10 Types of Management Styles: Which One Is Best for You?
Your management style shapes the path to success for your team, reflecting your personality, values, and experience. How you lead significantly impacts your team’s productivity.
According to a study, 69% of employees are more likely to work harder when they feel their efforts are better recognized.
Engaged employees, feeling valued for their work, play a crucial role in achieving the company’s cultural goals. It is the responsibility of leadership employing a particular management style within the organisation to acknowledge and appreciate employees.
Now, let’s explore various management styles and their implications for team dynamics.
What Are Management Styles?
Management styles are the different ways leaders run their teams or organisations. They affect how leaders interact with their teams, make decisions, set goals, assign tasks management, and manage projects.
Understanding and adapting to these various styles is important for effective leadership that suits the specific needs and goals of a team or organisation.
How to Define Management Styles?
Defining management styles involves categorising the various ways in which leaders lead and organise their teams. Here are the details:
- Personal Traits Influence: These styles are shaped a lot by a leader’s traits, like their personality, how they communicate, and how they make decisions.
- Values and Principles: What a leader believes in and their principles are really important in deciding how they lead.
- Working with Teams: How leaders work with their teams is decided by their management styles, making communication and collaboration important.
- Decision-Making Ways: The ways leaders make decisions, whether they talk with the team or decide on their own, show their management style.
- Setting and Measuring Goals: Management styles affect how leaders set and check if they meet their goals, showing where the team is going.
- Delegating Tasks: How leaders share tasks is a big part of how they lead, showing who does what in the team.
- Managing Projects: These styles guide how leaders handle projects, from planning to doing the work and watching how it’s going.
- Being Flexible: Knowing and understanding different management styles helps leaders change and be flexible to meet what their teams or organisations need.
- Understanding Leadership: Figuring out management styles helps us see how leaders lead in different ways, making them good at what they do.
Types of Management Style Leadership
Knowing various manager styles and leadership styles with examples is crucial for effective team management. Here are management style examples:
1. Autocratic Management Style
This style involves a manager making decisions without much input from the team. For example, a manager who dictates tasks and expects strict adherence to their instructions.
2. Democratic Management Style
In this approach, decision-making is inclusive, with input sought from the team.
For example, a manager who holds team meetings to discuss and decide on important matters collectively.
3. Transformational Management Style
Leaders inspire and motivate their team, fostering a sense of purpose and commitment.
For example, a manager who encourages creativity and innovation motivates team members to achieve their best.
4. Transactional Management Style
Focuses on clear structures and rewards for good performance, with a focus on tasks and outcomes.
For example, a manager who sets clear performance expectations and provides rewards for meeting targets.
5. Laissez-Faire Management Style
This style involves minimal interference, allowing team members to make decisions independently.
For example, a manager who gives team members the freedom to organise and execute their tasks with minimal guidance.
6. Servant Management Style
Leaders prioritise the needs of their team members, aiming to support and develop them.
For example, a manager who actively seeks to understand the concerns and aspirations of their team offers support and guidance.
7. Coaching Management Style
Focuses on developing individual team members’ skills and abilities through mentoring and coaching.
For example, a manager who regularly provides feedback and guidance to help team members grow in their roles.
8. Charismatic Management Style
Leaders who rely on their charm and vision to inspire and influence their team.
For example, a manager who captivates and motivates their team through a compelling vision for the future.
9. Transactional Management Style
Involves exchanging rewards or punishments based on performance.
For example, a manager who provides bonuses for achieving specific targets or reprimands for failing to meet expectations.
10. Collaborative Management Style
Emphasises teamwork and collaboration, where decisions are made collectively.
For example, a manager who encourages open communication and seeks input from all team members in decision-making processes.
TL;DR: Management Style vs. Leadership Style
The Management style focuses on organising tasks and processes, ensuring efficiency and order. It deals with day-to-day operations and achieving specific goals.
Leadership style, on the other hand, centres on inspiring and guiding a team towards a shared vision. It involves motivating individuals, fostering innovation, and building a strong team culture.
While management is about control and structure, leadership is about influence and inspiration.
In practice, effective leaders often blend both styles to achieve a balance between structured management and inspirational leadership.
If you’re interested in exploring this topic further, feel free to read the original article here: Define Your Management Style and Make It Works Using VirtualSpace
