Chapter One: Understanding Your Management Style

1 Excerpt From: customer Service Management training 101By Ren e EvensonChapter One: Understanding your Management StyleStep 1: Learn Management styles and FunctionsThe most important function of frontline Management is to lead and developemployees. When you manage people your job is to accomplish tasks and achievegoals through your employees. How you achieve this result depends on the employeesand the circumstances. The methods you most often apply to employee interactions and various situa-tions define your personal Management Style . your Management Style determines howyou communicate, make decisions, solve problems, and put your critical thinking skillsto use.

2 The most effective managers do not use the same Style all the time. Rather, theyare able to adapt their Style as study of Management has been widely researched. Similar managementstyles, ranging from overly controlling to a complete lack of control, emerge. The stylenow viewed as the most effective is participative. Yet, researchers also conclude thatparticipative Management actually incorporates both controlling and passive behavior,depending on the environment. In this Chapter , three distinct styles of Management will be discussed. They areshown on the continuum below. Acontinuum is a plotting tool that uses a continuousline with varying points of reference placed along it.

3 Later in this Chapter , you will plotyour personal Management Style . Most likely, after analyzing your behavior, you aregoing to find that your comfort zone falls somewhere to the left or right of participa-tive, depending on your personality and experience Management Is Autocratic ManagementThe controlling manager makes decisions for the team with no input or consul-tation with employees, preferring to tell them what to do. Communication is generallyone-way from top to bottom, and the manager does more talking than Management Style is effective when snap decisions must be made, whenimmediate action is necessary, when time constraints do not allow for employee input,when employee input is not warranted, or when employees are new to the task andhave not been fully trained.

4 It is least effective when used excessively or inappropriate-ly. Employees lose motivation when they are not involved in decision making, andautocratic overuse can even lead to a hostile work environment in which employeesfeel they have no autonomy or are not empowered to do their jobs. Autocratic Management is no longer a desired approach to managing and mostmanagers have abandoned it; those who still heavily rely on this approach are oftenlabeled dinosaurs. Participative Management Is Shared ManagementThe participative manager applies a hands-on, involved approach, and both themanager and employees share in making decisions and solving problems.

5 This manag-er knows his or her employees well, understands their strengths and weaknesses, andknows who functions best under this approach. Employee input is welcome and dele-gation of work is utilized. Communication is two-way and Management Style is effective when the manager takes the time to ade-quately train, observe, develop, and provide feedback to employees. When these stepsare taken, employees feel engaged and empowered to perform at their best. This Style isleast effective when employee input is continually welcomed but not acted upon, whentoo much or not enough responsibility is shared with employees, or when work is dele-gated to employees who do not have the ability to complete the Management emerged when team involvement, quality workgroups, and self-managed teams became popular.

6 Employee empowerment through theparticipative approach is now the widely accepted and preferred Management Management Is Permissive ManagementThe passive manager takes a back seat and allows the team to make decisions,set goals, and achieve objectives. Communication is two-way, often adopting a demo-cratic approach in which employees are given equal power with the manager for mak-ing decisions. This Management Style is effective when employees have been well trained, arehigh achievers who work as a cohesive unit, and have displayed sound decision-mak-ing and problem-solving techniques. It is least effective when teams have not reachedthe cohesive stage of development or when the manager uses it to avoid making deci-sions or resolving conflict.

7 Overuse of this approach can lead to a lack of focus anddirection, or even more serious, a lack of respect by the Management , while not the ideal Style of Management when utilizedexcessively, can be appropriate when employees have proved they deserve empower-ment and control. Teams can self-manage, with the manager remaining Functions Dictate the Management StyleAs a manager, you are responsible for many tasks, which can be linked to threegeneral functions: managing yourself, managing others, and managing yourself involves Understanding your Management Style , as well asyour strengths and weaknesses. It includes personal skills development, mapping out aplan to meet company objectives for both yourself and your team, defining how andwhen you will complete tasks and meet company commitments, and managing yourtime others involves encouraging them to share your vision and goals.

8 Itincludes communicating effectively, training employees to do the job correctly, buildinga cohesive team, and effectively resolving conflicts and problems. Managing results involves measuring and controlling outcomes. It includes ana-lyzing goal achievement, observing, providing feedback, appraising, creating develop-ment action plans for employees, and monitoring self-development of these functions involves the ability to use your critical thinking skills tomake decisions and solve problems. You must decide whether to control the events,allow employees to participate in them, or give employees complete freedom overthem. An effective and successful manager knows which Style to use for each functionand when to change an approach as 2: Analyze your Management StyleYou have learned about three Management styles .

9 You have also learned thatthe most effective approach is the participative Style , which means having the abilityto move left or right on the continuum, depending on the environment. Although theability to move back and forth easily across the continuum will increase your effec-tiveness, you are probably more comfortable to the right or left of participative man-agement. When push comes to shove, when time does not permit for participation, orwhen you are stressed out and overworked, you may not move easily across the con-tinuum, but rather get stuck on one spot. You feel more comfortable either controllingthe events or sitting back and hoping your employees do the right thing.

10 Analyzing how you perform on a daily basis will help you pinpoint the spot onthe continuum that is your comfort zone. That spot defines your current personal you establish your comfort zone, you will then be able to assess areas that needimprovement in order to develop the skills to move easily among all three styles asappropriate and Analysis Enables You to Define your Management StyleUnless your self-assessment is honest, you will never be able to advance yourdevelopment. Draw the continuum on a piece of paper. Write Controllingon the left,Participativein the middle, and Passiveon the right. Think of your performance at workand then honestly assess where you fall on the continuum.