In social science and governance, 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. 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. 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. In the 1990s, participatory management was revived in a different form through advocacy of organizational learning practices, particularly by clients and students of Peter Senge.
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Theories The participatory management model or at least techniques for systematically sharing authority emphasize concerns with the delegation of decision making authority to employees. Participatory management has cut across many disciplines such as public administration, urban planning, and public policy making. In theory, the model does much more than recognize that employees ought to be able to recommend changes or course of action, but rather reflect a belief that authority should be transferred to and shared with employees. The belief in this theory stems from understanding what the culture of an organization or institution represents. Conceptually, organizational culture is thought to represent a symbolic and ideal system composed of values and norms implemented by its founders, then shared and reflected to influence behavior of its members or employees in the institution. The culture of the organization or institution is in turn used to guide the meaning of the organization's work. There are certain institutions that successfully participate in organizational structures specific to hierarchical management models, thereby configuring power distribution, authority, communication and decision making. In an Organizational Structure, or Classical Management, employees do not participate in the decision making process. Employees receive, interpret and carry out orders after the decisions are made by administrators. Participatory management is a shift in the management paradigm from a top-down approach to a more self-facilitated and self-sustained approach. Employees are given the freedom and responsibility, accompanied by all the necessary tools needed to delegate decision making, authority and evaluations of existing and foreseeable/unforeseeable problems. One tool in participatory management is implementing a Contingency Theory approach. This theoretical approach acknowledges that every problem is different, therefore every problem requires different approaches and solutions.Principles of participatory management consist of fundamental ideas that seek to empower and enhance the employee's understanding of problems as to explore and generate the greatest potential solutions embodying the ideals of democratic inclusion and participation.
Shifting to and implementation Shifting the paradigm from classical management to participatory management requires a collaborative consensus as an organization or institution with communication, inclusion, transparency and development. Creating and sustaining an adaptive capacity for ongoing problem solving with an emphasis on social and transformative learning through trust, sustained engagement, and relationship development are important factors when contributing to the overall success or failure of participatory management. Fostering a comfortable environment for employees by creating transparency and building new relationships support broad participation in ongoing planning, implementation, and evaluations which sustains diverse participation in managing expectations and actions with a collective understanding of goals and outcomes. When implementing this theory, the only thing for certain is uncertainty. Managing uncertainty must be conceptually addressed to reduce conflict. Conflict can stem from problems caused by misinterpretation, or lack of clarity when it comes to communication or questions concerning values, relationships, and goals. Deliberative, collaborative, and consensus based approaches facilitate learning, as inputs across a wide range of members can provide a diverse range of opinions, and lowers the risk of sampling bias. This is called collaborative science, or collaborative method of consensus. Incorporating this approach to participatory management facilitates shared learning and makes the institution and team development stronger, through the contribution of individuals. Communicating values, creating a safe and comfortable environment along with a genuine and concerted effort should be at the foundation of an organization or institution aiming to implement participatory management as a successful tool.
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