democratic leadership style in project management

Democratic leadership also creates transparency in the workplace by allowing employees to know how and when decisions are made that affect the entire company. Democratic leaders value listening, collaboration, and investment. History of Democratic Leadership. The most well-rounded of the leadership styles is the democratic leader. The nature and culture of an organization specify which leadership style fits the company best. Management or leadership style is the manner in which managers exercise their authority in the workplace and ensure that their objectives are achieved. Learn More → The democratic leadership style, which is also sometimes referred to as participative style, actively involves employees in the decision-making processes of the organization. Whilst autocratic and democratic styles of leadership were considered to be viable leadership options in the 1980s/1990s, today’s business environment demands a more aspirational, visionary approach to leadership driven by dynamism and the rising power of employees. Democratic leadership is most useful when you’re stuck on a certain problem and need fresh ideas. management experts have undergone a revolution in how they define leadership and what their attitudes are toward it. Leadership styles is the behavior of the leaders towards the team they are leading. Some of the most common leadership styles for a project manager include: ... Activity Management Styles Directive Tells others what to do. The suggestions and opinions of the subordinates are given importance. To achieve the best results in more situations, project managers should lean more to the visionary and participative leadership styles. In this instance, a democratic, transformational, or supportive leadership style in conjunction with collaborating, competing, or compromise could be the best conflict approach. Disadvantages of the democratic management style are the time it takes to make a decision due to the gathering of ideas and opinions. The democratic style With this style, you can gain buy-in for ideas by sharing the problem with the team and reaching consensus on the way forward. Here the leader’s role is more facilitative – like that of a chairperson. She used Daniel Goleman’s book, Emotional Intelligence, as a guide. There is also the potential conflict of different viewpoints playing a role in the decision making and as a result, employees can feel less valued if their input is not taken, leading to decreased morale and productivity. What It Is. Democratic leadership style is the inverse of the autocratic leadership style. Also, the goals and targets of a company play important roles in specifying leadership styles. 4) Democratic Management Style. Definition. The democratic leadership style is a very open and collegial style of running a team. According to the studies, under the more autocratic style, the subordinates eventually started rebelling against authority, whilst the laissez faire leadership didn’t lead to coherent results and objectives weren’t achieved efficiently. Anyone can practice this leadership style. Democratic leadership is available to anyone, and because some of the burden of decision-making is transferred from the leader to the team, there is a potentially lower level of entry. The Greek roots of the word democratic suggest people are participating in power or control. Autocratic Management Styles. The main objective of the study is to analyze the effect of democratic leadership style on corporate performance. Disadvantages. The sample size was all the staff of NTA Abakaliki. Whilst some people share certain basic characteristics which make them natural leaders, the characteristic of their leadership style may be very different. The primary aim of the democratic leadership style is to build commitment and generate new ideas. In the project management community, surveys show that many project managers rely on the directive leadership style most often. Consultative style. Management and Leadership Styles. By ensuring that everyone is heard and by building relationships, the democratic leader pulls in the team’s commitment to work towards the project’s success. Management researchers Jiing-Lih Farh and Bor-Shiuan Cheng define a paternalistic style of leadership as one that’s characterized by “strong discipline and authority with fatherly benevolence and moral integrity.” In other words, it’s similar to the relationship a parent has with his or her child. This typically leads to high rates of employee satisfaction and morale. Democratic Leadership, also known as Participative Leadership, is where individuals who would typically be considered unequal by hierarchal standards have shared power in making decisions. Just be careful not to overuse this style. This type of management became popular in the late 20th century. This style involves all the team members in decision making by considering all the inputs given by them. Each leader has own leadership style and the style differs from person to person, which depends upon their experiences, philosophies and their personalities. The methodology used in the data collection was survey design. Application It was then a behaviorist Kurt Levin conducted group experiments in order to establish the advantages of a participatory category. Together, you will generate and evaluate alternatives until you reach an agreement. Autocratic management styles. Like the authoritative and affiliative styles, the democratic style tends to produce positive results. Everyone is given a seat at the table, and discussion is relatively free-flowing. They have gone from a very classical autocratic approach to a very creative, participative approach. Together they generate and evaluate alternatives and attempt to reach agreement (consensus) on the solution. It refers to using different leadership styles, based on the people and project work he or she is dealing with. Democratic leaders emphasize collaboration and the free-flow of ideas. It is a leadership style that can be used by any leader in any industry, from corporations to educational facilities to government positions. As you can see there is a matrix of combinations. Project Management Styles. A team with an autocratic bellwether performed tasks well, as long as the leader was present and exercised control. The key is to use each style at the right time. Leadership Styles 1. He was a democratic leader who held the final responsibility whilst delegating authority to others. Leadership Styles in Management. There are six distinct leadership styles that were identified by Daniel Goleman. A democratic leadership style is an open approach to leading, where decision making is shared and the views of a team or group are valued and contribute to the vison, goals and decision that are made. Using the democratic leadership style, leaders may make all decisions but they consult the workforce before taking action. The leadership style which involves the considerable amount of participation of the employees in the decision-making process and organisation’s management is known as participative or democratic management. In "Leadership and Group Life," Lewin and his colleagues Ronald Lippitt and Ralph K. White cite democratic, laissez-faire and autocratic as the three primary leadership styles. When and how to use the democratic leadership style. Somewhere along the line, it was determined that not everything old was bad and not everything new was good. This project manager draws on the team members’ knowledge and skills and is able to create a group commitment to common goals. A project manager needs to use multiple leadership approaches throughout the life cycle of a project. Selection of an approach and a leadership style is based on the conflict, team, organization, and project situation. He likens these styles to golf clubs in a seasoned professional's bag; you choose the correct club ('style') for each shot ('situation'). On the other hand, using the transformational leadership style, you focus on inspiring subordinates but leave the details of decision-making to the workers themselves. The 7 leadership styles most common in the workplace are; Autocractic, Charismatic, Transformational, Laissez-faire, Transactional, Supportive, Democratic. Project leadership plays a very important part in project management. 1. Democratic Leadership Style . Democratic – When using the democratic leadership style, the leader shares the problem with the relevant team members as a group. If this style is warranted (but it seldom is) the PM must be very diplomatic and use a personal authority style which will not alienate team members. 2. As previously stated, the directive style is least effective in most situations. The term is called situational leadership. This project is on the effect of democratic leadership style on corporate performance in an organization, a study of Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Abakaliki. Among the subordinates, democratic leadership style stood out as the most popular method and the style that achieved the most effective results. This style of management can also affect the company’s longevity. Despite this, higher competence is associated with better success. The democratic leadership style, which is also referred to as shared leadership or participative leadership, encourages members of a team to take on responsibilities in decision-making. Otherwise, you run the risk of completely ignoring your own thoughts. Accordingly, the understanding of project management broadened from project management being merely a task of planning, organizing, and controlling, to a situation where project management is about managing people to deliver results instead of managing work (Turner, 1999). They allow people time and space to create the best possible products and services. Different types of leadership styles exist in organizations. This type of management follows a top-down approach, with one-way communication from bosses to employees. While the leader maintains control of the decision-making process and has the final say, workers are given a voice in the decision-making process. Within these categories, there are specific subtypes of management styles, each with its own pros and cons. Ideas move freely amongst the group and are discussed openly. Leadership styles like autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire styles in the workplace have different strengths and weaknesses. An effective Project Management Professional (PMP) is able to invoke various leadership styles. This style is needed in dynamic and rapidly changing environments where very little can be taken as a constant. There are six project management styles that Jennifer identified in the video. There are three broad categories of management styles: Autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire. Based on interviews with business leaders and employees, Lewin, Lippitt and White concluded that the democratic leadership style was the most popular among subordinates. A democratic approach to management can also be one of the more effective conflict management styles, as it encourages everyone to contribute to the conversation, to participate and to own their part. With his leadership, our communication – both upward and downward – was active. It covers how managers plan and organise work in their area of responsibility and, in particular, about how they relate to, and deal with their colleagues and team members. I’ve seen the democratic management style work really well for project teams, because everyone has ownership over the plan and the work getting done. Paternalistic Leadership Style. 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