Collaborative Management: Is it for you?

The FINANCIAL — Collaborative management has dominated Western business, but sometimes it can be a disaster. The benefits of collaborative management have been substantial. Many management programs extol it as a means of improving team members’ sense of personal responsibility for their businesses.

Greater motivation among employees often translates into better productivity for businesses. Collaborative managers also tend to make better decisions, because they draw on their team members’ perspectives and experiences in addition to personal knowledge.

As a result, almost every area of Western business and life has been transformed during the past 30 years by the injection of collaborative management DNA. Even pilots in airliners have shifted from being “supreme commanders,” with everyone jumping at their orders, to “collaborative leaders,” helping their teams complete each flight safely. One can argue that collaborative management is simply the best way to lead.

Yet the collaborative management style can also cause dramatic failure when used by newly-minted managers.

Collaborative management depends on a few key characteristics that new managers often lack. Respect, for instance, is necessary for any manager who wants to set team priorities. New managers often have difficulty commanding the respect of the people they lead, though, especially if they were promoted from within the group they now lead. In these cases, team members may still view their new boss as an equal and resent taking his or her instructions. Most of us prefer following people who are experienced, older, well-spoken and more knowledgeable than ourselves.

Unfortunately, few new managers exhibit such confidence-inspiring traits. New managers are often young and just learning how to behave as leaders. More than once I have witnessed a talented new manager lead a team effort that turned into complete chaos. The team and manager had to be “rescued.” The rescue further marginalized the manager as a capable leader in the minds of the team.

If you are a new manager or about to become one, you can avoid this danger by saying “No” to collaborative management. Instead, manage like a lion tamer, using a whip and a chair to establish your authority as group leader. Demonstrate that you are in charge by being assertive but not aggressive. Yes, your team’s productivity will be lower than it might be under an experienced collaborative manager. Yes, your team may not like you. However, they will respect your authority.

And without respect for your authority as a manager, you and your team are headed for brilliant failure.

Once your group has accepted you as leader (usually about 30 days), you can begin soliciting advice from team members and transforming your style and team into a collaborative powerhouse.

What kind of manger are you? Circle the letters of all that apply.
A. My team should just do what I tell them. I should not need to explain myself.
B. I spend extra time to make sure team members know how their specific tasks relate to the success of our shared project.

A. My team needs me. They will fall apart without me if I am not around for a week.
B. If I am gone, my team can self-organize and make good decisions as a group.

A. I listen to team opinions but always make the final decisions.
B. If my team disagrees with me, sometimes we proceed with their desired course.

A. My team must fear punishment (or expect reward) to function well.
B. My team has internalized their reward and does not need external motivators to do great work.

A. During team meetings, I assign tasks to people that I think will complete them properly.
B. My team self-organizes, with people helping select the work they are most interested in performing.

A. I define the team’s goals, or they are defined by my superiors and handed to us.
B. My team has input into our vision and path.

A. I am the team leader. I may have an assistant who takes over when I am away.
B. I share the leadership role with other members of our team.

A. I wait until a direction is clear before involving my team.
B. I discuss issues and opportunities with my team as early as possible.

If you answered mostly A’s, you are very good at using the whip. As an experiment, consider adopting a more collaborative style, and decide after a couple of months whether your team is more productive.
If you answered mostly B’s, you are well on your way to managing a collaborative team. If your leadership is new, be careful of challenges to your authority and quickly transform (or eliminate) “bad apple” team members.

Ralph Burleson is the Chairman of the Board at GeoCapital.