Managers need to make a consistent impression in order to motivate and inspire people, and that applies even more to video communication than to other digital channels. That is the result of a study by researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) [in Germany].
From: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
August 9, 2022 -- They
investigated the influence that charismatic leadership tactics used in text,
audio and video communication channels have on employee performance. They
focused on mobile work and the gig economy, in which jobs are flexibly assigned
to freelancers via online platforms.
Since the onset of the
Covid-19 pandemic, more and more people are working partly or entirely from
home or in mobile work arrangements. At the same time, the so-called gig
economy is growing. It involves the flexible assignment of short-term work to
freelancers or part-time, low-wage staff via online platforms. Both trends are
accelerating the digitalization of work. However, compared to face-to-face
conversation between people in the same place, communication through digital
channels offers fewer opportunities to motivate people and show charisma. This
presents new challenges for managers. The impact of charismatic leadership
tactics (CLTs) and the choice of communications channel (text, audio or video)
on staff performance is the subject of a study by Petra Nieken, professor of
human resource management at the Institute of Management at KIT. The study has
been published in the journal The Leadership Quarterly.
Charismatic Leadership
Tactics Can Be Learned and Objectively Observed
A charismatic
leadership style can be learned; researchers speak of charismatic leadership
tactics, which include verbal, paraverbal and non-verbal means such as
metaphors, anecdotes, contrasts, rhetorical questions, pitch and tone of voice,
and gestures. CLTs can be objectively observed and measured. They can be
selectively changed in randomized controlled trials. "Managers can use the
entire range of CLTs in face-to-face meetings. Digital communication reduces
the opportunities to signal charisma," says Nieken. "Depending on the
communication channel, visual and/or acoustic cues can be missing. The question
is whether people's performance suffers as a result or if they adjust their
expectations to the selected channel."
In the first part of
her study, Nieken conducted a field test with text, audio and video
communication channels in which a task description was presented neutrally in
one case and with the use of as many CLTs as possible in the other. In the
neutral case, video messages led to lower performance than did audio and text
messages. In contrast, there were no significant differences in performance in
the CLT case. "The results show a positive correlation between video
communication and charismatic communication; the charismatic video led to
better performance than the neutral video," explains Nieken. "So we
can conclude that it's most important for managers to convey a consistent
impression when they use the video channel."
Traditional Charisma
Questionnaires Do Not Predict Staff Performance
In the second part of
her study, Nieken had the different cases assessed with traditional
questionnaires like the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and compared
the results with those from the first part. Charisma noted in the
questionnaires correlated with the use of CLTs but not with staff performance.
"Traditional questionnaires like the MLQ are not suitable for predicting
how people will perform in mobile work situations, working from home or in the
gig economy," concludes Nieken.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/08/220809101802.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment