Delegative Leadership - How to Use it to Empower Team Success

If you are supervising a team of any organisation, no matter the size or number of employees, there are multiple ways to lead a team. A delegating leadership style is one of the ways to capitalise your employees’ strengths and allocate the workload from one person to the entire member of the team.

A fruitful delegating leadership approach will take some time and energy, but it is well worth the struggle to guide your employees and obtain involvement and empowerment in the company.

Today through this blog, we will let you know and understand a valuable way to utilise a delegating leadership style in the organisation.

Understand the meaning of delegating leadership style

Delegative leadership, also known as laissez-faire leadership, is a leadership style that involves delegating authority and decision-making power to subordinates. This means that the leader plays a minimal role in the decision-making process and allows the subordinates to make their decisions.

A delegating style permits you to share authority and accountability with your employees. In this leadership structure, employees are given the power to complete projects and tasks independently. As a leader, you must interact with each employee to allocate the assignment, assuring them they understand and giving them the tools required to complete it.

There are numerous ways where you can take a delegating leadership style. Delegation is an essential step in that development process for both the delegator and the delegate. If correctly focused on delegating leadership style then you can easily establish yourself as an effective manager or a leader.

Delegation is an essential method of becoming a successful and effective leader and a key practice for those you guide to growing themselves individually.

When should you use delegating leadership style?

There are numerous advantages to a delegating leadership style. In a delegating leadership style, you give employees an understanding of the big picture and authorise them autonomy in performing individual tasks.

This style is most effective in situations where team members are highly skilled, motivated, and capable of handling additional responsibility. Some key points to consider when determining whether to use a delegating leadership style include:

The level of expertise and experience of the team members: If your team members are highly skilled and experienced in their roles, they may be well-equipped to handle additional decision-making responsibilities.
The level of motivation and engagement of the team: If your team members are motivated and engaged in their work, they may be more likely to take ownership of their responsibilities and make good decisions on their own.
The complexity of the task or situation: If the task or situation is relatively simple and straightforward, team members may be able to handle it without much guidance from the leader.
The level of trust between the leader and the team: A strong level of trust is essential for a delegating leadership style to be effective. If the leader does not trust the team to make good decisions on their own, they may be better off using a different leadership style.

In short, a delegating leadership style is most effective when team members are highly skilled, motivated, and capable of handling additional responsibility, and when the task or situation is relatively simple and the leader trusts the team to make good decisions on their own.

You can expect other behaviours’ depending on each picture, which we will study below.

Delegating leadership style for the delegator?

When delegating, the delegator wishes to share the task and implement and supervise until the task is completed. Below mentioned are some examples a delegator can take:

The delegator provides the delegate with the giant picture while losing control of respective tasks to complete the goal.
The delegator recommends and observes tasks but permits autonomy in implementation.
The delegator stays accessible for a recommendation, questions and answers as they occur and provides feedback on results.

Advantages of Delegative Leadership

Delegative leadership has several advantages, which include:

Encourages Creativity and Innovation

Delegative leadership encourages subordinates to be creative and innovative. Since they have the autonomy to make decisions, they can explore different approaches to solving problems, leading to more innovative solutions.

Motivates Employees

Delegative leadership can be highly motivational to employees since it empowers them to make decisions and take responsibility for their work. This can boost employee morale and lead to a more positive work environment.

Time-Saving

Since the leader delegates decision-making power to subordinates, they can focus on other tasks, saving time and increasing efficiency.

Disadvantages of Delegative Leadership

Despite its advantages, delegative leadership also has some disadvantages, which include:

Lack of Direction

Delegative leadership can lead to a lack of direction, as the leader plays a minimal role in decision-making. This can cause confusion among subordinates about the organization’s goals and direction.

Poor Decision Making

Subordinates may not have the necessary skills or experience to make important decisions, leading to poor decision-making and negative consequences for the organization.

Lack of Accountability

Delegative leadership can lead to a lack of accountability, as subordinates are responsible for their decisions, but the leader bears little responsibility. This can lead to a lack of discipline and a decrease in overall performance.

Importance of knowing your own leadership style

As a manager, understanding your leadership style is critically important. When you know your leadership style, you can determine the effect this has on those you directly influence. It also allows you to find and understand your leadership qualities and select which leadership skill you want to develop.

Some managers can already categorise their leadership styles, identifying whether this makes them sufficient, or how their juniors see them.

One easy way to know your leadership style is involved feedback. Asking those you lead to provide honest and frank feedback is helpful. Doing so will permit you to adapt your style’s attributes within your day-to-day duties as a manager.

Why Is Delegation Leadership Style Important?

An actual manager executing a delegation leadership style knows how much free rein the delegate can nicely handle and adjusts their communication and management processes to meet the requirements and skill level of the delegate.

Becoming a more suitable manager is a continuous process of learning and adjustments. Successful delegation takes consistent time and energy but is worth the struggle when it supports your employees’ growth, organisation and team involvement, and individual empowerment.

Also Read – 8 Simple Ways To Keep Remote Employees Happy and Productive

Conclusion

While it is undoubtedly a tricky balance to get right, there is no doubt that delegative leadership can enable your team to complete their goals. Suppose your company depends on key employees being allowed to do their own thing to obtain success. In such a case, it could be the secret to unlocking higher productivity levels and employee happiness. Many businesses are opting to hire remote employees which helps them to grow their business in this modern world.

Now, what do you think? Is delegative leadership too tricky and risky, or is it a useful motivational tool? Let us know your views in the comment section below.