- Comes from all members of society being treated fairly and equally. NATIONAL- Comes from a nation having the power to make decisions for itself.

NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT

The influence of leadership behavior, job characteristics, organizational structure, or personal needs and values on intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy Importance

 Participative practices and employee involvement do not necessarily reduce feelings of powerlessness or leave people feeling that their work is meaningful and worthwhile (Conger & Kanugo, 1988) Empowerment Programs Leader Selection and Assessment Democratic Decision Procedures Shared Leadership Responsibilities

Defining elements of Psychological Empowerment Spreitzer (1995)

(1) Meaning, A person feels more empowered if the content and consequences of the work are consistent with a persons values and ideals, (2) Self-determination, the person has the capability to determine how and when the work is done, (3) Self-efficacy, the person has high confidence about being able to do it effectively, and (4) Impact, the person believes it is possible to have a significant impact on the job and work environment.