Management Style and when to use them

Going through the company, to conduct interviews with a manager and one other employee; a non-manager, I was overwhelmed to see the attitude of employees. All of the employees were engrossed in their work and seemed to be working with intent. The prime reason behind interviewing two officers from two different tiers of the organization was to understand the management style behind the high quality work that was coming from the company. This essay explains the proceedings of the interviews that took place. It also contains my analysis of the meetings, regarding the management style followed in the organization.

The first interview was with the department manager. The department manager has around hundred people under him. Work is mostly project based and requires the employees to work in teams. Teams are formed as work comes and are broken, once the project ends. The department manager is one of those people who genuinely care for his subordinates. He has told them that his door is always open to anyone who has any question. His aides can discuss their official, as well as their problems with the manager. This policy has helped create a very open and friendly atmosphere at the office. All employees are on the same page with the manager and care for each other’s needs.

The manager claims that he is extremely involved with his work and is present at the office for as long as he feels necessary. Often he has to come early and leave late for home. He thinks that being there gives a feeling to his subordinates that he is willing to help them with whatever issues they are facing. He holds regular meetings with various sections of his department to stay up to date with whatever is going on in the office. Besides, the employees are free to drop by and discuss their issues. The manager considers it essential to keep up to date and feels that it allows him to manage the department well.

Credit should be given to the manager for maintaining a relaxed environment at the office. The type of work done in the organization is so intense that most the time the employees are under pressure to meet deadlines. During these periods, it is John and Rebecca, who help the manager make life bearable for the employees. Building employee morale is considered the primary focus of the organization and I think that the manager is doing a remarkable job on it.

The manager believes that his employees are all self-motivated and able to handle the type of work being done here. That is why he lets his employees pick projects that they think that they can do. He usually shoots ideas from time to time but allows the employees handle the work. Apparently, the manager believes in delegation a lot. Though he stays in touch with all the work going on, he, however, leaves the work to the employees(6 Management Styles and When Best to Use Them – The Leaders Tool Kit – Leaders in Heels).

The manager; coming from a technical background, is himself very tech savvy. He has introduced Office 365 on the department floor. The software helps the team with planning and tracking goals and organizing projects. Initially, when he came up with the idea to install the software, he was met with resistance from the employees. They thought that this might mean more rigid controls over them, with more involvement from other departments. However, as they learned that the software helps in their tasks, the employees assisted in installing the software. The software can be considered as a non-intrusive oversight for the manager.

The second interview was conducted of one of the employees who work under this manager. Judging from the answers given by the employee it seems that the consensus of the employees on the manager’s management style is excellent. They consider his views and style as favorable to their career growth. Apparently, the manager is open to ideas for everyone, though he does feel the need to give his thoughts as well.

According to the employee, the manager usually works through emails and chats because the entire department is seated so close by that he feels that he might disturb the others if he talks on the phone. In fact, the whole team communicates through chat. The projects, however, are usually picked by the manager and the CIO. They then allocate the plans down to the employees according to their priorities. It does not, however, mean that the employees do not have their say.

According to the employee, the manager’s management style is democratic; because of the way he takes ideas from his subordinates and weighs those ideas. The democratic management style is an open style, which allows all members of the team to share responsibility equally. In it, ideas are discussed freely, by everyone in the group. The democratic style is common in dynamic organizations, where work parameters and the environment is rapidly changing. It involves every member to take an active part in the decision making process. In the end, all the ideas and information is put forward, and a decision is taken which is based on everyone’s ideas. Considering that the manager works in the IT department, a democratic style of leadership is the best fit for him.

WORK CITED

6 Management Styles and When Best to Use Them – The Leaders Tool Kit – Leaders in Heels. https://leadersinheels.com/career/6-management-styles-and-when-best-to-use-them-the-leaders-tool-kit/. Accessed 5 Dec. 2017.