Management Styles

Management Styles Autocratic: Democratic: Directing Guiding Democratic: Supporting Delegating Different strokes for different folks

Management Styles Autocratic: Tough, bottom-line, focus on production, results Rules, obedience, formality, personal power/credit Exploitative authoritarian Benevolent authoritarian

Management Styles Democratic: Consultative, humanistic, focus on people Consensus, informality, conflict tolerance, team power/team credit Consultative democratic style Participative democratic style

Management Styles - Autocratic Directing: The coach provides specific instructions and closely supervises task accomplishments. Guiding: The coach continues some direction and closely supervises task accomplishments, but also explains decisions and supports progress.

Management Styles - Democratic Supporting: The coach facilitates and supports efforts to accomplish tasks and shares responsibility for decision making. Delegating: The coach turns over responsibility for decision making, problem solving, and task accomplishments.

Managers must be flexible and change their styles to fit the needs of their associates. Coaching must be based on associates’ development needs and development level.

Autocratic Directing is appropriate when a decision has to be made in a hurry and the stakes are high. Appropriate with inexperienced people. Structure, control and closely supervise when competence is low and commitment is high.

Autocratic Guiding is appropriate when skills are adequate, but when initial enthusiasm wanes. Associates still need to increase skills, but they need to build self-esteem and confidence more. Guiding is effective with some competence and low commitment.

Democratic Supporting is appropriate when people know what they are doing but need recognition and reinforcement of good habits. Praise, listen and facilitate with high competence and variable commitment.

Democratic Delegating is appropriate for peak performers, for highly motivated associates who need little direction (and usually crave autonomy and independence). Turn over responsibility for day-to-day decision making to people with high competence and high commitment.

Take Aways Managers should create a work environment with clear, behavior-specific standards that are reinforced by rewards and consequences which are implemented quickly. Managers should coach based on those behavior-specific standards using a directing, guiding, supporting, or delegating style based on associates’ needs.