The Gift of Feedback: How to Evaluate Your Management Style to Best Support Your Team
It’s crucial to help each member of your team feel confident. To achieve that goal, tailor your management style to your team. This allows you to engage with team members and foster meaningful relationships with them. On top of that, your team will be able to help your company rise above the competition.
The Significant Impact of Effective Management
Those who manage effectively create positive work environments. Here, workers want to give their all. Thus, they listen to what their managers have to say and respond accordingly. And these employees commit the time, energy, and resources required to accomplish business goals — and feel great when they do.
An effective manager understands that small improvements add up to big results, too. They want workers to feel and perform their best, every day. Thus, the manager prioritizes their employees’ health and well-being. At the same time, they communicate and collaborate with workers and learn from them. This helps the manager get the most out of their workforce. It also instills confidence in the manager, to the point where workers want to do everything they can to support him or her.
The Evolving Role of Managers in a Dynamic Work Environment
Long gone are the days of the manager who would “micromanage” workers or do very little to support them. Today’s top managers have a deep understanding of their workers as human beings. They serve and guide their teams and engage with employees to help them figure out the best ways to overcome challenges.
Modern managers work both on-site with employees and assist workers in remote locations around the world. They understand what goes into working at a brick-and-mortar location and the remote work experience. Yet no matter where an employee works, these managers offer support. They want their workers to thrive. And they are willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that their employees get the support that they need, exactly when they need it.
What Are the Types of Management Styles?
There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all management style. If you know the different management style options, you can pick one that suits both you and your team.
Now, let’s examine eight of the most common management styles.
Visionary
A visionary manager focuses on finding ways to motivate and inspire employees. This manager prioritizes educating team members over bottom-line results. He or she may even lead employees to think outside the box to come up with creative solutions to problems.
Democratic
Democratic is often viewed as a “participative” management style. A democratic manager engages with team members and works with them to make collaborative decisions. This manager prioritizes the career development and well-being of team members as well.
Transformational
It is common to see a transformational-style manager as part of a creative team. This manager promotes a culture based on problem-solving, adaptability, and innovation.
Coaching
When a manager focuses on helping team members develop as individuals, he or she serves as their coach. A coaching management style is also beneficial for a manager who wants to show every employee how he or she contributes to their team’s success.
Autocratic
If you embrace an autocratic management style, you’re all about the decision-making process. An autocratic manager makes most decisions on their own. In addition, this manager is likely to delegate work to team members who are best suited for it.
Servant
When you are a servant to your employees, you provide them with a strong support system. A servant manager is available to discuss business matters with team members. By keeping the lines of communication open, this manager helps team members learn, grow, and build their skills and expertise.
Laissez-faire
A laissez-faire management style involves giving employees the autonomy to lead the way. If you’re a laissez-faire manager, you’re likely to let your workers make their own decisions and handle their tasks however they choose. Meanwhile, if workers need help, you’ll still be available to assist them.
Transactional
With a transactional management style, you’ll utilize rewards and punishments to motivate your team. If an employee does well, you may give them a bonus or some other reward. On the other hand, if a worker makes a mistake, you may require this individual to take corrective actions to prevent the same issue from coming up once again.
Understanding Your Management Style
If you are trying to figure out the best way to manage your team, complete a management style assessment. First, think about the management styles you’ve liked and disliked from your past superiors. Next, look at your qualities and consider what makes you the manager you are today. Finally, identify the skills that you believe make a manager great. Doing these things will help you find a management style that complements both you and your team.
Recognizing Your Default Approach
Asking for feedback is ideal if you want to learn about your default approach to management. For instance, you can conduct an employee survey to get insights into how your workers feel about your management style. The survey can give you details about your strengths and weaknesses as a manager. And it can help you fine-tune your management approach.
Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses in Your Current Management Style
Along with surveying your employees, perform a self-assessment. Consider how you feel about your ability to engage with your team and get employees to work as expected. This can help you figure out areas where you do well and areas where you can improve.
Maintaining a Growth Mindset
A growth mindset is one of the top soft skills that today’s employees want. If you are willing to learn and grow as a manager, you’re in an excellent spot. You can learn from your workers and look for ways to manage them effectively. Plus, you’ll be able to tailor your management style to accommodate your team, no matter how it changes over time.
Types of Feedback in the Workplace
Research indicates that most employees want feedback. If you know the different types of workplace feedback, you can give your workers tips, recommendations, and insights that they can use to succeed.
Formal vs. Informal Feedback
If feedback is formal, it is planned and scheduled. For example, you can schedule an employee performance review. When the meeting takes place, you give your formal feedback.
Comparatively, informal feedback comes without notice and is unprompted. As an example, you may see a worker make a mistake as he or she is completing a report. If you discuss the mistake with the worker on the spot, you’re giving him or her informal feedback.
Delivering both formal and informal feedback can be beneficial. It is typically best to deliver formal feedback to help a worker assess their performance and find ways to grow and improve. Informal feedback is ideal to open the lines of communication with employees and show them that you are there to support them on a day-to-day basis.
The Importance of Regular Performance Reviews
Schedule performance reviews at different points during the year. These reviews allow you to discuss a worker’s performance and if this individual is on track with achieving various goals. They also enable you to get feedback from an employee. Thus, regular performance reviews can benefit you and your workers.
Real-time Feedback
When you deliver real-time feedback, you help a worker improve right away. To provide this type of feedback, meet with an employee one-on-one. Then, you can share your feedback and let the worker respond. Ideally, the feedback will help the worker improve immediately. If it does not, you can continue to look for ways to help the employee.
Crafting Constructive Feedback
Constructive feedback is designed to achieve a positive outcome. If you craft this type of feedback, consider your employee. You can put together feedback that explains what you want the worker to accomplish. Also, you can detail the steps required to achieve your desired outcome.
Tools and Technologies for Feedback
CultureMonkey, 15five, and other tools and technologies are available to capture, deliver, and evaluate employee feedback. Find tools and technologies that work well with those that your business already uses. This enables you to integrate feedback tools and technologies into your daily workflows.
Assessing the Impact of Your Management Style on Team Dynamics
Your business’ productivity says plenty about your management style and its impact on team dynamics. If team members are happy with their work and the support that they receive, they will perform to the best of their ability. Conversely, if workers feel unsupported, they will struggle. The result: you may have to revamp your management style so you can help your workers moving forward.
Monitoring Team Satisfaction and Engagement
Host one-on-one and team meetings with employees regularly. These meetings allow you to check the pulse of your workforce and make sure that team members feel satisfied and engaged in their activities. Furthermore, conduct employee surveys, as these encourage workers to give you feedback about your management style and its effectiveness.
Analyzing Turnover Rates and Employee Retention
If your business has concerns about your turnover rates and employee retention, you’re not alone. Track your turnover levels to find out how often workers leave your company. Look online to see what employees are saying about your company. If you find that past employees complain about a particular issue, address the problem before it escalates.
Identifying Areas for Improvement Based on Team Performance Metrics
Regular data analysis is paramount. If you track your team’s performance on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis, you can gather a wide range of data. You can also look for patterns and trends within your dataset. This helps you identify areas for improvement.
Contact PrideStaff’s Recruiters Today!
PrideStaff is a staffing agency that understands the value of feedback. If you want to evaluate your talent recruitment efforts and find ways to improve them, we’re here to help you out. To get started, get in touch with us.
