Management Styles and the Effect on Employees

Every manager does things differently in their business with how operations are done and how employees are managed. Despite this there are 3 basic categories that can be used to describe their style of management. The three styles we will be talking about are autocratic, free-rein, and participative managers which are based on the amount of power shared between the manager and employees.

The first management style is autocratic, which is based on power being centralized with the manager, who has authority and control over the employees. The manager tells employees what to do and has all the power. When used incorrectly it can lead employees to feel uninformed or that they don’t have any choice in their work. It can be used positively, but a lot of people usually don’t work well with this style of management.

The next management style is free-rein, which can be described as the opposite of autocratic in that the manager does not use power and instead it is given to the employees. Employees do things on their own like establishing goals, overseeing progress, self-motivation, etc with managers being there on the outside as an extra contact. The downside to this is that it can sometimes lead to chaotic situations with everyone in different spots in their progress. Employees must be self motivated and disciplined for this management style to work.

The final management style is participative, which can be seen as more of a middle ground between autocratic and free-rein. In this style the manager does not have all the power, it is instead shared with the employees. Employees and their manager will both work to achieve their goals which can lead the employee to feel like they have the ability to contribute their ideas and feel more informed. Being the middle ground between the other two, this style is usually used in management.

Overall, how a manager does things is entirely up to them and the circumstances they face. The effectiveness of their style of management is entirely up to them and how the employees handle it. When choosing between these three styles you should always consider what impact each of them would have in order to get the best management experience for the employees.