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Participative Management Style The landscape of management practice is constantly shifting. The autocracy of pre-fifties management models has long gone, and has been replaced by a succession of participative management systems more suited to the changing face of the world and the workplace. Unilateral management is out. Holistic integration is in. If you still think that to do a job right, you have to do it yourself; you might have to re-appraise your ideas. Participative Management Style is the here and now.
Organizations now seek to make the most of their employees skills and experiences; this means involving them in the decision making process in real terms. Whereas it used to be acceptable to raise an idea up the flagpole, wait for the salutes (or not) and carry on regardless, the modern manager needs to actively enlist the ideas and opinions of his or her workforce. In the Participative Management Style, managers have to invest real responsibility, and, consequently, real trust in their staff.
The origins of the Participative Management Style can be traced back to the credo: Total Quality Management. TQM called for (among other things) employee interaction in the management process, and, accordingly, encouraged the formation of management committees to discuss and decide upon issues of importance at an organizational level. The Participative Management Style takes it further: participation is encouraged throughout the organization. Decision making is shared between all employees.
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Of course, there’s always a snake; no model of management practice can ever be all things to all people. Unions fear that Participative Management Style interferes with worker’s inalienable rights. Some Managers fear the erosion of personal power that may result from participative management style, while others may find it easy to delegate tasks, but not authority.
Nevertheless, the aims of a Participative Management Style are sound. Group ownership of organizational issues increases understanding of, and commitment to, reaching shared goals. Further, the imperative to involve employees at all stages satisfies their inherent need for self actualisation. (Maslow would be proud.) |
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