Management Styles

Management and Leadership Styles

Many describe Management as a process of ‘getting things done’ by the people who work for the manager. A good manager possesses the ability to inspire their staff to their full potential.

A productive manager needs to know the personalities and abilities of each staff member, will create a vision for the company, have effective communication skills and have a desire to achieve.

A good manager must be able:

• Plan measurable goals with timed completion dates           
• Able to organise people and ‘things’                                          
• Possess the ability to motivate staff and keep up staff morale    

Some managers already have personality traits that work well in management roles, like all roles, good managers will learn from mistakes and focus on achieving their goals.

Managers manage their teams in different ways research has shown there are 4 management and leadership styles

4 main management styles

1. Autocratic Management Style
2. Democratic Management Style
3. Participative Management style
4. Laissez-Faire Management style

Autocratic

“I like to make all the decisions, I will give you a task to do and tell how you should complete it without asking for you input or suggestions. I will closely supervise my staff and use one way communication.

My management style works well when a quick decision needs making without involving others but I can often drive staff away leaving a high turn over of staff”

Paternalistic

“when making a decision I will first listen and gain the views of my staff, the inputs from my staff will moderate my decision but ultimately I still make the decision which I feel is in the best interest of my team. I see my self as a father figure and feel by getting the staffs input on decisions they will accept them more willingly”

Democratic

“I like to delegate work to my staff, giving them the responsibility and authority – my style is about other people getting things done. I communicate well and listen to what my staffs has to say. I will talk in one to one situations or in groups to gain new ideas from staff and I always encourage leadership skills in others. Due to me enjoying listening to other peoples suggestions, I sometimes stake longer to reach a decision”

Laissez Faire

“I like to get things done through other people, I will give my staff a job to do and let them have complete freedom in how they do it. I rarely get involved once I have given you a job to do and I feel my management style works well with confrontations as I don’t take sides; others may feel I’m irresponsible and that I’m not on top of my tasks”

You will generally have a natural preference to one style, but one style does not fit into all situations. To improve your management skills, understand each of the management styles and use all the different styles depending on the work situation.