Collaborative Management Is Transforming How Companies Make Decisions

In many organizations, decision-making power remains centralized: only the top of the hierarchy makes decisions, with employees rarely consulted. While this decision-making method is well-suited in some situations, it can also lead to decisions that are out of touch with the field, eroding teams' engagement.

To meet these challenges, more and more organizations are adopting a collaborative management style. Can yours become one of them?

The largest percentage of U.S. employees, 57%, view collaborative leadership as the best management style. This preference is supported by a Deloitte survey, which found that companies with management that collaborates regularly are one-third more likely to be growing 10 percent or more than companies whose leadership works in silos. What's more, 70 percent of respondents believe workers will spend more time on collaboration platforms in the future. Clearly, collaborative management can benefit not only more informed decision-making but also the bottom line.

So, how does this model differ from traditional management? What other benefits does it offer? And how can you put it in place? Philippe Pinault, CEO and co-founder of Talkspirit, shares his vision and advice for a successful transition to this new management model.

What's Collaborative Management?

Definition

"Collaborative management is a management style that brings employees in on the decision-making so they can develop appropriate solutions," explains Philippe Pinault.

This type of management is based on three fundamental principles:

• Sharing decision-making power 
• Working with collective intelligence 
• Empowering teams

Collaborative Management vs. Participative Management

Let's take a look at how collaborative and participative management differ.

With participative management, management seeks input and opinions from employees before making a decision. The final decision, however, ultimately remains in the hands of managers.

Collaborative management takes the process one step further. Since it's centered on shared decision-making, managers don't merely consult employees. Instead, employees participate and assume a share of responsibility in making decisions

Depending on the level of involvement required, these two approaches can be combined.

Collaborative Management vs. Traditional Management

According to Philippe Pinault, "Traditional management is based on a centralized decision-making process where management decides, and teams execute. This model can be effective, but it often leads to less informed decisions."

"Collaborative management, on the other hand, involves entire teams more closely and respects the diversity of their contributions." Decision-making power is no longer exclusively in the hands of management, but shared among several stakeholders who managers consult throughout the entire process.

"There's often a tendency to pit these two concepts against each other, but in fact, they complement each other." After all, there's nothing to stop you from mixing the two forms!

Why Adopt Collaborative Management?

Now that you know what collaborative leadership looks like, let's consider all the benefits it can bring your company.

Greater Agility, Innovation, and Engagement

"Collaborative management develops an organization's agility, responsiveness and capacity for innovation. What's more, soliciting diverse viewpoints leads to better decision-making," asserts Talkspirit's CEO.

"This management style also strengthens employee engagement. It allows everyone to feel listened to and involved, and to better understand the impact of decisions taken. This approach is particularly appreciated by the new generations, who want to be involved in the decisions that concern them, rather than simply executing them."

Yet this engagement has a real impact on performance: according to a Gallup study, companies with engaged employees are 23% more profitable!

Also read: Key Employee Engagement Data from Gallup's 2024 Study

Better Decision-Making

"Making decisions collaboratively has three key advantages: 

1. This reduces individual cognitive biases, as the decision is based on several people with different perspectives.
2. Employees take greater ownership of decisions, which reduces resistance to change.
3. Decisions are better aligned with company strategy and team needs."

For all these reasons, customers such as QoQa, Welser Profile and Great Place To Work Netherlands have adopted a collaborative leadership model, just like we’ve done at Talkspirit.

How Do You Make a Collective Decision?

"When you want to make a collective decision, it's important to use a facilitation process. This will help frame the approach, and speed up the decision-making process," explains Philippe Pinault.

"The majority of our customers rely on a consent-based process to make these decisions. Unlike consensus, which requires the unanimous agreement of everyone, consent allows a decision to be made as soon as no one has any objections."

Any employee can raise an objection, as long as it's well-founded and reasonable, and specifies how the proposal could harm the organization. This makes it possible to consult everyone, without risking immobility (a frequent pitfall of consensus). 

Which Decision-Making Method Should You Adopt in Each Context?

"Depending on the type of decision and organizational context you're confronted with, it may make better sense to opt for either a centralized or a more distributed process."

"Companies often make strategic decisions on a management level, as those require rapid execution in times of crisis. Operational decisions, on the other hand, benefit from collaborative decision-making with the affected teams, since they're the ones best able to know their full impact," says Philippe Pinault.

What Are the Prerequisites for Shifting to Collaborative Management?

Before implementing collaborative management, you'll want to check that you meet the essential prerequisites. Here are the most important ones:

• A business culture that promotes transparency and accountability. According to a second survey conducted by Deloitte in 2024, 86% of employees and 74% of managers polled described an increasing focus on trust and transparency in employees' relation with the company as "very or critically important." 
• Leaders and managers are convinced of the benefits of this collaborative approach, and they're ready to get on board with this.
• Gung-ho employees. A good way of checking up on this is to poll them beforehand to gauge their acceptance of this work style."
• A work environment that promotes psychological safety: a place where everyone feels free to express themselves, experiment, and make mistakes once in a while—without fear of getting slapped on the hand.

How Can I Convince My Management to Make the Leap?

What if your management doesn't want to budge? Let's look at a few keys to understanding and overcoming such resistance.

According to Philippe Pinault, "The main resistance typically comes from a lack of understanding. There's a tendency [for managers] to think that keeping decision-making to one's own level is the best way of controlling things. In fact, the opposite is true: the more you rely on collective intelligence, the more effective and innovative solutions you'll discover."

Also read: 8 Steps to Create a Collective Intelligence Framework that Speeds Up Decision-making

So, the best way to overcome this obstacle is to stay informed. Encourage your managers to: 

• exchange with peers who have implemented collaborative management
• take part in conferences
• read books on the subject (recommended: Reinventing Organizations by Frédéric Laloux)

"The more informed they are, the more accessible they'll realize that this transformation really is," Philippe Pinault elaborates.

Another key lever is to involve management in the process. "Executives may be reluctant to change their management style, but this is not necessarily the case with their management committees, which can help them to take the plunge.”

What Are the Steps Involved in Implementing This Management Style?

Now let's assume that you meet the prerequisites listed above. Your next question is probably: where do you start? Here are the key deployment steps recommended by our CEO Philippe Pinault.

1. Explain What "Collaborative Management" Means in the First Place

"Not everyone has the same understanding of collaborative management. So, before you implement it, make sure you define what the term means for your organization." This will help align your teams and avoid any confusion over the level of involvement expected.

2. Clarify How Your Teams Will Make Decisions

"Not every decision requires firing up the collaborative process. To redistribute power to teams, you should determine:

• which decisions should stay at the managerial level
• which decisions should be left in the hands of the teams
• who must be consulted before these decisions are made

For example, at Talkspirit, teams make decisions on operational issues that directly concern them. But that doesn't mean they decide everything on their own. Management and other departments can be involved as soon as these decisions have an impact on the company's global strategies."

3. Map Out Your Organization's Structure

"The next step is to map your entire organization's structure. In other words: document all the roles in the organization, and then nail down the responsibilities associated with them." You can do this with Talkspirit's organizational chart, for example.

"You can use models such as Holacracy or sociocracy to structure this approach, but it's not essential. As Philippe Pinault points out, "it's perfectly possible to implement collaborative leadership without adopting a specific model."

4.Test the Waters One Foot at a Time

"Collaborative management doesn't happen overnight. The best thing is to test it with a few volunteer teams, then gradually extend it to the whole organization if it proves successful."

"Some teams will need more support than others. The key is to adapt the pace of deployment to the organization's maturity."

5. Give Your Teams the Tools They Need 

It's essential to put the right tools in place whenever you want to scale up and deploy collaborative management throughout your organization. For example, with a platform like Talkspirit, you can: 

• clearly document the organization's roles, responsibilities, and processes
• facilitate collective decision-making—both in meetings and asynchronously
• ensure proper alignment between decisions your teams and management take
• share all the right information with the right people at the right time

6. Get Support 

"Coaching and training are both key to any successful transition to a collaborative management style," asserts Talkspirit co-founder.

At Talkspirit, we work with a network of more than 160 partners specialized in new management methods. This network can help you: 

• diagnose your current leadership practices
• identify potential malfunctions
• create a concrete action plan
• bring your teams on board!

Click here to find your coach

7. Accept That All This Will Be an Ongoing Process

Lastly, remember that collaborative leadership is not a destination—it's a journey.

"Implementing this model means accepting there'll be successes and mistakes along the way, and therefore adjustments along the way. The important thing is not to aim for perfection, but rather to continuously improve your practices."

The Future of Collaborative Management

"Collaborative management is—and I'm convinced of it—a model for the future that will become the golden standard for every organization. More and more teams will adopt it, not only to improve their decision-making, but also to meet the expectations of employees seeking greater empowerment.

In a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) environment, where everything evolves rapidly, teams need to decide quickly and well. The collaborative leadership model is particularly well suited to these challenges, as it:

• takes into account the diversity of viewpoints,
• avoids blockages, making sure there are no major objections,
• strengthens employee engagement by giving them real power to act."

"It's in every company's interest to experiment. The more they develop these collaborative practices, the more they will gain in efficiency, responsiveness, and innovation.

This doesn't mean that the traditional model will disappear. I believe that the future of management lies in a hybrid model, integrating the best of what centralized and decentralized decision-making can offer," reveals Philippe Pinault.

A Final Word

Implementing collaborative management can really transform decision-making in your company! But for this approach to work, you need to: 

• gain the support of executives, managers, and employees 
• adapt the model to fit your organization's context
• make the transition step by step
• Implement appropriate tools like Talkspirit 

Want to explore other management styles? Download our ebook to find the one that best suits your organization👇

Access White Paper

In our Next-Generation Leadership white paper, you will discover: the skills that every great leader should possess, the different possible management styles, as well as methods and best practices for implementing them within your organization.