Introduction to Management Styles Leadership
Management styles leadership is a very common word used in today’s corporate world. Today I am going to talk about management styles leadership skills and how and when they can be put to best use. Before going into the detail, we need to first understand who a manager or a leader is:
- A manager is a person with a vision to resolve problems.
- He is a person who can make clear and effective decisions under pressure.
- He possesses excellent communication skills.
- A person who has the desire and passion for achieving the goals and objectives of the organization.
- He is well informed, experienced, and has great knowledge to run an organization effectively.
Therefore we can say that managers have different management qualities and management styles of leadership to achieve set goals and objectives. Now, what exactly do we mean by management styles leadership? A manager or a person holding a management position needs to perform numerous roles and functions in an organization. How he handles these different roles and responsibilities depends on the type of management styles, leadership skills, or strategies he adopts. Management styles are strategies, concepts, and theories which a manager adopts to enhance the work environment of an organization. In short, types of management styles leadership in a method one applies to overcome various challenges. It is characterized by the way one makes his decisions; and guides his subordinates to perform at their level best.
Types of Management Styles
10 Different types of Management styles are as below:
1. Autocratic
Here the manager prefers to take decisions independently by himself. Such decisions replicate the mindset, opinions, and personality of the decision-maker. In such a situation, subordinates have very little or no say. Autocratic management styles can be further subdivided into:
- Directive autocrats-They prefer to take decisions single-handedly by and also monitor the actions and work of their subordinates on their own.
- Permissive autocrats– They prefer to take their decisions independently but allow a bit of liberty to their subordinates as to how they will carry out the work or follow the decision.
These types are best suited at the time of crisis. When the decision from the higher-ups is unavailable due to certain reasons and the manager requires to take up the responsibility, and it requires to give immediate orders. These orders need to be obeyed immediately so that no further problems arise and the situation can be tackled efficiently. Such types of decisions are very common in the defense forces, paramilitary forces, and police forces. It is very effective in certain circumstances, like dealing with militant and terrorist encounters, controlling a mob, and so on.
2. Conflict
Here too, the decisions are autocratic, but the decision is made by keeping in mind the interest of its employees. Conflict management styles have encouraged decision-making from the higher-ups and believe in developing a feedback system from the subordinates for the effective working of an organization. Conflict management styles are to bring in motivation among the workforce as their social needs are taken care of, and they develop a sense of loyalty towards the management and organization. This style, on the one hand, can help in developing a good relationship between the employer and the employees. And indirectly enhancing their performance level. On the other hand, the downline may get used to taking orders from their higher-ups and become completely dependent on them. These conflict management styles are highly used by restaurant managers and by IT consultancies.
3. Persuasive
Here also the decision making is done by the manager. The manager controls the whole decision-making process but in a different way. He works in unison with his subordinates and tries to convince them how the decision is positively beneficial to them. Here too, the manager has his final say but does it through the persuasion method. This style has its own benefits. The task becomes easy to perform when the subordinates are allowed to understand why they need to perform a task in the way the manager is ordering. In this way, the work is executed the way the leader plans it, but after the co-workers fully understanding the logistics and reasons behind it. An added advantage is that the leader can dedicate some responsibilities to the subordinates to lower his burden. One disadvantage of this management style is that the subordinates lack creativity and initiative-taking quality, they become dependent on their higher-ups, and this may also affect the overall performance of the workforce. These types of management styles can be found in the banking and the insurance sector.
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4. Democratic
Here the democratic management styles allow his subordinates to take part in the decision-making process; a consensus is developed before reaching any decision. High-level brainstorming and communication from the top to bottom and vice-versa is followed by a decision. Democratic management styles can be useful in developing competitive marketing strategies; the higher management can provide good information about the organization’s objectives, its profit and sales detail and what they actually want from the new market strategy and the bottom line people can pool in ideas and, provide field-based information about shopping trends and habits of the customers. Although these democratic management styles are efficient to some extent, they can also lead to unwanted delays due to the brainstorming sessions and consensus-building process.
5. Chaotic
This is a modern technique followed by many organizations today. It believes in giving the workers full freedom to work. They can develop their own ideas and strategies to enhance their performance and the success of the organization. The higher-ups do not interfere in any way; they allow their employees to develop a sense of creativity and innovation. These types are best suitable for organizations working on research and innovation development, like pharmaceutical companies.
6. Laissez-faire
This management style emphasizes encouraging the subordinates to develop their own creative ideas and strategies to prosper in their respective fields. Here the higher management plays the role of a guide and advisor; they plunge into action whenever the need is felt. They allow their subordinates to work out their own ways to tackle a problem or situation. The manager keeps himself informed about all the activities and interferes or guides whenever and wherever there is a bottleneck. This type of management system develops a sense of responsibility and motivation among the workforce. They feel loyal to their organization. But in some cases, a delegation of work and initiative to take responsibility becomes difficult. This management style is very effectively used in public sector companies. Such a style Is used by CEOs of car manufacturing companies. The CEO sets the sales, revenue, and cost objectives, and the bottom line managers and employees decide their strategies on how they will fulfill these objectives.
7. Management by Walking Around
Management by walking around (MBWA) is one of the classic techniques used by managers. Here the manager encourages constant and frequent feedbacks from its employees. He tries to gather as much information about a situation or problem as possible and further uses this information to tackle the problem and to avoid any further crisis situations. This style is very efficient for the development of objectives, processes, and policies related to the organization as a whole. This management style is limited to taking feedback from the workforce; the decisions are dependent on the will of the manager. Therefore it may lead to low motivation or initiatives from the workforce. This style can be much effective if the manager intervenes only in high-level decision-making and leave the smaller issues to be handled by his subordinates. This will not only improve the performance of the subordinates, but they will take initiative to handle problems on their own.
8. Participative
In these types of participative management styles, each worker or employee is assigned a particular type of work. The management style participative makes sure that each employee understands his role, works in the project very well. He makes them understand how each role played by each employee will bring efficiency and success in the project. Here the manager encourages constant questioning and feedbacks from his co-workers. Participative management styles are to make sure that each employee has understood his work well and is on the right track in terms of working strategies. He provides constant guidelines and assistance where and whenever required. The best example of these types of management styles can be seen in the JFMs. Or the Joint Forest Management Committees, participative management styles the executive body and the general body members or the community people work together to protect the forest and its resources.
9. Team Work
This style encourages the employees and co-workers to pool their knowledge and experience to expedite the project’s work efficiently. It believes in teamwork and coordination building. It encourages solid communication between its team members and the higher-ups. This style emphasizes crisp, efficient presentation; and documentation. Here the manager appreciates and rewards the team spirit and efforts of his employees to encourage motivation among his team members. This type of management style can be a very efficient hospital setting, where each member has specific duties and responsibilities towards their clients.
10. Asian Paternalistic
In this style, decisions are taken keeping in mind the benefits of the organization, its employees, along the benefits of the manager himself. Communication is downwards, and this style is based on group harmony. This management style demands loyalty and hard work from its employees. The ultimate decision-maker is the manager who keeps into account the benefits he reaps; along with the benefits of the subordinates. Here the decisions are based on the understanding of what is good for the organization, staff, and its consumers or clients. One of the drawbacks of this system is that the employees get dependent on the higher-ups when decision-making issues are addressed. They lack creativity and initiative-taking ability. Such types of management styles are widely used in the oil and gas industries. Here the employees work at high-risk factors, therefore all their needs are taken care of by the company, for example, their accommodation, food, insurance medical facilities, and so on.
Each type of these has its own advantages and disadvantages. Management professionals use a combination of styles, depending on the situation; to fulfill their goals and objectives. Apart from these management styles, they use other management strategies in accordance with the needs of the organization and its work. Other management strategies used by professionals are:
- Management by coaching and development
- Management by developing a competitive edge
- Management by developing different decision models
- Management by matrices, or by developing charts and graphics
- Management by organizational development
- Management by developing the performance of its workers
- Management by work simplification
A manager can use whichever management style he finds suitable to resolve a particular problem. But on the whole, he should focus on the profit and success of the organization; along with increasing the performance and work satisfaction of his employees. The perfect use of the combination of positive and advantageous aspects of all the management styles can lead to profit, success, and efficient management in an organization.
While choosing a management style the manager or leader should keep in mind the goals, objectives, values, and culture of the organization. It has been found that leaders who have used, people-oriented, goal-oriented and task-oriented management styles have been more successful in developing motivation, commitment, loyalty, profit, and efficiency in the organization. It should also be kept in mind that management styles can succeed only when they are handled by efficient managers or leaders. Who have proper knowledge about these styles and are capable and are experienced enough to make them work, so that the organization flourishes in a positive way.
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This has been a guide to management styles of leadership. Here we also discuss the basic concept and 10 types of management styles and conflicts. You may also look at how to work in team management styles –
