10 Management Styles You Need To Know (With Examples)

👉🏼 To reach these goals, managers are required to adopt different management styles to successfully manage a team.

There are 10 different management styles that managers can use to achieve these goals. There may be some questions running through your head, such as:

• Is it best to use only one management style or multiple?
• Is it feasible to use a combination of different management styles?
• Should you use different management styles for different employees?
• How do I know when to use a specific management style?
• What management style is best suited for which type of company?

Do not overwhelm yourself with these questions, as we are prepared to answer them for you.

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What Is A Management Style? 🤝🏼

When defining a management style, you look at the techniques and abilities managers use in handling situations and expressing leadership within the company.

These can usually be impacted by internal and external factors.

What Are The Three Main Leadership Approaches? 📢

In total, there are three main leadership approaches that managers can follow:

• Autocratic leadership
• Democratic leadership
• Laissez-Faire leadership.

Let's take a closer look at them below.

• What Is The Autocratic Leadership Approach?
• What Is The Democratic Leadership Approach?
• What Is The Laissez-Faire Leadership Approach?.

The 10 management styles are associated and categorized within these approaches to leadership.

Depending on the size of the business or the employees you have to manage, it is clear that a manager has to adapt management styles for the business to run successfully.

1. What Is The Autocratic Leadership Approach?

The autocratic leadership approach focuses on a top-down approach. There is only one-way communication between managers and employees when it comes to the decision-making, procedures, and policies within the company.

👉🏼 This means that employees have no power in the decision-making process of the company and have to accept the managers’ decisions.

The managers will have full control and power, where employees are micromanaged to ensure productivity and the fulfillment of tasks.

In total, there are three main management styles in the autocratic leadership role: Authoritative, Persuasive, and Paternalistic management style.

Authoritative Management Style

This management style has leaders dictate tasks to their employees. This is where employees are expected to comply without questioning management. If employees do not comply with management, they are usually penalized.

Authoritative management also focuses on monitoring employees through micromanagement to ensure that the tasks and goals of the company are reached.

Leaders rarely allow input from team members and decisions are purely made by them. The rules are important for the leader, where the work is structured and no form of creativity and innovation is introduced.

Pros Of The Authoritative Management Style

• This management style allows for quick decision-making as management makes the decisions and staff do not have any decision-making power or are involved in the decision-making process.
• The roles and the expectations of the employees are outlined, where they understand the tasks they need to complete in a specified time.
• There is an increase in productivity when the manager is present. This is due to employees being micro-managed to ensure their duties get done quickly and efficiently.
• There are consistent results in small group situations. This is due to the leader providing clear direction, which produces results as there is no leadership void in a small group setting.
• The time to complete a task is reduced, as there is no consultation required by the leader nor do they need to consult with the team as they take on the role.
• The main chain of command is clarified. The leadership approach is made clear and nobody in the team can take over.
• Due to the manager always being present and making predetermined instructions and decisions, the number of mistakes is therefore reduced.

Cons Of The Authoritative Management Style

• There is an increase in employee dissatisfaction. In the interim, this will cause a higher staff turnover and create a distrusting relationship with management.
• There is no form of group input or teamwork. This will reduce creativity as there is no consultation that happens within the team. This may also cause resentment towards the managers.
• This management style might cause doubt in the manager’s leadership skills, there might be staff that are more experienced.
• A decrease in the morale of the group can be caused. Employees’ ideas are not appreciated nor are they welcomed.  In the long term, this can also lead to a higher staff turnover.

When To Use The Authoritative Management Style

This management style is only useful when there is an organizational crisis. This style is usually not recommended to be used by management.

Persuasive Management Style

The persuasive management style ensures employees that the decisions being made in the company are there to benefit the team.

👉🏼 In comparison to the authoritative management style, employees are not ordered to do tasks as management allows them to ask questions.

This allows for less micromanaging, where employees can complete their tasks in a more creative and innovative environment.

In turn, this allows employees to feel like they are a part of the company culture and feel valued and appreciated.

Encouragement to commit to tasks is done through numerous persuasive techniques and does not follow the reward and penalizing principle.

In the end, the manager makes the final decision but the employees are well informed as to why the decision was made.

Pros Of The Persuasive Management Style

• A higher level of trust can be created between employees and management, which will allow employees to accept the decision-making process of the company.
• This style invites questions rather than focusing on punishing employees. Employees feel appreciated and are contributing to the team.
• There is creative and professional freedom, due to employees not being micro-managed to complete their tasks.
• As the team feels more satisfied and valued, there is a decrease in staff turnover.
• The decision-making process is quick, which allows for an increase in productivity.

Cons Of The Persuasive Management Style

• Employees may still have the impression that they are not completely a part of the team as they cannot give any form of feedback and grow or contribute towards growth in the company.
• If the end results are poor, management will have to take the blame, which can decrease staff morale and motivation.
• If there is no relationship built between manager and employees, this management style can fail as a level of team support and input of employees is important.
• The manager needs to be knowledgeable and experienced. If these traits are not present, there can be a level of distrust caused in the team.

When To Use The Persuasive Management Style

This style is recommended for managers that have more experience in the field than the team that they are leading.

The manager needs to be the expert, as employees need to be able to trust the decision-making of the manager.

Paternalistic Management Style

In the paternalistic management style, managers act as if the best interests of their employees are looked at. It introduces a family culture where loyalty is expected from the employees.

The decisions are explained to the employees, however, they are not allowed to be questioned since they came from management that has the knowledge and expertise in that area.

This allows for a working environment where employees feel more at ease and can perform the tasks to the best of their capabilities.

Pros Of The Paternalistic Management Style

• This management style focuses on the welfare of the employees, decisions are based on the best interests of the staff.
• Employees feel more appreciated and valued which will allow for a higher level of loyalty to the company.
• Focuses more on a reward-based system. If employees perform, they will be rewarded.
• Since employees feel more valued and appreciated, there is a decrease in staff turnover and absenteeism.
• Feedback is encouraged, which improves the morale of the employees.
• The upskilling and employee education are valued in the company. Through the training that is provided, employees can grow within the company.

This will make employees happier, as they are able to upskill their knowledge and grow.

Cons Of The Paternalistic Management Style

• Employees become too dependent on management, which can lead to a decrease in problem-solving as well as management having to constantly supervise their staff.
• This can cause resentment in employees that do not see this company culture as a “family”
• If there is no level of loyalty or trust towards management, staff motivation can be damaged.
• Management can go against the idea and end up making decisions that purely benefit them.
• If roles are not well defined, where employees are not aware of their roles, this can lead to a power struggle between employees and management.

When To Use The Paternalistic Management Style

This management style is more useful in smaller companies than in larger ones as each employee needs to feel valued and appreciated. In a larger company, it will be more difficult to be heavily involved with employees, as it is culture-dependent.

2. What Is The Democratic Leadership Approach?

Managers allow employees to contribute to the decision-making process in the company, due to the managers value their employees and their ideas. However, they are still responsible for the final decision.

👉🏼 Employees have a lot of influence in the decision-making process as they are involved with management.

Managers end up trusting their team with responsibility, which increases the staff morale and allows them to grow and learn new skill sets.

The communication looks at a top-down and bottom-up approach, which can increase staff morale and creativity within the team.

This leadership approach generally focuses on teams with a vast amount of expertise within their field, where their input is needed for the management to make a decision. This allows for numerous opinions and ideas to allow management to make a concrete and firm decision.

In total, there are five main management styles that fall under the democratic leadership role: Consultative, Participative, Collaborative, Transformational, and Coaching management style.

Consultive Management Style

The most important aspect of this management style is that managers ask for opinions from the team through discussions. Every viewpoint is considered as the manager does not have the full expertise in that given area.

The final decision is made by the manager, however, all of the information provided by the team is considered in the decision-making process.

Those in higher-up positions encourage a two-way form of communication.

Generally, this style focuses on industries in specialized fields. This is where the staff are the experts and their opinions are vital to making the necessary decisions for the company.

Pros Of The Consultative Management Style

• This style builds a bond and trust between managers and employees as employees are involved in the large-scale activities of the company.
• Management also grows from the team as they learn new things and ideas from their employees as they are experienced in their field.
• Innovation and voicing opinions are encouraged, which leads to better problem solving within the company.
• The quality of decisions is usually better, as you will get expert opinions from your team as they are specialized in that field.
• There is a decrease in staff turnover.

Cons Of The Consultative Management Style

• Through constant consultation with staff, it can be relatively time-consuming. This can cause managers to struggle if they do not have good time management skills.
• It is important for managers to ensure that all voices and opinions are heard and considered to avoid distrust and favoritism.
• Since this management style is time-consuming and involves all of the employees in the team, it can delay the decision-making process and the implementation of certain changes.
• Employees are constantly used for the problem solving and the decision-making process in the company, which can make them doubt management's capabilities.

When To Use The Consultative Management Style

This style should be used if you have a specialized team. This is where the manager does not have as much expertise and knowledge in that particular field as the other team members.

👉🏼 This management style can be considered in specialized industries such as IT and software development.

Another example would be a chemical manufacturing firm where the experts are engineers and scientists working on the front line of the company’s production process.

Participative Management Style

In the participative style, both managers and staff are actively involved in the decision-making process.

This is where managers ask for the opinions of their staff, where they work together to create a decision for the company and find working solutions.

They will then implement these decisions in order for deadlines to be reached. This will lead to improved communication between employees and management, which will create mutual respect within the company.

This is where management grants employees access to more company information to ensure that employees can assist with achieving the goals of the company.

There is a huge focus on training, to ensure that employees enhance their knowledge and skills to increase positive job performance and the operational outcomes of the company.

👉🏼 The focus is on increasing employee satisfaction within the company in order for them to perform their tasks to the best of their capabilities.

Pros Of The Participative Management Style

• Employees feel like they are more involved which will increase motivation and productivity.
• Employees are trained which will increase job satisfaction as well as operational outcomes. Employees will also be able to grow within the company.
• Creates loyal employees that want to assist with achieving company goals. This is where employees give suggestions to reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction.
• Employees will want to pursue further training to improve their job performance and progress in their careers.

Cons Of The Participative Management Style

• The process can be slow which can lead to resentment amongst staff.
• The resentment is caused when bigger personalities speak out in comparison to other staff members, these staff members will not be listened to nor will their suggestions be valued.
• There might be a security risk as management provides their employees with confidential information early on.
• This management style may cause a loss of power and influence on employees, as employees may not respect managers using this management style.

When To Use The Participative Management Style

This management style is best used when major changes are made within the company.

This will allow employees to be encouraged to participate and adapt better. These are mainly innovative and driven companies such as tech and IT firms.

Collaborative Management Style

Management creates an open forum for staff to share their ideas and opinions. This is where the opinions will be discussed and a majority rule will be made.

👉🏼 Staff are empowered to take ownership of the outcome, which leads to increased engagement and innovation.

This management style encourages collaboration with other teams and departments in order to achieve the company goals.

In order for this management style to be successful is to allow each person in the team and department to participate.

Pros Of The Collaborative Management Style

• Employees are motivated to provide their best work and find solutions together with their fellow staff members and management, which leads to more engagement between the staff members.
• Due to staff being more involved they feel more valued by management, which leads to higher staff morale.
• Since management considers and listens to employees' viewpoints, more innovative and creative thinking occurs.
• A better division of work is improved. The workload decreases when there is more staff involved in the task.
• The quality of work is increased in projects. This is due to employees being more involved in the project and each employee has their strengths that can contribute to the project.
• Through constant communication, workplace conflicts are resolved.
• Staff turnover is decreased due to employees constantly engaging, whereby fewer conflicts happen due to them being resolved fairly quickly.
• A stronger level of trust is built between management and employees since management gives the employees to give their opinions and concerns.

Cons Of The Collaborative Management Style

• This management style is time-consuming, especially when there are a lot of employees involved in a project.
• Through the different personalities that are in the team, cross conflict can happen as everybody has different opinions on how to tackle a project.
• There is a potential power struggle between leaders and employees. These are mainly demonstrated when employees feel as if they are in a leadership role.
• Not everybody’s voice is heard, as the stronger personalities might outshine other employees.
• The majority rule is not always the best solution for an organization, and if there is a decision that is not in the best interest of the business, there could be resentment.
• Disagreement in the team may cause conflict, especially when employees do not like one another and their judgment is clouded.

When To Use The Collaborative Management Style

When the organization wants to focus on innovation and increase engagement amongst employees, this would be the best suitable management style.

This is also a great management style when a large number of changes are happening in the organization and management wants to create a level of trust with their employees.

Due to its costly and time-consuming nature, it is not recommended for smaller companies.

Transformational Management Style

This management style allows managers to work side by side with their employees in order for the team to create their own work ethic.

👉🏼 Management pushes their staff to greater accomplishments through encouragement and motivation.

This motivates employees to push themselves and achieve their goals within the company. When this style is implemented correctly, trust, loyalty, and respect are gained from the employees.

This will transform the employee’s behavior. The manager has to create clear and consistent goals for the employees, which will motivate others and inspire them to perform and rise to the challenge.

Pros Of The Transformational Management Style

• Innovation is increased and employees can adapt better to changes in the business.
• Employees are usually happy as managers keep motivating them, which will decrease staff turnover.
• Stronger relationships are built, which allows for more collaborations within the company.
• Creative thinking is encouraged and will lead to better problem-solving.
• This management style promotes morale through better communication. These types of leaders are good at communicating their vision to their employees and explaining why their input is important.

Cons Of The Transformational Management Style

• If high levels of productivity are required from the employees to achieve a certain goal, this can lead employees to burn out.
• Staff is under a lot of pressure, which might make some feel very overwhelmed.
• These managers use their charisma and energy to demonstrate how they achieve goals and are not afraid to take risks.
• A lot of pressure is put on the leader as they have to lead by example.
• This style can only be successful when there is an open line of communication with team members. Enthusiasm needs to be high through measures such as meetings.
• This is very time-consuming and exhausting for managers and if employees feel like there is no proper communication, it can make them lose interest in their tasks.

When To Use The Transformational Management Style

This style works well when companies are working in fast-paced industries or are expecting changes within the industry.

👉🏼 This style will help teams become more agile and innovative while responding to the outside and inside forces.

Productivity is also an important focus with this style as industries that are fast-paced need an increase in their productivity rates.

Coaching Management Style

In this management style, managers see themselves as coaches and the staff as a team. Their main priority is to guide the team, where their development is of vital importance.  

Long-term development is valued over short-term failures where managers promote learning, growing, and upskilling their staff.

This management style is effective in an environment where staff lacks the knowledge to reach a shared vision and needs to be guided by a manager.

This approach allows direction and motivation, which encourages skills development and gives management the opportunity to grow a strong and skilled team for the company.

Pros Of The Coaching Management Style

• Employees feel valued as they know that they are being trained and will grow in their role within the company.
• Managers build a strong bond with their employees when offering their employees career opportunities.
• Two-way communication and collaboration are encouraged between the team and management.
• Involves a lot of constructive feedback.
• Management focuses more on supporting their team and avoiding being judgmental.
• Managers are more goal and relationship orientated with a greater degree of self-awareness.
• Since staff feel more motivated and appreciated, there is a decrease in staff turnover.
• The working environment is supportive, which enables creativity.
• Leaders trained in coaching can assist employees to solve their own problems.
• There are long-term, sustainable performance improvements.

Cons Of The Coaching Management Style

• This can cause a toxic environment as some staff will be favored over others, which will lead to resentment.
• There is too much focus on long-term development which could cause one to lose focus on short-term projects.
• This management style is not used very often due to its time-consuming nature and having to constantly assist employees with their responsibilities.
• The coaching leader needs to have a lot of experience in leadership. If this is executed poorly, it can create an ample amount of problems.

When To Use The Coaching Management Style

You can use this style when the organization wants to promote talent from within the company and train the employees to take over managerial positions in the future.

Industries with a competitive market will also benefit from this style. A prime example would be the tech industry.

3. What Is The Laissez-Faire Leadership Approach?

In this style, management takes a hands-off approach. Staff is trusted to do their work without supervision where they have full control over the decision-making and problem-solving.

Management is present at the delegation and delivery stages of the work but other than that they step back and allow staff to do their own work and only assist their employees when they require assistance.

👉🏼 This allows individual team members to feel empowered as they are able to practice their leadership skills.

It also allows employees to be more creative and increase innovation, which allows for building trust between team members.

There are two main management styles that are associated with the Laissez-faire leadership role: Delegative and Visionary management styles.

Delegative Management Style

In the delegative management style, managers are only there to assign tasks but must ensure they are done successfully.

Due to employees being skilled and specialized in that particular field, a hands-off approach is used. The responsibility is shared across many levels of the organization.

It looks at a decentralized management approach, which distributes decision-making power to the community of managers and delegative democracy to ensure everybody is heard.

Once these tasks have been assigned, employees can tackle the task how they would like to. As soon as the task is completed, managers will review the work and give advice on how the team is able to improve it.

Pros Of The Delegative Management Style

• Innovation and creativity are a focus in this style, especially if the business has highly skilled workers.
• Micromanagement is often avoided in this management style.
• The delegation of tasks to specific managers on the team will allow you to get your responsibilities done more quickly and efficiently when adapting to this management style.
• It is the manager’s duty to provide guidance, which will allow you to focus on more of a strategic direction for the company.
• You can rely on the skills and knowledge of your team, whereby some of your staff have more training and experience than you. This will lead them to grow in a position of authority.
• Problem-solving and teamwork are strengthened as staff is given the freedom to do their own work at their own pace.
• An increase in job satisfaction as staff motivation is high since you give them a sense of ownership of a task which allows them to showcase their skills.

Cons Of The Delegative Management Style

• Without leadership, there may be an issue in productivity.
• It may cause interpersonal issues when you do not let staff contribute.
• Teams can feel like there is a lack of direction and focus which can lead to conflict.
• Poorly managed conflicts can cause issues in the working environment.
• Staff may think management is not contributing to the team’s success.
• Will not be effective with unskilled staff (ones that are less knowledgeable and experienced than yourself).
• This may cause the operation to be less cohesive due to the fact that it will not be one cohesive idea by yourself but many different ones spread out in the company.

When To Use The Delegative Management Style

This style is best used for organizations that have a more decentralized leadership and where the team is more skilled than the manager. This can be used in a restaurant environment, in a kitchen, for example.

This is where you have an executive chef that has a team dealing with new recipes, prepping, ordering, and counting stock, and a restaurant manager who deals with the front-of-house area of the restaurant.

Visionary Management Style

Mangers in this style lead to inspire their employees.  Leaders explain their goals and the reasons behind them and lead their teams to achieve their goals.

👉🏼 Employees get their motivation from their managers and then are allowed to achieve their tasks with very little interference.

Managers will check if they have a shared vision and if the work is being done accordingly.

The vision is usually clear, however, managers are open to new ideas. Visionary managers give feedback to their employees regarding their performance and praise them if executed properly

Pros Of The Visionary Management Style

• Engagement is high as staff believe in what they are creating and are driven to complete the task to the best of their capabilities.
• Motivation is higher, due to employees being more satisfied with their working conditions and the managers' engagement.
• Visionary leaders encourage creativity and innovation within the team, which will lead to better problem-solving.
• Boosts team’s confidence and engagement as it inspires unity
• There is a clear overall goal that employees are working towards.

Cons Of The Visionary Management Style

• Not all managers are inspiring, which depends on the job and the industry.
• If they aren't inspiring, employees will not perform, you need to have a clear vision in mind that employees understand, believe in, and can help you achieve certain goals.
• There is an emphasis on the future, which can cause visionary leaders to lose focus on the present. This leads to less focus on smaller day-to-day tasks.
• Team members are not held accountable for their actions.

When To Use The Visionary Management Style

There are a variety of companies where this style works well. Tech companies are popular for this, where they are looking at disrupting other industries as well as nonprofit organizations to innovate creative solutions to problems.

Wrapping It Up 💁🏻‍♀️

In order to determine which management style is best suitable for you, you will need to understand that different management styles should be used in different scenarios and projects.

👉🏼 Due to having different teams and departments, you may need to use a different management style for different members of your team.

A prime example would be for you to use a more authoritarian approach on new employees as they still require training and their work needs to be checked in comparison to senior employees that are already aware of the vision of the company.

These types of team members focus more on the delegative management style. A good manager would choose different management styles depending on the employees and the situation the company is in.

With this guide, we believe that you will be able to find the management style best suitable for you and the business.