There’s a saying in the working world, “Employees don’t leave companies, they leave managers.” The authoritative role of a manager makes it the most crucial in a working environment. How managers decide to engage their employees can make a break a team or an organization as a whole.
The problem is that 8 out of 10 managers aren’t equipped with the necessary skills to effectively manage their people. They are using management styles that are archaic and ineffective. An update to approach is a necessity at this point.
The truth is, there is no one size fits all approach to management styles. Each employee will respond differently to each style. Developing a deep understanding of these styles allows for a tailored approach that utilizes a combination of a few. Here are 7 management styles that nurture elite performance in the workplace.
Coaching Management Style
In this style managers assume the role of a coach for their employees. These managers have a vested interest in the employees’ performance and development over the long-term. With this style short-term failure are held under the long-term growth of the employee. Learning, training and mentoring are held in high regard in this management approach.
If used correctly, this management style can create a strong bond between managers and employees as well as employees with the remainder of their teams.
The coaching style is not only effective for the employees but for the managers themselves. There are many principals of coaching that sharpen leadership skills. It enables managers to cater to employee needs to feel seen, heard and understood.
Delegative Management Style
One of the biggest struggles a team can face is the lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities within a team.
Many managers resort to telling their entire team of a task to complete without specifying who the responsibility falls on. The assumption is made that someone will pick it up. In turn, no one picks it up because they all assume that someone else picked it up. This is a common management mistake that leads to failures to deliver key aspects of projects on time.
Managers of this style ensure that they clearly direct the assignment of tasks to the appropriate entity on the team. Once that is complete and everyone has a deep of understanding of what is required from each task, the manager takes a step and allows the employees to work autonomously.
The style can easily be adapted to discontinue micromanaging.
Transformational Management Style
Similar to the coaching style, the transformational management style is focused on employee growth. However, this style is about the managers ability to motivate and inspire their team. They demand greatness from their teams and achieve it by use of encouragement. They empower employees by coaching them to jump out of their comfort zone and trusting them to assume responsibility over their work.
A manager in this style isn’t only looking for mere results out of their employees but they are pushing for transformational breakthroughs to occur in their life both personally and professionally.
Visionary Management Style
The visionary manager puts special attention on discussing project goals with the team. In doing so, they provide thorough explanations, so the team understands the details thoroughly.
They also make sure they tell their teams the “why” behind their tasks. Without this, many employees will feel unmotivated and uninterested. Giving them the reasoning as it pertains to the company’s bottom line and humanity, if applicable, is what these managers are keen on taking the time do.
They provide sufficient feedback to their employees and allow them to work autonomously to complete their tasks. They may check-in occasionally to ensure there are no concerns but ultimately, they leave it up to the employee to get the task done and let them know they have the managers support if it’s required.
The Bottom Line
There are tons of different styles when It comes to effective management. Many people believe they need to assume one style that resonates and apply it all across their entire team. However, proper use of management styles depends on factors such as the employee managed style as well as the situation or task at hand.
Trying to apply a one size fits all, cookie cutter approach to management style leaves teams to become static and susceptible to failure. Therefore, it’s absolutely critical for managers to become trained in dynamism and mix-and-match these styles based on the information they have based on the specific circumstances.