Whether you are a young manager or an experienced manager, it is important to adapt to the teams and the corporate culture in which you work. Your role is to improve the functioning of the company by leading, but also by supporting your teams. Of course, there are different types of management. While the ideal management style does not exist, Actiz helps you find the leadership style that suits you.
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Summary
- The essential qualities of a manager
- The different types
- of management
- Persuasive management
- Participative management
- Delegated management
- Other types of management
- What type of management should you adopt?
The essential qualities of a manager
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In addition to experience and know-how, a manager must demonstrate a number of interpersonal qualities since they primarily manage people. A good manager must be able to assess and develop the autonomy of employees by adjusting work positions differently, for example.
Creating a work environment conducive to employee autonomy allows teams to be self-sufficient and enhances their skills and motivation. To achieve this, you need to be attentive to the needs of the people you lead. Being able to show empathy when motivation is low or when results are not meeting expectations is also an essential quality. No one wants to become the tyrannical cartoon boss seen in many cultural productions.
Different types of management
To be effective, a manager must constantly adapt. This is at least the theory developed by Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard, American economists specializing in management. According to them, a manager should analyze and adapt based on the skills, experience, and motivation of the teams for each task to be accomplished. This theory, called situational management, outlines four different types of management that we will detail.
Directive management
The goal of directive management is to structure teams through clear and precise objectives. This type of management centralizes control over strategic tasks. More focused on processes than on people, the manager who adopts this style plans and limits the team’s initiatives.
Very common in industry, directive management tends to disappear in other sectors. However, it remains particularly suitable for newly formed teams. Indeed, they need a stricter framework to start their tasks. Be sure to measure your team’s progress by organizing regular meetings with a specific agenda that you have defined.
Advantage : it is a management style focused on efficiency.
Disadvantage : if communication is completely absent, this type of management can lead to conflicts.
Persuasive management
Halfway between directive and participative styles, persuasive management seeks to find a balance between goal-oriented leadership and relationship-oriented leadership. The aim is to unite teams around common objectives by communicating about assigned tasks and the means to achieve them.
The manager’s role is then to persuade their teams to motivate them so that they can perform at their best. More open to initiatives and feedback from employees, they take into account the opinions of collaborators. Thus, they promote exchange while maintaining control over all decisions and task assignments.
Advantage : the ability to motivate and unite teams around a project.
Disadvantage : more costly and complicated to implement depending on the industry.
Participative management
Unlike directive management, this type of management is essentially focused on the relationship with employees. The executive’s role is to support employees, but it is they who decide on their organization. The goal is to be benevolent by providing teams with the best possible working conditions.
The manager’s position is to be on equal footing with employees. They will often conduct individual interviews with team members and will be very attentive, especially if employees are proactive. They will also allow employees to participate in problem-solving.
Advantage : this type of management fosters employee responsibility and creativity.
Disadvantage : this leadership must be implemented by experienced managers to avoid having a completely disorganized service.
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Delegated management
Among the different types of management, delegated management is the most responsible for team members. The manager welcomes and encourages initiatives. Decision-making will primarily be carried out by employees, with the manager preferring to take a back seat. They will have greater control over medium and long-term missions and objectives, leaving the field open to their subordinates for the rest of the time.
The manager’s role is to delegate tasks and evaluate results. They respond to employee requests but will not hold individual meetings, preferring to give employees as much autonomy as possible.
Advantage : it is a management style focused on employee autonomy and empowerment.
Disadvantage : delegated management is not suitable for all employees. It is best suited for teams made up of experienced individuals.
Other types of management
There are still different types of management that have not been theorized by Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard. Indeed, while their situational management theory works particularly well for companies in the tertiary sector, this is not necessarily the case for other fields of activity.
For example, in industry and logistics, lean management will be favored. Initiated in the factories of the Toyota manufacturer in the early 1970s, lean management aims to improve production processes. This very concrete management style is based on solving recurring problems in industrial production, including from a logistical perspective. Thus, a manager in the industrial sector will strive to:
- Reduce production costs;
- Control deadlines;
- Manage inventory (shortages or overproduction);
- Build more efficient workstations.
- Combat waste and manufacturing defects;
This example is just one among many. Management is in perpetual evolution, and practices must be adapted to the company and new forms of work, such as telecommuting.
What type of management to adopt?
As you will understand, in absolute terms, there is no good or bad type of management. However, it is necessary for the management style in place to correspond to specific situations in order not to frustrate or conflict with your subordinates. The work atmosphere is crucial for employee effectiveness, and it is your role to adopt or adjust your management style according to their needs or those of the situation.
To know what type of management to adopt, observe well:
- The maturity or experience of your teams: they determine how much your employees need to be guided or solicited in their daily tasks;
- Corporate culture: some, like large groups, are very hierarchical. More collaborative styles will then be difficult to implement;
The service situation: an emergency or crisis situation more easily requires directive management to respond quickly and effectively to encountered problems.
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