Striking a balance between Task oriented and people oriented is always a tough one. People and task are two sides of the same coin in leadership success. Balancing company objectives and people needs is the responsibility of every leader. Managing dead lines and employee welfare at the same time is sometimes the biggest challenge that every leader faces. Can one prioritise one and work without balancing is a question yet to be answered.
Both have their down sides. To manage a productive environment one needs to change one’s style as per the circumstances and context.
In situations of business contingency or even client requirements, often the deadlines are sacrosanct; when the task oriented leadership to deliver on the goals becomes mandatory. In times like this, the team may feel the leader is being unreasonable… While you demonstrate leadership via assigning specific tasks and steps to achieve those tasks. There’s hardly any time for consensus building. Leader while operating as a task manager, often appears as a dictator. The fact remains that task in hand is what the client pays for, without which everyone’s existence in the system is redundant! Thus setting clear vision in balancing both is critical.
Task oriented leadership implies, prioritizing tasks at hand. There are deadlines, there are objectives, there are tight timelines. Getting it done is the important part.
So, you call a meeting. Your team discusses the new objective and deadline, recognizing the tight timetable necessary to get it done. Through discussion, your team concludes that it isn’t possible but that a Minimum Viable Product can be developed by that time, and certain non-essential elements of the objective can be met shortly after that.
Likewise when you look after people you can set them up for a win-win deal. People-oriented leadership also known as democratic leadership, this leadership style is characterized by the leader heavily involving their team members in decision-making, gaining input, and also seeking suggestions. It can be an extremely compelling and engaging leadership style when handled effectively.
While the above descriptions paint a solid picture of each leadership style, both need a good balance to yield best outcomes. Depending on your perspective, the above might make a task-oriented leader sound like an ineffective petty dictator. Conversely, it can make a people-oriented leader look like ineffective and weak.
3 Ways to balance Task and People orientation:
- Mapping people to what they aspire to do: When people are doing what they like, accomplishing tasks becomes easier. Thus understanding skills and people could be a great way to achieve organisational goals.
- Catching People doing great job -Taking time out to appreciate people can go a long way in encouraging them to stay aligned to tasks or goal oriented.
- Sharing the ‘Why’ of the task with people -When people understand the nuances of the larger picture they get better oriented towards the task. Thus the balance of task and people becomes much easier.
In truth, neither leadership style is inherently better than the other. Both need to be well balanced for best outcomes.
How well do you balance your people and task? What are the best practices that’s helped you?
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