Every manager in an organization has their own unique Management Styles which they practice while managing and exercising their authority to accomplish the goals of an organization. Managers can adapt to various management styles, according to the situation or circumstances.
A good manager knows how to utilize employees‘ potential and use it in the right direction to achieve organizational goals. Different management styles have their own uniqueness, advantages, and disadvantages but it depends on a manager how well he/she uses these managerial styles for managing the company effectively and to achieve the desired results.
If you’re a manager at an organization or even if you’re someone who is leading a team, then it’s important for you to be familiar with all these top management styles. The managerial styles may vary from a person to person, or even company to company, according to which fits your business the best.
Being a manager is not an easy job, a successful manager is someone who has good leadership skills, who is aware of the company’s vision, plans and executes the activities accordingly, to make use of skilled employees abilities to complete the tasks & activities effectively and knows how to strengthen the relationships with employees.
Managers have to make sure that employees feel valued & safe in the company, by creating a healthy work environment for everyone. To bring all the employees together, engage employees in various activities and make sure that they all are on the same page & working towards achieving organizational objectives.
In today’s blog, we will be talking about what is meant by management style, the top management styles, their Pros & Cons.
Having a good amount of knowledge about these managerial styles will not only help you to improve as a manager but also you will get to know the benefits of each style of management. Also for those of you who want to be a manager someday, this blog will help you as it will give you a clear understanding of how management works and which style to use according to different situations.
So without any further due, let us dive into the topic.
What Is Meant By A Management Style?
You all must be familiar with the term “management” which means managing and supervising the people within an organization to accomplish the organization’s goals.
In the same way, management style is away or you can say a particular manner or method in which a manager handles the workforce of a company.
Now you might think does the manager’s management style depends on a company’s culture? Well, the answer to this would be, yes culture of an organization has an influence on the management styles and leading style of managers, also other factors or situations as well play a role in influencing the managerial styles.
Strong company culture creates better employee engagement as they remain happy and motivated, which enhances employee performance. As they know what is expected from them and they stay committed to the company’s mission and goals.
What kind of managerial style, will be followed by the manager depends on various internal and external factors which can lead to the change in management styles.
Managers with strong leadership qualities will make sure they make effective use of their employee’s skills, inspire them and make sure that the work gets done successfully. It enhances productivity and also increases employee engagement, which will help in achieving desired results and also will bring out the best in employees’ performance.
Given below are internal and external factors that shape a company’s management styles:
Internal Factors:
Here internal factors refer to the things happening within the internal work environment of the company.
1. Internal Policies:
A manager’s leadership style should be fit for the business needs, and their style of management should follow the internal policies and procedures of an organization. If not, then this can affect the management style.
2. Management Motivation:
An effective manager is someone who knows to get the job done through people, motivates employees, and makes sure that everyone in the team understands the vision of the company and works towards achieving its goals.
3. Managerial Style:
A manager should know when to use the different managerial styles like for eg: when an employee is less skilled, there is a need for continuous supervision to enhance their performance and productivity, you can also conduct training & guidance programs or workshops for them to improve their skills and lead to their personal growth.
4. Management Structure:
In large companies, the decision-making process is in the hands of the top-level management, such types of companies follow a hierarchical structure whereas in smaller or medium companies they make use of decentralized decision making. A bad structure of a company will lead to a poorly functioning organization.
5. Meeting Deadlines:
Usually, big companies make use of controlling management styles, but no matter what type or size your company is off, it’s the duty of the management to make sure that the specified work gets done on time and the objectives are met.
6. Company Culture:
The stronger the culture of a company, the more effective will be the management, which will lead to the development and quality performance of the employees. As culture may have an influence on a manager’s communication skills, leadership style, direction, or motivation.
These are some of the internal factors that can be the reason for a change in management styles.
External Factors:
Here external factors refer to the things happening in the external /outside environment of the organization.
1. Customers & Suppliers :
They can be one of the reasons affecting the management styles. For eg: changing trends may lead to changing tastes and habits of people. In the case of suppliers, it’s necessary to have a good relationship with them, so that you can provide the best goods to your customers.
2. Market Demand:
If there is an increase in demand for a particular product or service it may lead to a crisis in the production of goods and services.
3. Laws:
Changes in different laws for a particular industry or sector may affect the management style, because then the company may need employees having considerable knowledge and qualification, which will lead to shifting in the company’s talent.
4. Competitors:
your rivals or competitors providing better job opportunities for skilled employees.
5. Government Policies & Economy:
Changes in governmental policies and the economy can also be a reason for changes in the external environment.
Above external factors may influence the change in management styles.
6 Different Types Of Management Styles, That You Should Know About:
1. Autocratic Management Style:
In this type of management style, the autocratic managers are the boss. They make decisions based on their own beliefs and opinions & don’t include their subordinates in the decision-making process. There is no employee participation involved in this kind of style, as it is leader-centric. The autocratic managers decide what goals are to be accomplished, set objectives, dictate the plans & procedure, and direct everyone to complete their tasks. This leadership style is also called as authoritative management style.
The managers have full control over the team, they don’t accept any advice or suggestions of any kind from the team. The employees depend on the leader to provide them instructions and they have to follow the given instructions. They take little input or none at all which may make an employee feel demotivated as their input is not considered.
Working in an autocratic style environment may make an employee feel rigid. This kind of management style can be useful in some situations where there is a need to make urgent decisions or to carry out tasks that have less time for completion.
Pros :
- The leader gives clearly defined roles to the employees, the pattern & instructions are directly communicated to the employees.
- The quick decision-making process, as only the leader make decisions without taking any suggestions from any employee.
- This type of style is best for handling crises and in situations where strong authority is needed, as they know how to tackle a situation or a problem by their skills and experience
- Inexperienced employees can be managed by this type of style, as they need guidance and instructions to do the tasks. It will benefit the employees as they are new to the business environment, clear instructions from the leader will help them perform their job better and work well in the environment.
Cons:
- The employees may feel restricted and demotivated when not given the desired recognition and credit for their work.
- Not considering their ideas or suggestions may dishearten them and lower their morale.
- This style will eradicate the creative solutions given by employees, as there is no place for out-of-the-box thinking.
- Employees have to rely on the leader for decisions or advice, they can’t make decisions on their own.
2. Democratic Management Style:
In this management style everyone’s ideas, opinions, and views are welcomed in an organization. This style is also called as participative management style, as everyone collaborates and takes part in discussions and decision making.
They welcome new ideas and outside the box thinking, and are open to finding innovative solutions for problems. There is a high engagement of employees in this management style, which also helps them in being productive. Leaders ask their team members for input before making any decisions. It’s like there is full freedom to share your opinions and everyone is treated with equality.
Pros:
- As employees are encouraged to be participative and to share their thoughts & views, there is increased productivity and performance
- Teamwork like this builds strong bonds and creates trust.
- Employees feel motivated to do the job when their work is recognized and thought & views considered, it increases their morale.
- Bringing creative solutions to the table, to deal with any problem.
Cons:
- As it is a democratic management style, you don’t always have time to ask the team and get ideas from them some situation requires quick decision making if you rely on people for the best ideas it will delay decision making, leading to loss of opportunity
- There will be a lot of ideas and opinions that the leader will receive from everyone’s end, but if chosen one idea out of them, the others might feel their idea is not valuable enough and it may create disharmony between them
- Not every idea or solution chosen will be the best one. Because at times while considering the majority to make a decision, a wrong choice can be made out of all.
- When everyone is open to express their ideas or thoughts, at times there can be a clash of opinions which may lead to delays in projects & misunderstandings.
3. Coaching Management Style:
The coaching leadership style is one of the different management styles out of all. As it’s based on employees’ personal growth and professional development. In this, the leader is like a “coach”, how a coach prepares the players for giving their best at a match or developing skills that are essential. In the same way, the leader recognizes every employee’s strengths and weaknesses and helps them to improve and become the best at what they do.
They provide them with feedback on their performances, give them challenging projects & opportunities so that they can showcase their abilities & talent. They create an environment that motivates employees and encourages them to work to strengthen their skills which will help them achieve their career success and become professionals.
Pros:
- Personal mentoring to the employees, will not only increase their productivity but will also improve their skills which increase the quality of work
- Addressing weaknesses, and converting them into strengths will not only benefit the employees but also the organization with enhanced work performance.
- When clear expectations are set and every doubt is cleared, the employees are aware of what is expected from them and understand the objectives of a project better.
- A positive environment helps an employee to give their best, develop skills, take feedback and improve their performance at a personal level.
It’s like a little formula, for the employees working in coaching management style.
Never stop learning. Develop new skills. Always welcome feedback. Improve.
Cons:
- It requires a lot of patience and time for this management style to generate effective results. Not every business may have that much time to mentor and help in their development.
- The employee should willingly have an interest in learning and development. Otherwise, if only the coach is invested in the process of development and the employee is not invested enough it will be a waste of time and energy.
- If the coach isn’t capable enough or doesn’t have the required skills, needed to provide guidance and feedback, then he/she may not be able to give meaningful advice for the betterment of an employee in particular skill development.
- Good chemistry is important between the employees and the coach.
4. Laissez Faire management style:
This type of leadership style is also known as the delegative management style.” Laissez-faire” term itself means not interfering much and allowing things to go with their own flow. The laissez-faire management style is also something similar to this.
In this management style, the laissez-faire managers have confidence and trust in their employees. They don’t interfere in how the employees perform their work they leave it up to them and interfere only when it’s necessary. They let the team do their work independently, and when guidance is needed then only they give it otherwise not.
This style can prove to be best when practiced with highly skilled professionals. When these team members are given the opportunity to work autonomously, they demonstrate their skills, talent & experience and provide the best to the organization.
Pros:
- When given the freedom to showcase their own creativity and innovation, it leads to their personal and professional growth.
- Employees feel motivated when the laissez-faire managers trust them for their abilities to do the work. It increases their performance level and also productivity.
- As employees are accountable for their own work, they will make sure to do their best.
- They constantly don’t have to go to the leaders for advice, they can make their own decisions for their work, which also improves their problem solving and decision-making abilities.
Cons:
- As leaders are uninvolved, this may lead to confusion as there is no clear plan to know how to go about things. It can be a little difficult for people who are new in the organization as they will require some instructions and directions to settle in the company’s culture.
- As there are no clearly defined roles, which may lead to unclarity about what they are supposed to do and how to go about the same.
- As this management style is individual-based, it won’t work best with the group, because the leader has his hands off from employees’ work.
- If the work is not up to the mark or if the goals are not met, the employees can get blamed by the manager for not performing up the mark.
5. Charismatic Management Style:
The charismatic management style is one of the persuasive management styles out of all. Leaders use their charm & persuasion power to motivate others to give their best.
The leaders are good communicators and also great at building personal relationships. They are highly focused on organizational goals and they are good at motivating and engaging employees at the time of organizational crisis and increasing their engagement level.
This type of charismatic environment makes the employee feel supported and encouraged to perform well and accomplish the business objectives.
Pros:
- When a powerful and charismatic personality motivates the employee, then they start looking at the positive sides and get the strength to achieve anything may it be a dream or an objective.
- As the leaders use emotional appeal to persuade, the employees feel a connection with the leader and feel that they are understood and supported
- Leaders look after the learning process of employees more, they don’t need perfection but they want employees to realize their mistakes, learn from them, and improve.
- Employees feel good to work in a charismatic environment so there is less employee turnover.
Cons:
- When a charismatic leader speaks, the employee may get highly influenced to do the things described by the leader, they may think what the leader speaks is correct and they should follow that.
- To motivate others, it’s important for the leader to have a good energy level without which he can’t influence others.
- Charismatic leaders focus on their own visions and influence others as well to follow their vision. Which may restrict an employee’s learning and also will distract them from the path of achieving their own dreams.
- It may lead to attention-seeking & narcissistic behavior of the leader.
6. Transactional Management Style :
This management style is based on increasing employees’ performance by giving them rewards and bonuses, which will keep them motivated. At times of negative performance or not following the instructions of the leader, they punish employees so that they don’t repeat the mistakes again.
The employees have to obey the instructions given by the managers, their performance is also monitored by them to see whether they meet the expectations or not. It is called as transaction management style because there is an exchange between the transactional managers and the employees to get the desired performance.
This style can be used for the short term when you required immediate results from your employees.
Pros:
- There will be no partiality, as only the employees who live up to the expectations and perform well will be rewarded.
- Employees get clear instructions, so they know what is expected from them and work towards achieving it.
- Employees are motivated when they are given rewards of their own interest for their achievements.
- The organization get peak level performance from the employees
Cons:
- If an employee doesn’t meet management’s expectations or meet the objectives, then they are punished. When an employee tries to do everything perfectly without any mistake, this may leave no room for creativity and they will feel restricted in the environment
- Not every employee can be motivated through rewards.
- This management style focuses only on short-term goals they don’t look at the bigger picture or plan.
- The team lacks building relationships as it is all transactional and has no time to focus on building bonds.
You may have gotten familiar with these leadership styles but some of the other management styles also include pacesetting management style, visionary management style, consultative management style, bureaucratic management style, and so on.
I hope you found the blog useful and got to know about the advantages & disadvantages of these top management styles.