B1 Democratic/Participative Leadership
Democratic or participative leadership is a style where the leader involves the team in the decision-making process. Opinions and ideas are valued and regularly shared through discussion before a decision is made. A democratic leader should be skilled in communicating with staff and drawing out ideas and using them to inform their final decisions.
Characteristics of Democratic Leadership Include;
Opportunities for everybody to participate in discussions.
Ideas are exchanged freely.
Leaders facilitate team discussions.
Open communication.
Transparency of decisions.
When Democratic Leadership is Appropriate
Innovative industries benefit from collaboration on ideas to foster creativity to bring new and creative ideas to market regularly. An example is at Google where new products are being constantly developed through the encouragement of extensive discussion and brainstorming sessions.
Problem-solving situations such as what to do about low sales of a product may benefit from democratic leadership as more ideas are contributed and perspectives are contributed to the situation allowing the leader to make a more informed decision.
Democratic leadership can help to foster a positive company culture. Open communication and listening to employees can help to build a culture of trust and collaboration.
Process improvement situations such as how to speed up a production line may benefit from democratic leadership as leaders can gather feedback from employees who have direct experience of the production process which can give the leader a better insight into the causes of and solutions to the issue.
Goal-setting situations such as establishing team, functional or organisational objectives. Democratic leadership may result in more ideas being input which can lead to more creative and successful goals, more investment from employees in goals they were part of setting and improved motivation and morale.
Changing environments that businesses operate in puts pressure on businesses to adapt. This may mean that managers need to have an up-to-the-minute understanding of the environment and employees need to be flexible to switching tasks. For example, fast-changing tastes in food may lead to a restaurant needing to change its menu regularly. The front-of-house staff have the most contact with customers so may have a better understanding of the changes in tastes of consumers and kitchen staff need to be flexible to a changing menu.
Highly skilled workers may be more knowledgeable about specific products, processes and the environment than their managers. Consulting highly-skilled workers in decision making, can result in more successful solutions as well as promoting employee engagement.
When Democratic Leadership is Inappropriate
Time-sensitive decisions such as how to respond to a cyber attack may not benefit from a democratic leadership style. Gathering opinions of staff can be time-consuming in a situation where delays can make the issue worse.
Complex decisions such as expanding into new markets or investing in new technology may require specialist knowledge in that area. In these cases, leader may limit input to those staff with the specialist knowledge to make informed decisions.
Conflicts of interests may occur between the best interests of an individual or the best interest of the business. An example may be a merger or acquisition which may generate exponential growth but may also result in redundancies. Staff who feel that their job is at risk may try and influence decision-making against the merger despite it being in the best interests of the company overall.
Confidentiality issues in terms of who can access relevant information may exclude people from the decision-making process. For example, Garmin may limit the amount of people involved in discussions about new product features and design to reduce the risk of information being leaked to competitors.
Negative company cultures may find decisions difficult to reach through consensus due to the reluctance of staff to collaborate and compromise. Leaders in these environments may decide to centralise decision making until the culture is improved.
| Benefits of Democratic Leadership | Drawbacks of Democratic Leadership |
|---|---|
| Improved morale as employees feel more valued. | Decisions take longer as leaders consult their employees for opinions. |
| Better productivity as staff feel more committed to goals they were part of setting. | Dominant personalities can influence the opinion sharing of others. |
| Improved innovation as a result of more ideas being input. | Employees can become demotivated if other's decisions are chosen over their's. |
