Cultural Influences on Management Style

• The “people first, task second” manager
• Avoids conflict and emphasizes good personal relationships among employees
• Motivates by trying to keep people happy

Effective when:

• Used with other styles
• Tasks routine, performance adequate
• Counselling, helping
• Managing conflict

Least effective when:

• Performance is inadequate – affiliation does not emphasise performance
• There are crisis situations needing direction

PARTICIPATIVE

The PARTICIPATIVE (Democratic) style has the primary objective of building commitment and consensus among employees:

• The “everyone has input” manager
• Encourages employee input in decision making
• Motivates by rewarding team effort

Effective when:

• Employees working together
• Staff have experience and credibility
• Steady working environment

Least effective when:

• Employees must be coordinated
• There is a crisis – no time for meetings
• There is a lack of competency – close supervision required

PACESETTING

The PACESETTING style has the primary objective of accomplishing tasks to a high standard of excellence:

• The “do it myself” manager
• Performs many tasks personally and expects employees to follow his/her example
• Motivates by setting high standards and expects self-direction from employees

Effective when:

• People are highly motivated, competent
• Little direction/coordination required
• When managing experts

Least effective when:

• When workload requires assistance from others
• When development, coaching & coordination required

COACHING

The COACHING style has the primary objective of long-term professional development of employees:

• The “developmental” manager
• Helps and encourages employees to develop their strengths and improve their performance
• Motivates by providing opportunities for professional development

Effective when:

• Skill needs to be developed
• Employees are motivated and wanting development

Ineffective when:

• The leader lacks expertise
• When performance discrepancy is too great – coaching managers may persist rather than exit a poor performer
• In a crisis

 

The DIRECTIVE leader orders the team around, sets high standards and disciplines those who don’t meet the standard. I brief the leader beforehand to change his / her mind several times during the activity and also to take a phone call and leave the room. When the leader is out of the room, the team usually stops work – concerned about the consequences of continuing without the micromanagement. After the activity the team reports that they are frustrated, angry and disengaged. It is interesting how quickly the team loses enthusiasm and initiative under the directive leader. The leader reports that the style is “high maintenance – I felt like I had to be everywhere, watching everyone, it was exhausting”!

The AUTHORITATIVE (Visionary) leader sets the vision for the team, clearly and compellingly, then steps back and allows the team to work. The leader steps in from time to time to reiterate the vision if required, but that is all he / she does. The leader reports that the style was “easy – I didn’t have to do much and I could see how the style would free me up to operate strategically”. The team report enjoying the activity, and feel enormously proud of the work they have done, often getting out their smart phones to take pictures posing with their creation.

The AFFILIATIVE leader takes time helping the team to bond. They often sit down for a cup of tea and a round table sharing of stories. Often the activity is not even commenced as the team gets caught up in getting to know each other. More task focused team members often look around and get anxious when they can see other teams working. Sometimes one of those people will leap in and take control, effectively “sacking” the leader. The team reports that they enjoyed the sharing and relaxed atmosphere, but that they started to wonder when they would start work. The leader often reports that it was “challenging keeping the focus on team bonding – they started to get sick of me after a while”

The PARTICIPATIVE (Democratic) leader starts by asking all the team members what they would like to do, then voting on the options. They start in the car park, and I have on occasion seen the team vote to get a coffee and disappear. They are then startled to find when they return that there was an activity to do that they missed! Even when the team votes to come inside and do the activity the progress is slow as everything has to be agreed before action happens. Team members report that they enjoyed being consulted and having a voice in the decision making, but got anxious when they could see lack of progress compared with other teams. The leader reports that “it was easy – I didn’t have to make any decisions”.

The PACESETTING leader sets a cracking pace from the beginning. The team operates with high energy, engagement and motivation. The leader sets members tasks, but then takes the task off them if they are “not performing” and gives it to someone else. Despite this, the team members remain engaged, seeing this as a consequence of the high standards set by the leader. At the end of the task the team reports that they enjoyed the experience, are proud of what they achieved, but are exhausted. The leader is often exhausted too, saying “it was fantastic, but really challenging to maintain the pace and focus. I am glad we only had to do it for 40 minutes”!

The COACHING leader focusses on the learning experience. When a team member proves to be particularly good at an aspect of the task, the leader has them demonstrate and teach the others. The team gets absorbed in the learning and people are often surprised to hear that the time is up. They are engaged with and proud of their achievements, even though they often don’t fully complete the task. The leader often reports that they “really enjoyed working with the team and I’d love to have had more time so we could finish because we were doing a great job”.

 

Management Styles

 

Managers have to perform many roles in an organization and how they handle various situations will depend on their style of management. A management style is an overall method of leadership used by a manager. There are two sharply contrasting styles that will be broken down into smaller subsets later:

• Autocratic 
• Permissive

Each style has its own characteristics:

Autocratic: Leader makes all decisions unilaterally.

Permissive: Leader permits subordinates to take part in decision making and also gives them a considerable degree of autonomy in completing routine work activities.

Combining these categories with democratic (subordinates are allowed to participate in decision making) and directive (subordinates are told exactly how to do their jobs) styles gives us four distinct ways to manage:

Directive Democrat: Makes decisions participatively; closely supervises subordinates.

Directive Autocrat: Makes decisions unilaterally; closely supervises subordinates.

Permissive Democrat: Makes decisions participatively; gives subordinates latitude in carrying out their work.

Permissive Autocrat: Makes decisions unilaterally; gives subordinates latitude in carrying out their work.

 

In what situations would each style be appropriate? Inappropriate?

Managers must also adjust their styles according to the situation that they are presented with. Below are four quadrants of situational leadership that depend on the amount of support and guidance needed:

Telling: Works best when employees are neither willing nor able to do the job (high need of support and high need of guidance).

Delegating: Works best when the employees are willing to do the job and know how to go about it (low need of support and low need of guidance).

Participating: Works best when employees have the ability to do the job, but need a high amount of support (low need of guidance but high need of support).

Selling: Works best when employees are willing to do the job, but don’t know how to do it (low need of support but high need of guidance).

The different styles depend on the situation and the relationship behavior (amount of support required) and task behavior (amount of guidance required).

 

Can you guess which management styles would work best for each situation listed above?

Should managers use only one management style? Situational style?

Listed below are a few situations and options for what you would do. Try to decide which of the four situational styles would work best in each situation. Then pick the option that best fits that style.

 

Situation 1

The employees in your program appear to be having serious problems getting the job done. Their performance has been going downhill rapidly. They have not responded to your efforts to be friendly or to your expressions of concern for their welfare.

Which style would you pick? What would you do?

1. Reestablish the need for following program procedures and meeting the expectations for task accomplishment.
2. Be sure that staff members know you are available for discussion, but don’t pressure them.
3. Talk with your employees and then set performance goals.
4. Wait and see what happens.

 

Situation 2

During the past few months, the quality of work done by staff members has been increasing. Record keeping is accurate and up to date. You have been careful to make sure that the staff members are aware of your performance expectations.

Which style would you pick? What would you do?

1. Stay uninvolved.
2. Continue to emphasize the importance of completing tasks and meeting deadlines.
3. Be supportive and provide clear feedback. Continue to make sure that staff members are aware of performance expectations.
4. Make every effort to let staff members feel important and involved in the decision making process.

 

 

Situation 3

Performance and interpersonal relations among your staff have been good. You have normally left them alone. However, a new situation has developed, and it appears that staff members are unable to solve the problem themselves.

Which style would you pick? What would you do?

1. Bring the group together and work as a team to solve the problem.
2. Continue to leave them alone to work it out.
3. Act quickly and firmly to identify the problem and establish procedures to correct it
4. Encourage the staff to work on the problem, letting them know you are available as a resource and for discussion if they need you.

 

Situation 4

You are considering a major change in your program. Your staff has a fine record of accomplishment and a strong commitment to excellence. They are supportive of the need for change and have been involved in the planning.

Which style would you pick? What would you do?

1. Continue to involve the staff in the planning, but direct the change.
2. Announce the changes and then implement them with close supervision.
3. Allow the group to be involved in developing the change, but don’t push the process.
4. Let the staff manage the change process.