Distributed leadership has the potential to optimize and innovate, and it can boost employee motivation and well-being. But what is distributed leadership and how do you get started? Find out in this short article.
At its core, distributed leadership is about how organizations can improve their performance by distributing tasks and influence in new ways throughout the organization, so that the leader doesn't become a bottleneck and employees' skills are brought more into play.
Distribute tasks, mandate and influence
The concept of distributed leadership can be understood in several ways. Some of the key elements are about how management tasks are distributed to employees, but it can also be understood as the distribution of influence processes. Regardless of the type, successful distributed leadership requires a clear mandate from manager to employee.
When employees perform specific management tasks under the guidance of and in interaction with the manager, this is a type of distributed leadership. Here, employees contribute to carrying out some "traditional" management tasks. For example, this could be shift planning, other forms of planning or coordination that are traditionally perceived as a management task.
Distributed leadership can also be understood as the distribution of influence processes, whereby employees are invited into the manager's deliberations and decision-making processes with the opportunity to influence the way the manager approaches an issue. Here, employees contribute input to the manager's considerations and decisions.
Distribute tasks, mandate and influence
Distributed leadership is related to the concept of delegation, but has some key characteristics that set it apart. One of the key differences is that in delegation, the employee performs the task alone. The employee has the full mandate in relation to the task.
Distributed leadership is different. Here, managers and employees solve the task together. The employee is involved in the task solution and at the same time receives a share of the mandate, but not the full mandate as with delegation.
While delegation can be understood as giving employees a completely free hand, distributed leadership describes a manager letting employees take on new types of tasks, while remaining behind the scenes to support and advise employees.
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Distributed leadership can grow from both the top and the bottom
A distributed leadership practice can emerge when managers see a need or opportunity to hand off specific tasks to employees. It can also emerge from below when employees take on tasks that are traditionally seen as management tasks, such as onboarding new employees or helping to plan cross-functional meetings.
Drive better results with distributed leadership
One of the benefits of distributed leadership is that it frees up resources in the organization when the interaction between managers and employees is rethought. However, distributed leadership does not mean that all employees must perform management tasks or that the distribution of these tasks is the same for all employees. Distributed leadership is about bringing employee resources into play in new ways when relevant.
Distributed leadership is good for both the organization and its employees. Firstly, distributed leadership can help strengthen the organization's performance, resource utilization and innovation capacity. Secondly, distributing leadership tasks can improve employee wellbeing and motivation. Finally, distributed leadership can result in managers using their time and resources more appropriately.
Remember clear ground rules
Humans are creatures of habit. When we need to do something new, it's important to have clear guidelines. This also applies when we talk about distributed leadership. It's crucial to set clear ground rules, especially if this way of working is very different from what you're used to.
The rules of the game can be formal written or verbal agreements. But they can also be informal and tied to the way you "do things" in the organization and therefore tied to the culture. Regardless of the type of ground rules you establish, it's crucial that everyone has a common frame of reference if you want to succeed with distributed leadership.
Literature
- Christian Nyvang Qvick (2019) Distributed leadership: Solve leadership tasks in an aligned way in interaction with employees
- Mads Leth Felsager Jakobsen, Anne Mette Kjeldsen and Thomas Pallesen (2016) Distributed leadership in public service organizations, Politica
- Caroline Howard Grøn, Anne Mette Kjeldsen and Christian Nyvang Qvick (2019) Researchers: Involving employees in management tasks has many pitfalls
- Christian Nyvang Qvick (2020) Distributed leadership: A hidden resource in public organizations?
