One word management style

Every team is unique and requires a different type of management style depending on the situation, requirements, and culture. Therefore, a manager should understand each management style in depth to make them better and more efficient.

Social psychologist Douglas McGregor developed the first management style theory in the sixties.

What is a Management Style?

Definition: A management style is a way of working where a manager organizes, plans, delegates, make decisions, and manages the team. Each manager has a different style of management depending on the organization, team behavior, industry, culture, management level, the operating country, etc.

Effective managers adjust their management style to fit organizational goals, team requirements, and targets.

The 6 Types of Management Styles

A management style can be of the following type:

1. Authoritarian
2. Democratic
3. Visionary
4. Laissez-faire
5. Transactional
6. Persuasive

#1. Authoritarian

In an authoritarian or autocratic management style, managers take full control and direct employees to achieve objectives. An authoritarian manager works towards an organizational goal and ensures that each employee works towards the same, without paying much attention to employees’ career development.

Authoritative managers assert strong authority over decisions and employees and have complete control over decision-making, defining roles, reporting structure, and responsibilities. They care less about employee growth and expect total obedience.

An effective authoritarian leader is focused on the organization’s goals. These managers work best in traditional cultures with less experienced employees. 

#2. Democratic

A democratic or collaborative manager is the opposite of an authoritarian. In this management style, managers care about employees’ opinions. These managers encourage employee participation and welcome a difference in opinion. 

The goal of democratic managers is to grow the company and employees. These managers always seek suggestions and potential solutions to solve organizational issues. 

The final decision making authority still lies with the manager in this management style. However, democratic managers consider the opinions of their team members. 

A democratic management style works best in dynamic organizations where team members are experienced and skilled and appreciate group participation. 

#3. Visionary

A visionary or charismatic manager can convince their team to focus on and believe in a purpose. A visionary manager conveys the organization’s vision and inspires the team to work hard to achieve it. Such managers believe in letting their teams take on routine work and interfere in prominent decisions. 

The visionary management style involves motivating, encouraging, inspiring, aligning the team with the bigger goal and providing them with the support they need throughout the process. 

Visionary managers allow their team members to work on their terms, provided they are productive and working towards the end goal. However, managers check on the team members regularly to see if they are facing any issues.

This type of management style is best used with team members who like to be self-driven and are motivated through autonomy or authority. When team members reach a top management level, they like to complete tasks independently with minimal interference, and this is where a visionary manager is the right fit.

#4. Laissez-faire

The laissez-faire management style places importance on employee freedom. As the term means ‘let do’ in English, this is precisely what laissez-faire managers practice. They let their team members do what they think is best. Managers don’t interfere in this management style, but the team must meet certain expectations. Here, decision making power rests with the employees. However, they can seek the manager’s help whenever needed. 

This management style is best used with self-driven and self-motivated teams that need minimal guidance. Such team members are experts in their fields and do not require managers’ guidance.

#5. Transactional

The transactional management style uses rewards, bonuses, and tangible and intangible incentives to motivate team members to perform better. This management style also includes punishment like warnings, pay cuts, and notices when employees do not perform well. Transactional managers focus on bringing out the optimal performance of the team to reach organizational goals. 

This management style can be used for projects or teams with strict deadlines and is only motivated by rewards.  

#6. Persuasive

A persuasive management style refers to managers inhabiting strong control, centralized reporting, and decisions based on both the manager and team’s opinions. It is like a diluted version of the autocratic style since persuasive managers encourage questions, respond to their team members, and guide them towards better performance. 

In this management style, the manager discusses issues with team members to reach a decision. Employees are motivated to perform better through persuasive methods like creating urgency, connecting emotionally, and providing evidence to support the project’s progress instead of using the reward and punishment system. 

Managers use this style of management when they are experienced and skilled, and there is clear communication between the manager and the team. The manager can persuade the employees to enhance their productivity and build their team’s confidence.

Examples of Management Styles

John is a manager of a team of ten members. We will discuss all the six management styles within this example, with John using a hybrid approach to use the different management styles in different situations. 

The team is assigned a project to be completed in the next four months. Two members in this team are top management level employees, six are middle-level employees, and two are low-level employees. 

In the beginning, John follows the autocratic style and assigns duties to each team member. He conducts a session for the six middle level employees and two low-level employees. John informs them of the organizational goals and expectations from the team.

Moving forward, he uses the democratic approach to delegate the work authority and responsibility to the two top management level employees and assigns them four employees each. John has shifted his authority to the two top level employees who will manage four employees and have the power to make decisions. 

Next, the two top level employees conduct separate meetings with their subordinates and communicate their vision to complete the project. They motivate their team members by inspiring them to work better and giving them some authority at the individual level for minor tasks. 

John follows a laissez-faire approach with the two top level management employees as all three belong to the same managerial position. John trusts the expertise of both employees and allows them to act as they deem fit, providing them complete freedom. 

Coming back to the two employees at the top management level, they use the transactional management approach with their team members and offer them rewards based on their performance. Increments and bonuses are promised to employees who perform as expected, and warnings are sent to the under-performers. 

Lastly, John uses a persuasive style of management on both top level employees, wherein he ensures that the top authority lies with him and that the work is completed as per expectations. John considers the opinion of the two top level employees and includes them in the decision making process. 

The two top level management employees follow the same methodology with their team members. They use the persuasive style of management by including their team members in the decision making process and encouraging questions.

How Can a Manager Choose the Ideal Management Style? 

#1. Analyze the Style That Suits Best

Some managers are born with an inbuilt management style that suits their traits. For example, some leaders are better at delegating work and trusting their employees, making them natural democratic leaders. On the other hand, some leaders have difficulty transferring responsibility to their team members and prefer working according to their own rules, making them natural authoritarian leaders. 

Identifying the manager’s natural management style is important to understand the style best suited for them in managing the team. 

#2. Identify Team Requirements

Some teams are naturally self-driven and need the freedom to work effectively. A mix of democratic and laissez-faire management styles can be used in this case. After identifying the management style, managers should analyze their team’s behavior and the type of motivation the team requires to be productive. 

If the teams require constant motivation and push, a hybrid of a visionary and transactional style of management can be used.

#3. Find a Balance Between Manager and Team Personality

After analyzing team requirements and the manager’s natural style of management, managers find the balance between the requirements and their management style. Managers should use the management style according to the team’s requirements as it will affect their performance.  

It is essential to use the style that suits the manager best so they can guide the team naturally yet effectively. 

#4. Define a Corporate Culture

Corporate culture is the combined belief and behavior between employees and management. The corporate structure impacts the management style that best fits a team, as it helps managers analyze the most suitable management style at that time. 

For example, during major organizational structural changes, the visionary style helps managers keep the team focused yet stress-free. However, if the corporate structure suggests that the team is highly demotivated, transactional and persuasive styles can help to positively impact their productivity. 

#5. Implement the Management Style 

After identifying the right management style for the manager and their team, the last step is implementing it. If a single approach is best suited, apply the approach to enhance the team’s efficiency. However, if more than one management style is necessary, apply the approaches in a hybrid manner, which means using the best type of management style based on the situation.

Conclusion 

Several management styles help managers become better leaders and enhance their team’s productivity. Different teams and different situations require a different approach for a successfully motivated team. Managers should identify the management style that suits them and their teams the best if they want to become successful leaders, encouraging organizational growth and employee development.

Human beings are profoundly social — we are hardwired to connect to one another and to want to work together. Frankly, we would never have survived as a species without our instinctive desire to live and work in groups, because physically we are just not strong or scary enough.

Tons of research has documented how important being social is to us. For instance, as neuroscientist Matt Lieberman describes in his book, Social: Why Our Brains are Wired to Connect, our brains are so attuned to our relationships with other people that they quite literally treat social successes and failures like physical pleasures and pains. Being rejected, for instance, registers as a “hurt” in much the same way that a blow to the head might — so much so that if you take an aspirin you’ll actually feel better about your breakup.

David Rock, founder of the NeuroLeadership Institute, has identified relatedness — feelings of trust, connection, and belonging—as one of the five primary categories of social pleasures and pains (along with status, certainty, autonomy, and fairness). Rock’s research shows that the performance and engagement of employees who experience relatedness threats or failures will almost certainly suffer. And in other research, the feeling of working together has indeed been shown to predict greater motivation, particularly intrinsic motivation, that magical elixir of interest, enjoyment, and engagement that brings with it the very best performance.

Theoretically, the modern workplace should be bursting with relatedness. Not unlike our hunter-gatherer ancestors, most of us are on teams. And teams ought to be a bountiful source of “relatedness” rewards.

But here’s the irony: While we may have team goals and team meetings and be judged according to our team performance, very few of us actually do our work in teams. Take me, for example: I conduct all the research I do with a team of other researchers. I regularly coauthor articles and books. My collaborators and I regularly meet to discuss ideas and to make plans. But I have never analyzed data with a collaborator sitting next to me, or run a participant through an experiment with another researcher at my side—and my coauthors and I have never ever typed sentences in the same room. Yes, many of the goals we pursue and projects we complete are done in teams, but unlike those bands of prehistoric humans banding together to take down a woolly mammoth, most of the work we do today still gets done alone.

So that, in a nutshell, is the weird thing about teams: They are the greatest (potential) source of connection and belonging in the workplace, and yet teamwork is some of the loneliest work that you’ll ever do.

So what we need is a way to give employees the feeling of working as a team, even when they technically aren’t. And thanks to new research by Priyanka Carr and Greg Walton of Stanford University, we now know one powerful way to do this: simply saying the word “together.”

In Carr and Walton’s studies, participants first met in small groups, and then separated to work on difficult puzzles on their own. People in the psychologically together category were told that they would be working on their task “together” even though they would be in separate rooms, and would either write or receive a tip from a team member to help them solve the puzzle later on. In the psychologically alone category, there was no mention of being “together,” and the tip they would write or receive would come from the researchers. All the participants were in fact working alone on the puzzles. The only real difference was the feeling that being told they were working “together” might create.

The effects of this small manipulation were profound: participants in the psychologically together category worked 48% longer, solved more problems correctly, and had better recall for what they had seen. They also said that they felt less tired and depleted by the task. They also reported finding the puzzle more interesting when working together, and persisted longer because of this intrinsic motivation (rather than out of a sense of obligation to the team, which would be an extrinsic motivation).

The word “together” is a powerful social cue to the brain.  In and of itself, it seems to serve as a kind of relatedness reward, signaling that you belong, that you are connected, and that there are people you can trust working with you toward the same goal.

Executives and managers would be wise to make use of this word with far greater frequency. In fact, don’t let a communication opportunity go by without using it.  I’m serious.  Let “together” be a constant reminder to your employees that they are not alone, helping them to motivate them to perform their very best.

Before you started your own firm, you’ve probably worked with a variety of managers, some good and others not so good. Also, you’ve most likely picked up a few of their abilities along the way.
There are no one-size-fits-all management styles, and different personalities will manage people in different ways. However, it is critical to adopt a management style that suits you and gets the most out of your employees, because how you manage them may make or destroy your organization. Management styles are classified into three basic categories: autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire. The different categories of management styles also have different types. Let’s go over the different types of management styles in this article.

What is a Management Style?

A management style is a method by which a manager works to achieve their objectives. So a manager’s management style involves how they plan, organize, make decisions, delegate, and manage their workforce.

It varies greatly based on the organization, management level, industry, nation, and culture, as well as the individual.

An effective manager is someone who can change their management style in response to changing circumstances while remaining focused on meeting goals.

Both internal and external factors influence management styles.

Internal factors include the following:

• The company’s overall organisational and corporate culture,
• policies,
• priorities,
• employee involvement,
• employees’ skill levels

In general, higher-skilled employees require less supervision, and lower-skilled employees require more monitoring to consistently fulfill their goals.

External factors include the following:

• employment regulations,
• the financial system,
• competitors,
• suppliers,
• consumers.

These are variables that are outside the organization’s control, yet will have an impact on both managers and personnel. Let’s see the types of management styles in the next section.

Management styles are classified into three basic categories: autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire.

Within each of these categories, there are unique types of management styles, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

Autocratic Management Styles

The autocratic management styles take the top-down approach, with one-way communication from leaders to employees.

The autocratic style is the most commanding of the management styles, with management making all workplace decisions and wielding complete power.

In autocratic management styles, employees are like drones, to be closely monitored as they perform within well-defined boundaries.

Also, the autocratic management styles don’t encourage and in some cases deliberately discourage the employees, from asking questions, submitting ideas, or sharing their thoughts on how to improve systems.

The types of autocratic management styles are authoritative, persuasive, and paternalistic.

Managers in this style prescribe exactly what their subordinates must do and punish those who do not comply.

Employees are to follow directions, not question management’s authority, and also complete their responsibilities, in the same manner, each time.

Managers actively watch their employees’ performance, micromanaging it, without trusting or believing that their staff can achieve their goals without direct and ongoing monitoring. So, these types of supervisors believe that if they do not closely monitor their staff, they will fail.

Pros:

• This management style promotes speedy decision-making and well-defined responsibilities and expectations.
• Setting clear and strong expectations with unskilled workers or large teams can allow workers to perform without uncertainty.
• Productivity will increase when the manager is present, but only when the manager is present.

Cons:

The disadvantages of an authoritative management style include increased employee unhappiness, which leads to increased turnover, resentment, a lack of professional development and employee engagement, and the establishment of a ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality between employees and management.

It hinders innovation, and inefficient procedures will persist.

When to employ this management style: When decisions must be made and implemented fast, such as during an organizational crisis, this management style can be effective. Otherwise, avoid it.

#2. Persuasive Management Style

Managers in this style use their persuasive talents to persuade employees that the manager’s unilateral actions are in the best interests of the team, department, or company.

Managers that use this style would invite questions and explain the decision-making process and rationale behind rules rather than simply directing people to fulfill duties. So, this can help employees feel that they are a more trusted and valued member of the team and that they are participating in crucial company decisions, resulting in fewer levels of resentment or friction between management and staff.

Pros:

• Management may build more trust between themselves and their staff, and people will be more willing to accept top-down decisions.
• Employees respond more favorably to logic and reason than to the prospect of punishment, and they may feel less constrained than those managed in an authoritarian style.

Cons:

Employees will continue to chafe under the constraints imposed on them, becoming unhappy that they are unable to provide feedback, generate solutions, or upskill in a meaningful way.

When to use this style: When you have more experience on the subject than the team you are heading to, utilize this style. You are the expert in those situations.

While it is beneficial to clarify your thought process, you are ultimately the greatest judge of your own abilities. It can also be beneficial while managing up.

#3. Paternalistic Management Style

The manager in this style acts in the best interests of their subordinates.

Typically, the organization will refer to its personnel as “family” and seek their loyalty and confidence.

This management style will make unilateral decisions but will explain to employees that the decision-makers are acting from a position of competence and thus legitimacy. Employees are informed of decisions, but there is no room for participation or questioning.

Pros:

• A paternalistic boss is concerned with the well-being of their employees and bases their judgments on what is best for them.
• Employee education and upskilling are appreciated, resulting in happier, more skilled, and more productive employees.

Cons:

• Employees may become overly reliant on management, resulting in a lack of inventiveness and problem-solving skills.
• There is a good probability that this style will develop animosity among employees who do not believe in the concept of the “company as a family.”
• Employees may perceive this style as patronizing and infantilizing.

When to employ this style: The use of this style varies greatly depending on the culture. Employees in Western countries are less tolerant of the idea of a benevolent leader since they are less reliant on hierarchical institutions. This sort of leadership may work well for smaller businesses, but it should be avoided by larger corporations.

Democratic Management Styles

Managers in this style encourage employees to provide feedback during the decision-making process but are ultimately responsible for the final decision.

Communication is two-way, top-down and bottom-up, and team cohesion improves.

This procedure allows for consideration of a wide range of viewpoints, skills, and ideas when making judgments. We have three types of democratic management styles, they include:

#1. Consultative Management style

Managers use this style to solicit their team’s opinions and thoughts, consulting the perspectives of every member of their team.

The manager will make the final choice, but they will take into account all of the facts provided by team members before doing so.

So, this style is frequently employed in specialist fields where personnel are experts and management requires their input to make educated decisions.

Pros:

• This style fosters a stronger link between employees and management and fosters trust within teams.
• Management evolves alongside the team, learning from the ideas, opinions, and experiences of the employees they manage.
• It encourages innovation and the expression of one’s thoughts, which leads to greater problem-solving.

Cons:

• Staff consultation can be a time-consuming and labor-intensive procedure.
• If a manager is not adept in the time management element of this procedure, they will quickly become stymied.
• Employees may grow bitter and sceptical of the manager if there is a perception of favouritism or superiors who do not listen to their thoughts.
• Excessive reliance on this style may cause employees to lose trust in their employer, as they will begin to wonder why they often call on them to help solve problems rather than management managing it as part of their job.

When to apply this style: When managing teams with specialized talents or when the manager does not have as much familiarity with the subject as the team has, this style should be employed.

A manager, for example, appointed to lead a of developers developing a new SaaS would want to interact with their team frequently to benefit from their knowledge.

#2. Participative Management style

Managers and employees are all active participants in the decision-making process under this style.
Employees are provided more information about the organization and its aims, and they are encouraged to come up with creative solutions.

Management solicits staff views, ideas, and opinions, collaborates with staff to make decisions, and then acts on them.

Pros:

• Employees will respond with higher motivation and productivity if they believe they are valued by their management team and the firm as a whole.
• The more people understand and relate to the organization’s aims, the more engaged they will be. The rate of innovation is increasing.

Cons:

• This can be a gradual process, and there is a potential that workers with larger personalities could steamroll less forceful staff members, resulting in conflicts and resentment.
• Allowing employees access to sensitive information in industries with trade secrets can be dangerous.
• Employees who do not wish to be part of this form of decision-making may grow to resent supervisors who use this style.

When to adopt this style: When executing big changes in a company, particularly one where employees are reluctant to new concepts or methods, increasing employee participation will result in a more favorable outcome and less resistance to new policies.

This style will be beneficial to organizations that wish to drive innovation, such as technology corporations.

#3. Collaborative Management style

Management in this style creates an open forum thorough exploration of ideas before making choices based on majority rule. Also, employees have the authority to take ownership of outcomes, which can lead to more engagement, innovation, and creativity.

Pros:

• All levels of management trust, value, and listen to their employees.
• They have the motivation to do their best work, develop collaborative solutions to challenges, and fully participate in the process.
• Because of open communication, they can easily resolve workplace conflicts before they become serious problems.
• When employees are engaged, turnover decreases, and varied views frequently lead to better solutions and outcomes.

Cons:

• This approach, like other democratic management styles, can be time-consuming.
• The majority rule is not always the best option for an organization. So if they make a decision that is not in the best interests of the company, management will have to intervene and reverse it, which can engender anger and mistrust.

When to use this style: Usage of this style is when a company wishes to stimulate creativity, drive cooperation, and engage people.

Any organization that wishes to improve involvement and trust, particularly in the face of significant changes within the organization or industry should consider this style.

#4. Transformational Management Styles

This management style is agile and growth-oriented.

Managers spend their efforts on encouraging their employees to achieve greater things, pushing them out of their comfort zones regularly, and continually motivating their teams to raise the bar for achievement.

So, managers collaborate with their staff, motivating them to work harder by exhibiting their own work ethic.

Pros:

• Employees are more adaptable to change, disruptions, or difficult tasks as they increase innovation.
• The greater flexibility of the personnel encourages creative thinking, and problem-solving and product creation will profit from it.

Cons:

• This style, if not used appropriately, will lead to staff burnout.
• Staff may become overworked, exhausted from constantly pushing themselves, and unable to keep up with the pace.

When to apply this style: This style is most suited for firms who operate in fast-paced industries or are preparing for a period of transition within the industry, organization, or department. This style will assist teams in becoming more agile, flexible, and imaginative when responding to external or internal factors.

#5. Coaching management style

Managers in this style regard themselves as coaches and their employees as valued members of their team.

The manager’s role is to develop and guide their team, putting professional development at the top of their priority list. Long-term development is prized over short-term failures in this style, and the management wishes to foster workplace learning, upskilling, and growth.

Pros:

• Employees that feel appreciated know that they will learn and grow in their roles, and they are more likely to be engaged.
• Managers form close bonds with their employees, who are more likely to give their all for their ‘coach.’

Cons:

• As employees compete for favored roles and development opportunities, this style can create toxic situations.
• Too much emphasis on long-term development can leave short-term projects unsupported.

When to utilize this style: When an organization wants to promote and develop talent from within, this style is effective. This style would assist industries with competitive job markets, as it might take time and money to find the ideal people.

Laissez-faire Management Styles

Management adopts a hands-off attitude to leadership in this style.

Staff is trusted to do their jobs without monitoring, and they are given the authority to make decisions and solve problems on their own.

Management is present during the delegation and delivery stages of work, but otherwise takes a step back and lets employees determine their own workflow and outcomes. Management only comes in during the process if the staff asks it. The types of laissez-faire management styles include:

#1. Delegative Management Styles

The manager is simply present in this style to assign tasks, but they are still responsible for job completion. Once the assignment is allocated, the employees are free to carry out their responsibilities as they see fit.

After the task is completed, the manager returns to examine the work and offer suggestions for future tasks.

Pros:

• This method encourages innovation and creativity, particularly in businesses with highly qualified staff.
• Staff are allowed space to manage their own difficulties and will work together to solve them, which strengthens problem solving and teamwork.
• Those who seek autonomy in the job may find it easier to be satisfied at work.

Cons:

• Productivity may deteriorate if there is no leadership.
• Teams might suffer from a lack of concentration, direction, or uniformity.
• Conflicts that are poorly managed can erupt and develop animosity.
• Some employees may grow resentful if they believe that management is not contributing to the team’s success.

When to employ this style: This style works well in firms with more decentralized leadership and where the team is far more skilled in the tasks than the manager. If the manager, for example, has no prior expertise developing new cloud management software, they can take a step back, give their team the flexibility to create, and offer assistance as needed.

#2. Visionary Management Styles

Managers in this style lead by encouraging their employees.

Leaders describe their goals and the reasons for them, persuading their teams to work together to carry out their vision.

Team members are inspired by their management and then given the freedom to complete their jobs with minimal supervision. Managers will check in regularly, but they are confident that their common vision will keep employees on track and create positive results.

Managers provide a lot of critical feedback to their staff both throughout and after the process, and they lavish praise on them.

Pros:

• Staff is more engaged because they believe in what they are creating and are motivated to execute tasks to the best of their abilities.
• Employees are happier, motivation is higher, and turnover is lower.
• The level of innovation is higher and problem-solving can occur quickly within teams.

Cons:

• Not all bosses are capable of really encouraging others.
• This is not a style that can be imitated; personnel must be inspired to perform properly.

When to use this style: This can be a wonderful style for digital companies attempting to disrupt industries, organizations looking to innovate new solutions to problems, or businesses with a strong sense of purpose. An organization that wants to foster innovation can use this style to motivate its employees.

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