What is Participative Management?

Participative Management is a management style that

requires the cooperation of personnel. It aims to build commitment and
develop initiatives within work teams. To do this, the manager must delegate
parts of his power and it’s necessary that the teams decide together what
solutions to adopt.

It’s important to create a trustful relationship between the teams, where

respect and collaboration from everyone will be emphasized. Work valuation
must also be there for this method to work.

The different axes of Participative

Management:
• Delegating power:
It’s necessary to give some power to the employees. They must be able
to make decisions at their level as soon as possible, while having the
opportunity to refer to their manager (for example let your employees self-plan
their work and the orientations they prefer).

• Motivating teams:
Participative Management should inspire employees to participate in
corporate decision-process. While setting rules and limits, the employee must
be able to show his involvement and motivation when making decisions.

For example, it may be motivating for employees to choose themselves which

tasks they prefer to focus on and coordinate their work with each other.

• Foster collaboration:
Teams need to communicate and collaborate as much as possible to be more
effective.

By promoting listening and understanding of the issues, teammates will build

reciprocal trust, thus benefiting the company’s operations and internal
development of the teams.
ChallengeMe can definitely help you achieve such an effective collaboration,
with a collective intelligence platform build around Peer Learning.

Positive points of participative management:

 Employees are more involved in their work because they’re able
to better express and max-out their ideas. They will also be given lots
of feedback and directives regarding their actions.
 The motivation is higher in the working groups, indeed this mode of
operation is based on the valuation of each one’s work, and the
employees will do their best to get recognition.
 Engagement is also higher among employees as they will have a
greater sense of belonging to the company, through the
responsibilities they are given.
 This will result in greater cooperation and knowledge sharing
between the teams. There will be a true collaborative culture in the
company that will positively impact the company’s results.
 There will be greater autonomy among employees, they can go
further in their work before consulting their manager.
 The exchanges will be easier thanks to this spirit of collaboration.
Employees will be less afraid to suggest new things to their peers
and employers.
So we can see that positive points are numerous and very beneficial for the
company, but is it easy to set up that participative management ? There is a
whole framework to create for this change to take place in the best possible
way.

What must be done to create the best

possible framework:
First, it is necessary to communicate a lot. Do not hesitate to talk to your
peers and employees, communicate on the progress of the project, on the
possible solutions etc.

Then you really need to listen. There is no point in giving teams importance
and decision-making power if they are not listened to. It’s a key element
to reinforce commitment and motivation within the company.
Respect for others is one of the main mechanisms of participative
management. Also, teamwork recognition and its valuation are important. It’s
crucial to give importance to the solutions provided by employees. Employees
will have more confidence in themselves and less fear of taking initiatives if it
allows them to gain recognition in their work.

Involve your employees to work in collaboration as often as possible,

exchanges must be regular and fruitful so that the sharing of knowledge is
beneficial to everyone.

To create this spirit of collaboration, several solutions exist such as Peer

Learning and Reverse Coaching, two good methods that also really work well
when combined.

ChallengeMe and Participative Management?

With the ChallengeMe platform, you’ll have the opportunity to set up an ideal
framework for Participative Management. It will give your teams a new
dynamic that will be a real strength for your business. You will also increase
the motivation and collaboration of your teams by creating Collective
intelligence environment that promotes a knowledge sharing action in your
company.

Conclusion:
Participative management can be a real solution to energize your teams,
build commitment, and taking initiative. It requires some preparation to be
introduced, but the positive effects you can draw are real and numerous.
Above all, it’s necessary to create a corporate culture based on collaboration
and the valorization of each one. Managers will only have to delegate some of
their power and to set limits and rules to be respected.

https://challengeme.online/en/what-is-participative-management/
Participative (or participatory) management, otherwise known as employee involvement
or participative decision making, encourages the involvement of stakeholders at all
levels of an organization in the analysis of problems, development of strategies, and
implementation of solutions. Employees are invited to share in the decision-making
process of the firm by participating in activities such as setting goals, determining work
schedules, and making suggestions. Other forms of participative management include
increasing the responsibility of employees (job enrichment); forming self-managed
teams, quality circles, or quality-of-work-life committees; and soliciting survey feedback.
Participative management, however, involves more than allowing employees to take
part in making decisions. It also involves management treating the ideas and
suggestions of employees with consideration and respect. The most extensive form of
participative management is direct employee ownership of a company.
Four processes influence participation. These processes create employee involvement
as they are pushed down to the lowest levels in an organization. The farther down these
processes move, the higher the level of involvement by employees. The four processes
include:

1. Information sharing, which is concerned with keeping employees informed about

the economic status of the company.
2. Training, which involves raising the skill levels of employees and offering
development opportunities that allow them to apply new skills to make effective
decisions regarding the organization as a whole.
3. Employee decision making, which can take many forms, from determining work
schedules to deciding on budgets or processes.
4. Rewards, which should be tied to suggestions and ideas as well as performance.

BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATIVE
MANAGEMENT
A participative management style offers various benefits at all levels of the organization.
By creating a sense of ownership in the company, participative management instills a
sense of pride and motivates employees to increase productivity in order to achieve
their goals. Employees who participate in the decisions of the company feel like they are
a part of a team with a common goal, and find their sense of self-esteem and creative
fulfillment heightened.
Managers who use a participative style find that employees are more receptive to
change than in situations in which they have no voice. Changes are implemented more
effectively when employees have input and make contributions to decisions.
Participation keeps employees informed of upcoming events so they will be aware of
potential changes. The organization can then place itself in a proactive mode instead of
a reactive one, as managers are able to quickly identify areas of concern and turn to
employees for solutions.
Participation helps employees gain a wider view of the organization. Through training,
development opportunities, and information sharing, employees can acquire the
conceptual skills needed to become effective managers or top executives. It also
increases the commitment of employees to the organization and the decisions they
make.
Creativity and innovation are two important benefits of participative management. By
allowing a diverse group of employees to have input into decisions, the organization
benefits from the synergy that comes from a wider choice of options. When all
employees, instead of just managers or executives, are given the opportunity to
participate, the chances are increased that a valid and unique idea will be suggested.

REQUIREMENTS OF PARTICIPATIVE
MANAGEMENT
A common misconception by managers is that participative management involves
simply asking employees to participate or make suggestions. Effective programs involve
more than just a suggestion box. In order for participative management to work, several
issues must be resolved and several requirements must be met. First, managers must
be willing to relinquish some control to their workers; managers must feel secure in their
position in order for participation to be successful. Often managers do not realize that
employees' respect for them will increase instead of decrease when they implement a
participative management style.
The success of participative management depends on careful planning and a slow,
phased approach. Changing employees' ideas about management takes time, as does
any successful attempt at a total cultural change from a democratic or autocratic style of
management to a participative style. Long-term employees may resist changes, not
believing they will last. In order for participation to be effective, managers must be
genuine and honest in implementing the program. Many employees will need to
consistently see proof that their ideas will be accepted or at least seriously considered.
The employees must be able to trust their managers and feel they are respected.
Successful participation requires managers to approach employee involvement with an
open mind. They must be open to new ideas and alternatives in order for participative
management to work. It is important to remember that although the manager may not
agree with every idea or suggestion an employee makes, how those ideas are received
is critical to the success of participative management.
Employees must also be willing to participate and share their ideas. Participative
management does not work with employees who are passive or simply do not care.
Many times employees do not have the skills or information necessary to make good
suggestions or decisions. In this case it is important to provide them with information or
training so they can make informed choices. Encouragement should be offered in order
to accustom employees to the participative approach. One way to help employees
engage in the decision-making process is by knowing their individual strengths and
capitalizing on them. By guiding employees toward areas in which they are
knowledgeable, a manager can help to ensure their success.
Before expecting employees to make valuable contributions, managers should provide
them with the criteria that their input must meet. This will aid in discarding ideas or
suggestions that cannot be implemented, are not feasible, or are too expensive.
Managers should also give employees time to think about ideas or alternative decisions.
Employees often do not do their most creative thinking on the spot.
Another important element for implementing a successful participative management
style is the visible integration of employees' suggestions into the final decision or
implementation. Employees need to know that they have made a contribution. Offering
employees a choice in the final decision is important because it increases their
commitment, motivation, and job satisfaction. Sometimes even just presenting several
alternatives and allowing employees to choose from them is as effective as if they
thought of the alternatives themselves. If the employees' first choice is not feasible,
management might ask for an alternative rather than rejecting the employee input.
When an idea or decision is not acceptable, managers should provide an explanation. If
management repeatedly strikes down employee ideas without implementing them,
employees will begin to distrust management, thus halting participation. The key is to
build employee confidence so their ideas and decisions become more creative and
sound.

Read more: https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Or-Pr/Participative-
Management.html#ixzz6rQKIv4lF
Participatory management is the practice of empowering members of a group, such as employees
of a company or citizens of a community, to participate in organizational decision making.[1] It is used
as an alternative to traditional vertical management structures, which has shown to be less effective
as participants are growing less interested in their leader's expectations due to a lack of recognition
of the participant's effort or opinion.[2]
This practice grew out of the human relations movement in the 1920s, and is based on some of the
principles discovered by scholars doing research in management and organization studies, most
notably the Hawthorne Experiments that led to the Hawthorne effect.
While group leaders still retain final decision-making authority when participatory management is
practiced, participants are encouraged to voice their opinions about their current environment. In the
workplace, this concept is sometimes considered industrial democracy.

Participative Management: Meaning,

Concept, Features, Objectives, Properties,
Benefits, Methods and Pre-Requisites
Participative Management – Meaning and Definitions
Twentieth century has witnessed several drastic and revolutionary
changes in the field of industries. The success of a business enterprise
depends on cordial industrial relations. If the attitude of the workers
towards their work is positive, they try to contribute their best for the
achievement of organisational goals.

The employer-employee relation should be strengthened to create a

congenial work atmosphere so that the contribution of the employees
towards the achievement of goals of management can be enhanced.
This will pave way for the Industrial Harmony which is very essential
for the uninterrupted production/service.

The word participation means sharing the decision making power with
the lower levels of the employees in an organisation. Participation has
tremendous motivational value and promotes harmony and peace
between the workers and the management. Participative management
is also known as workers’ participation in management. The concept
of workers’ participation in management is considered as a
mechanism where workers have a say in the decision making process
of the enterprise. The workers are able to see how their activities can
contribute to the overall growth of the organisation.
The workers’ participation in industry is the extension of democracy of
the country. The success or failure of an undertaking is not the
concern of management alone, since workers are also part of the
organisation. For the peaceful evolution of economic system on
democratic lines, it is essential that workers participation in
management is accepted as a fundamental principle and urgent need.

Workers’ participation in management is a new technique in which

owners and workers are considered as members of the same family.
Mahatma Gandhi was in favour of factory democracy in which
workers’ and owners manage the affairs of the business. According to
Allen Flanders, “The workers claim to be consulted by management is
fundamentally a normal one. It rests on its merits regardless of
economic results. As human beings, they have dignity and are entitled
to self-respect”.

Definitions of Participative Management:

According to Keith Davis, “Participation is defined as an individual’s
mental and emotional involvement in group goals and to share
responsibility for them”.

As per The International Institute for Labour Studies, workers

participation in management is, “the participation resulting from
practices which increase the scope for employees’ share of influence in
decision making at different tiers of organisational hierarchy with
concomitant assumption of responsibility”.

Participative Management – Concept

The term participation is variously understood by involved parties. For
management it is a joint consultation prior to decision making, for
workers it means codetermination, while for government it is an
association of labour with management without the final authority or
responsibility in decision making.
Participation is generally conceived of as a way of reducing power
difference and, therefore, equality is stressed. Participation as a means
to reduce power inequity however, seems difficult to accept because of
the obvious difference in formal power positions between the labourer
and the director.
For management it is a joint consultation before decision making; for
workers it is co-determination, for trade unions it is the ushering in of
a new era of social relationship. Administrators consider it merely the
association of workers with management without assigning them any
authority or responsibility.
In simple words, the theory lying behind the concept of
participative management may be stated as:
“The workers generally know the problems related to the work more
accurately than others in the organization. They generally possess
some views and suggestions relating to their work and have a desire to
put them before the management. The management generally takes
decisions on its own and imposes them on the workers. The views and
suggestions of workers may or may not be relevant but ignoring them
creates doubts in minds of workers about the intentions of
management. This gives rise to labour-management conflict and
makes workers alienated from the management.”
The philosophy underlying participative management stresses
democratic participation in decision-making, maximum employer-
employee collaboration, minimum state intervention, realization of a
greater measure of social justice, greater industrial efficiency, and
higher level of organizational health and effectiveness.
Participative Management echoes the millennial vision of nineteenth
century-thinkers while heralding the evolution of new forms of
individual organizations under twentieth century pressures. It has not
only remained a means through which workers and their
organizations can put forward their views and influence decisions, but
also has developed into a new management strategy.