Situational Leadership

The Situational Leadership theory suggests that leaders should adapt their leadership style to match the developmental level of their employees, with four styles to match four levels of development.

4 LEVELS OF DEVELOPMENT

D1. Beginners

According to the theory of situational leadership, "Beginners" are employees who have been assigned a new task but lack experience. These are often young, enthusiastic individuals who have recently graduated and have no prior work experience. They are driven to perform their tasks to the best of their abilities, but may lack the necessary skills and knowledge to do so effectively. 

Due to their lack of experience, they may attempt to implement theoretical concepts in practice and believe that their colleagues are doing things incorrectly. However, without proper guidance and support, they may cause serious damage to the organization. 

How to manage employees of D1 type. It is important to understand that they are highly motivated and do not require additional support. Instead, they require practical experience and short-term goals with ongoing feedback. It is crucial to discuss their work results with them and delegate the responsibility of supervising them to a senior employee. This will assist the beginner in gaining necessary experience quickly. Training, instructions, advice, and regular discussions will all help the employee achieve their goals and become a valuable asset to the organization.

D2. Disappointed

It is believed that D2 employees, according to the theory of situational leadership, are those who have lost interest in their work. They might have an average or low level of competence, but their lack of interest and self-confidence prevents them from progressing. They become disillusioned and give up on acquiring new knowledge and skills. Such individuals are usually new to the job but have high ambitions. They must realize that the work is much harder than it seems and requires more effort and diligence to achieve results. Sometimes, they might even contemplate switching to a different job or project, thinking their current company or project is the root cause of failure.

How to manage employees of D2 type. It is crucial to give them attention, guidance, and constant feedback, as they are still inexperienced. They require participation, support, and recognition to boost their self-esteem. When assigning tasks to D2 employees, it is essential to explain the task's nature, how it should be done, and the expected outcome. Encouragement, inspiration, and involvement in decision-making can also help them develop their skills and self-esteem. Under such conditions, employees can be retained in the company or project, and they can progress to a different stage of their development.

D3. Prudent

Employees who fall under the D3 type in situational leadership are capable but lack self-confidence. They possess strong competencies but have low self-esteem. They tend to be cautious, circumspect, doubtful, or bored. This type also includes employees who have high competence, but routine tasks have weakened their ardor, and their motivation has disappeared, thus resulting in confusion. This often happens when they are assigned to perform the same type of tasks, without any new challenges. When a manager promises a new and interesting task, D3-type employees tend to be pessimistic and skeptical about it. 

How to manage employees of D3 type. To manage these employees effectively, they do not need advice and support, as they already know their job well. However, it is essential to listen to them actively. Leaders should involve them in decision-making, ask them questions, and listen to their opinions. The last thing they require is a director's leadership style. Instead, they need help building their confidence and finding motivation. Excessive control can lead to a loss of interest in work for D3-type employees, as they perceive it as a sign of distrust. With their professionalism, they need autonomy and independence to perform their tasks with confidence.

D4. Self-sufficient

Employees with self-sufficiency, self-motivation, and self-confidence are categorized as type D4 in situational leadership. These employees are capable of setting their own goals, achieving them, and motivating themselves, and they have high self-esteem. It is recommended to have at least one such employee in every team as they can be a valuable asset to a leader due to their reliability and support in new projects and challenges. They have the ability to work independently and require minimal adjustments and support.

However, although D4 employees seem to be a leader's dream, they can carry certain risks. Since managers trust them completely, they often leave them alone, which may cause them to feel left out and disengaged from the team. Other companies may also notice their independence and professionalism, and attempt to lure them away. Thus, it is essential to show them appreciation and attention.

Moreover, D4 employees have a high motivation and sense of responsibility and may agree to any task. If the number of tasks is not monitored, they can become overburdened and burn out. 

How to manage employees of D4 type. Leaders should value these employees, support their growth and development, and protect them from burnout by ensuring they take timely rest and breaks.

4 Leadership Styles

S1. Directive style: This involves management through clear instructions. It includes setting rigid goals, distributing specific tasks, and tracking their implementation. This style is characterized by high task orientation and low performer orientation.

S2. Teaching style: This style focuses on both the task and the performer. The leader gives the task and monitors its implementation, explains its essence and meaning, shares arguments and justifications. The employee is encouraged to share ideas.

S3. Supportive style: This style involves the leader's participation in the management by organizing the work process. It is all about people. The employee makes the decision and also participates in making important decisions for the team.

S4. Delegating style: This leadership style is through delegation. It is almost not focused on either people or tasks. The leader transfers the right to make any decisions and take responsibility for the results of their work to the subordinate.

Finally, After assessing an employee's level of development, we apply a suitable leadership style.

Task statement - S.M.A.R.T

The S.M.A.R.T principle is a contemporary approach to setting goals and objectives in the workplace. This principle aids in summarizing all available information during the goal-setting stage and establishing acceptable deadlines for the work. It also helps in determining the sufficiency of resources and providing clear, precise, and specific tasks for all participants involved in the process.

Specific.

Setting SMART goals is crucial for increasing the likelihood of achieving them. One of the key elements of SMART goals is specificity. This means that when setting a task, the desired outcome should be clearly defined. It's important to remember the rule of "one task - one result." If a task requires achieving multiple outcomes, it should be broken down into several smaller tasks.

Measurable.

To create a SMART target, it is crucial to ensure that it is measurable. This entails establishing specific criteria for measuring the task's progress when setting it. To make a task measurable, the following questions can be helpful:

• At what point will the task be considered accomplished?

• What indicator will signal that the task has been completed?

• What should be the value of this indicator to consider the task achieved?

Achievable or Attainable.

It is crucial for SMART goals to be achievable, as the practicality of the task implementation has a significant impact on the motivation of the performer. If the task is impossible to achieve, the likelihood of its completion becomes almost nil. The feasibility of the task is determined based on the performer's own experience and by taking into account all available resources and limitations. These limitations can include time constraints, investment, labor resources, knowledge and experience of the performer, access to information and resources, the ability to make decisions, and the availability of managerial levers.

Relevant.

In order to determine the significance of a task, it is important to understand how its solution will contribute towards achieving global strategic objectives.

When setting a meaningful goal, a helpful question to ask is: What benefits will the team or company gain from solving this task? 

If a task does not provide any benefits to the team or company as a whole, it is considered useless and a waste of resources.

Time bound.

It's important to limit the completion time of a task, according to SMART. This means setting a final deadline and considering the task incomplete if it exceeds this deadline. Establishing clear time frames and boundaries for a task helps make the management process more controllable, and the time frame should be determined based on the possibility of achieving the task on time.

Recommendations

When setting deadlines, it's best to avoid using vague terms like "next week," as this can cause confusion due to differences in time zones, etc. Instead, it's better to specify the exact day and time when the task needs to be completed. It's also a good idea to discuss any progress check-ins that may be necessary and agree on specific dates and times for them. 

To avoid misunderstandings, it's helpful to ask an employee to repeat the task in their own words, and if their understanding matches the expectations, then the task is clear.

Motivation

One of the crucial responsibilities of a manager is to motivate their team to accomplish work tasks and attain both short-term and long-term objectives of the company.

According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, monetary motivation only has a short-term effect, as high wages and financial incentives only cover the lower levels of needs. On the other hand, non-material staff motivation is the most powerful tool for team management.

Maslow Pyramid

For the staff incentive system to be effective, it's crucial to incorporate ways of non-material motivation of employees that appeal to their highest needs, such as respect, self-development, and realization of potential. 

To determine the most effective tools for stimulating labor and inspiring genuine enthusiasm in your team, it's essential to choose non-material methods of personnel motivation that are most suitable for their mentality, psychotypes, and emotional state.

Let's analyze several available ways of non-material motivation:

Praise is one of the most effective and accessible motivational tools. When a specialist completes an important task excellently, investing time, effort, energy, and knowledge, they should be praised promptly. If they are not, they may feel that their work has no value, causing them to lose all desire to give their best in the future. Public praise is not only a stimulus but also fosters healthy enthusiasm at work.

Maintaining healthy competition within a team can be achieved through game-like, non-material staff motivation methods. These can include competitions for the title of the best employee of the month, contests, quests, and more. The game system works when the team understands what they are competing for. A simple photo on the board of honor is not enough nowadays. A powerful incentive is needed - a super prize!

Offering opportunities for career growth and future prospects is crucial to attracting qualified, prospective, and ambitious personnel. Career growth itself is not a stimulus but a motivational tool that interests an employee in advancement. The incentives for the employee are the valuable benefits that accompany promotion, such as a private office, subordinates, a high salary, respect, and recognition.

Employee training is an important tool in non-material staff motivation. With a competent approach, this method can be a key factor in motivation and increased work productivity. It also helps tackle the problem of insufficient staff qualifications, strengthen the team, and retain/ attract promising employees.

Personal congratulations on important dates and events help create emotional ties between the employee and the company. Congratulating employees on their birthdays, wedding days, work anniversaries, New Year, and other holidays helps improve relationships between management and subordinates. This non-material motivation shows that friendly behavior and attention from management can significantly increase employees' loyalty towards the organization.

Creating comfortable conditions requires substantial financial investments. However, to improve the office atmosphere, sometimes a pleasant detail is enough - free coffee with pastries, a ping-pong table, a soft sofa in a cozy corner.

Corporate parties, tourist trips, organizing sports competitions, and other traditional motivational forms are effectively used by many companies to maintain corporate spirit.

A flexible schedule is a non-standard motivation that encourages people to complete tasks faster and with better quality to gain more free time.

Delegation

Delegation involves transferring a portion of a LEADER's duties to another person to achieve specific goals.

The Legend of Henry Ford

Once, Henry Ford decided to send all managers of all levels on a two-week Caribbean cruise. No excuses were accepted - everyone went on the trip in a voluntarily compulsory manner. When the managers returned, some faced promotions while others faced dismissal.

What was Ford's rationale? It was based on the quality of work in the departments that were temporarily left without leaders. The leaders whose units continued to work in a normal mode were rewarded. However, if employees struggled with their tasks, work stagnated, and processes broke down in the leader's absence, it indicated that the leader had failed to establish proper work, and such managers should be fired.

RESPONSIBILITY

Henri Fayol, a management theorist and practitioner and one of the founders of the "classical school" of management, believes the following: Authority should not be considered separately from responsibility. Responsibility is a consequence of authority.

The main aspect of delegation is responsibility. Everything else (authority, decision-making power, resources, people, processes) comes afterward and serves only the purpose of implementing delegated responsibility.

It is possible to grant authority without responsibility, but this may lead to unfortunate consequences. To assign responsibility without authority means putting the performer in a hopeless situation, as they will be unable to realize the delegated responsibility.

The conclusion is that responsibility and the authority to implement it should only be delegated together. At the same time, only as much authority as needed should be delegated to carry out the responsibility.

Delegation Types

There are the following types of delegation of authority:

Complete delegation is a situation in which the employee is fully responsible for the implementation of the task. The supervisor does not deal with the task at all. This type is also called "direct delegation".

Limited delegation when the work is performed by a subordinate, but he shares responsibility for the result with the supervisor.

Zero delegation implies that the responsibility is completely shifted to the manager.

Reverse delegation, when the received task, responsibility and tools are fully shifted to the head.

Delegation goals

Delegation goals:

• Ensure the effective use of employees' abilities and potentials.

• Free up managers' time and resources for handling management tasks and focusing on team development.

• Encourage employees and increase their level of competence.

Delegation goals do not include:

• Relieving managers from performing boring and unpleasant tasks.

• Overworking employees.

Delegation mistakes

Why are managers afraid to delegate tasks?

• "Nobody can do it as well as I can."

• Inexperience - lack of practice or skill in task distribution.

• Fear of mistakes, and risks (they might think that I am dumping work on them or they will do it better than I do).

• Impatience - not enough patience to spend time explaining and teaching employees how to perform the task.

• Distrust - When a delegated task is improperly completed, managers may believe their employee is not competent enough.

Managers' arguments against delegating tasks:

• "I can do it faster and better myself."
  Perhaps, but then you will not have time for more critical tasks.

• "None of my employees are competent enough."
  Start by delegating smaller tasks, which will help you achieve competence.

• "It's easier to do it myself than to organize, explain, and monitor the task."
  Look at the bigger picture. Eventually, the time invested will pay off, and your employees will take more responsibility for completing tasks in the future.

• "I like to do everything my way."
  Focus not only on controlling task execution but also on explaining your preferences and quality standards.

What are the benefits of delegating authority?

• You can learn new skills and try new directions.

• Your employees develop new skills and can replace you if you get a promotion. When leaving for vacation, you won't fear everything falling apart in your absence.

• You have more free time.

• If you develop, then your employees also develop.

• Your employees will be grateful for the development opportunity you provide.

• You will have time to assess and motivate your employees.

• Task volume and deadlines will be optimal compared to when you tried to do everything by yourself.

Mistakes when delegating:

• Not delegating at all. Delegate without waiting for the "right" moment, which may never come.

• Delegating to a group without appointing a responsible person. Someone must be responsible when delegating duties.

• Delegating authority without taking into account the performer's capabilities. Only delegate as much authority and responsibility as needed.

• Delegating someone else's tasks.

• Delegating small tasks without stating a clear purpose.

• Delegating goals without instructions.

• Delegating without setting deadlines.

• Delegating without setting priorities.

• Delegating uninteresting tasks.

• No feedback or control - you assign a task but do not check how the person completes it.

• Perfectionism and impatience negatively affect a person's ability to achieve results now and successfully solve similar tasks in the future. It is better to spend time explaining quality criteria.

• Finally, fully assigning responsibility rather than sharing it with the person to whom you delegated the task. In the end, you will still be accountable to your management.

When/How you should delegate?

When should you start delegating? 

American psychologist George Miller identified a pattern: our short-term memory (working memory) can handle only 7 ± 2 values simultaneously. This phenomenon is called the "magic number seven plus or minus two" or "Miller's wallet." If the number of tasks (which you are involved with in one way or another) falls within this range, it is a clear sign that you have already missed the moment to start delegating. Now, you urgently need to delegate tasks. To avoid being late with delegation, it is much better to take it as rule: start delegating tasks as soon as it becomes possible.

How to choose the right employee to delegate tasks?

• The employee should possess relevant competence. Make sure they have the necessary knowledge and skills and can handle the task you want to delegate.

• You understand that the employee is motivated to perform new and more complex tasks.

• The employee has all the necessary resources to complete the delegated task, or you can provide them with these resources.

• The task contributes to the employee's professional development.

What work should be delegated?

• Frequently recurring tasks. These tasks are easy to describe and demonstrate to others. When you delegate these tasks to your subordinates, you free up a lot of time. When undertaking a new task, consider whether it will become regular. If so, it might be better to decide right away who will handle the task and where that person will acquire the necessary resources.

• Paradoxically, you should also delegate work in which you are an expert. Being a professional in a particular area hinders one's development as a leader and, consequently, limits career growth. To delegate such tasks, you first need to train your subordinates (at least a little) and gradually increase the complexity of their tasks.

• When delegating work, consider the people to whom you delegate authority. Delegating tasks that can develop your subordinates, diversify their routine duties, expand their opportunities, and strengthen team spirit should be prioritized. This way, you will have a highly motivated team at your disposal.

It is strictly forbidden to delegate strategic tasks, planning, finances, strategies, motivation, evaluation, and control.

What should not be delegated:

• Setting goals

• Making final strategic decisions

• Monitoring results

• Motivating employees

• High-risk and critically important tasks

• Unusual, exceptional tasks

• Urgent tasks without the possibility of explanation or rechecking

• Confidential tasks

• Personal matters