What should be your style of business management?

When it comes to management styles there are many types. Choosing the type that is right for your company depends on what kind of business you are running, what your goals are, and the personality and skills of your managers. While one style of management might work for a small business that same management style might not work for a giant corporation. In order to pick the right kind of management style you need to look at the different styles and choose one that will fit your company.

Autocratic style:
This style is typically found in large corporations. In the autocratic style communication comes from the top and works it way down the ladder. Senior or upper management makes all of the important decisions and decides how the work is going to be done. All employees are required to do is follow the directions given to them; they are not supposed to ask questions or offer suggestions on how to do it better. This style is used to make decisions in the best interest of the business. The downfall to this type of management style is that employees become dependent upon management to make all decisions, which can lead to needing constant supervision.

Paternalistic style:
This style also uses a chain of command, meaning that orders come from the top down, but in this style the decisions are made in the best interest of the employee rather than the company. Senior management makes the decisions about how things will be done, but they also consider how they can give back to the employee. This helps keep the employees motivated to get their work done because they will get some rewards for working hard. While the directions come from the top down, feedback is reported up the chain of command so that management knows how the employees feel and what will help keep them happy. Like the autocratic style the downfall to this management style is the management dependency employees can develop.

Democratic style:
This style of management involves the employees in the decision making process. This can be helpful if there is a decision that needs to be made that requires the expertise of a variety of departments. In some cases upper management might be knowledgeable in departments such as IT. They can talk to other employees and figure out how best to solve the problem. The downfall to this type of management style is that the decision process is slowed down because a majority of the employees must agree on a decision before it can be carried out and the decision that is made might not be in the best interest of the company.

Laissez-faire style:
In this style of management the managers' role is very minimal. Staff managers manage all aspects of their individual departments. Communication in this type of style goes both ways. You do not see this type of style very often but it does work in smaller companies who want to encourage their employees to be as creative as possible. Most companies who use this style have highly motivated employees who need very little supervision. This style is not usually chosen to be a style it just sort of happens due to poor management.

For your company you do not have to choose just one style of management, you can actually incorporate a variety of styles depending on the situation. For example for some decisions an autocratic approach works best, but if there happens to be a decision that needs to be made that you are not knowledgeable about it won't hurt to ask for other managers opinions.