Pseudo-Participation

We all know that Management has been defined as "getting things done by, with, and through other people." Individuals who are accountable for the performance of assigned tasks. People participate in creation of a product or service. These types of participation are common to all organizations. I think participative management may be defined as getting things done through people by creating a situation in which individuals may develop mental and emotional involvement in a group situation which encourages them  to contribute to group goals and share responsibility in them. Participative management involves not just individual's behavior but also a situation.Participation and management both involves decision making process.

Pseudo-Participation. A situation in which a manager tries to make team members think they are participating and influencing decisions when they really are not.An example is the situation in which a manager solicits suggestions when he has already made a decision. The act reflects the application of participative methods without an understanding of the underlying principles. 

As a team leader and as a participant I have experienced this kind of pseudo participation. In today's IT world market dynamics forces many changes and decisions quiet often manipulated by senior leaders. A captain on the battlefield can’t afford to waste time thinking, “If only the enemy would stop shooting at us!” He can't change that, so, why lament it? His urgent need is to find ways for his men to avoid getting hit, while attacking with the greatest effectiveness. Likewise, we all play the group dynamics according the situation. Sometimes situation demands more than what have planned before. For the benefit of the team I have comes across situations for Pseudo Participation.

In Pseudo participation I have observed, the casual relationship between satisfaction and performance is viewed as being quite different, the increased team member's satisfaction is not pictured as the primary cause of improved performance; improvements results directly from creative contributions which team members make to departmental decision making direction and control.

Continuous improvement is important in today’s corporate world. If you are working in IT this will be the objective for what we do, this is what business expects from you. To align the market dynamics leaders should have to adept for many strategies. Teams need to be aware of these kind of situations and impacts of it. Though I don't recommend this kind of participative approach but when situation demands leaders will do this. A successful leader is usually pictured   as intelligent, imaginative, ambitious, dynamic, able to make.: rapid decisions, and capable of inspiring  his team members.