Management styles

In brief
A management style is the way a person leads their team, between the degree of direction they exercise and the degree of support they provide.
The situational management model distinguishes four: directive, persuasive, participative and delegative. It depends largely on the level of autonomy of the person working on the current project.

What is a management style?

A management style describes the way you lead a team: it combines a degree of direction (setting objectives, organising the work, monitoring results) and a degree of support (listening, encouraging, involving people in decisions).

This style should not be confused with management techniques, the practical tools of the job (objectives, interviews, meetings): it is the stance with which you use them.

What are the four management styles?

The most widely used model to describe them is situational management, formalised by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard. It distinguishes four styles according to the balance between direction and support: the directive style, the persuasive style, the participative style and the delegative style.

The directive style

Someone joins your team and discovers a task they have never done: this is the situation where the directive style is essential, the one where you set the direction, explain precisely what to do and check every step.

Once this person has become autonomous, this management style demotivates them, so it should be adapted.

The persuasive style

“This is why we do it this way”: this sentence sums up the persuasive style, where you still make the decisions, but explain and seek buy-in, a stance that is useful as long as the person is making progress on the task and needs to believe in your explanations in order to invest themselves.

The participative style

With someone who is still a beginner, this style would leave them to search alone for reference points they do not have: the participative style is better suited to someone who already masters the task, but hesitates to commit, a person you involve in the decision by listening and supporting more than you direct.

The delegative style

What is left to do when a person fully masters their task and is invested in it? Delegate it to them: you then entrust them with the decision and the execution, and remain available without intervening unless you are asked.

Entrusted too early to a beginner, it exposes them to decisions they do not yet have the means to make on their own.

Which management style should you choose?

None of the four styles is good in itself. The situational model rests on this principle: the style adopted depends on the person's level of competence and commitment on the given task.

Give a new file to someone who has just arrived, and the directive style is essential; give them the same file six months later, once they are autonomous, and it becomes counter-productive: a good manager changes stance according to the person and the task.

Managing a team already combines several registers, communication and change management in particular: the style you adopt is a concrete part of it.

How can you find out your management style and develop it?

Finding out your management style starts with taking a moment to step back from your practices: what do you decide alone, what do you share? Direct feedback from your team completes this assessment, often better than a self-evaluation, because what you think you delegate is not always perceived as such.

If you are already in a management role, the Managing with kindness and high standards training course, from the Executive Education Centre at Excelia Business School, helps you step back from your style and strengthen your stance as a manager.

Your style also adjusts to the make-up of your team: managing people from different generations means adapting your stance to the levers of engagement specific to each. The training course dedicated to intergenerational management explores this particular case in greater depth.

You can also talk to an Executive Education Centre adviser, to pinpoint the gap between your current practice and the style you are aiming for.

Can team management be learned?

Yes. At Excelia Business School, these skills are developed in management and leadership courses, then put into practice through work-study, internships and supervised projects.

Several programmes include it in their pathway:

• a management and leadership course in the common core of several Master of Science (MSc) programmes in the Management domain, from the first year
• a management-oriented pathway in the fourth year of the Master in Management (Programme Grande École), among other possible pathways
• a pathway that trains students involved in a student society specifically in project and team management

Management style and skills: what is the link?

A management style is never deployed on its own: it draws on concrete skills, differently depending on the stance adopted.

• communication
• change management
• team management
• an understanding of social responsibility issues

These skills are not specific to any one style: they are the skills expected of a manager, whichever style they then favour.

Discover the Master of Science (MSc) programmes in the Management domain

Frequently asked questions

What are the main management styles?

The situational management model distinguishes four styles: directive, where the manager supervises closely; persuasive, where they explain in order to convince; participative, where they involve the team in the decision; and delegative, where they entrust the decision and the execution while remaining available. These styles are distinct from management techniques, the practical tools of the job such as setting objectives or conducting an interview.

What is the best management style?

No style is better in absolute terms. On the contrary, the situational model shows that the style to adopt depends on each person's level of competence and commitment on a given task, a level that changes over time.

What is situational management?

Situational management is a model in which you adapt your style, directive, persuasive, participative or delegative, to the person's level of autonomy on the task concerned.

How can you find out your management style?

Finding out your management style involves stepping back from your own practices and getting direct feedback from your team. Short training courses help to deepen this reflection, such as those at the Executive Education Centre at Excelia Business School.

Can you change your management style?

Yes: the same manager changes style depending on the person and the task, and adjusts it when working with teams of different generations, whose levers of engagement differ.