The primary goal of all people managers is to get the best out of your team.
You need to know how to motivate and encourage, as well as how to create the right environment for people to thrive and perform tasks willingly, efficiently and effectively.
All managers have similar responsibilities, but every manager differs in how they approach them.
The way you approach your role and the situations you’re faced with make up your management style. This style influences every interaction you have with your team, from informal chats and meetings to the way you carry out tasks and the emails you send.
By having a clear understanding of your style it’s easier to do your job more effectively and manage your team more efficiently. After all, teams are made up of a mix of people with different personalities, communication styles and behaviours, and each individual has different preferences when it comes to management. Once you’re clear on how you work, you can intentionally tailor your approach to best support your team.
The benefits of understanding your management style
There is plenty of evidence showing the importance of understanding your management style and how it has a direct impact on the bottom line, but there are a few key benefits of getting clear that help you evolve as a manager.
1. It helps you to adapt and flex
As a manager, you need to be able to adapt to situations and flex to your environment. Your team is made up of a variety of different people who all require different management styles; which can be even further affected by each project, time of year, and a range of other factors.
For example, in your team, some people may prefer collaborating and regular check-ins, whilst others work best when left to their own devices. Understanding how you operate can help you recognise when to adjust your style to better suit each individual and situation.
2. It highlights your blind spots
Everybody has strengths and weaknesses, and managers are no exception. Nobody is perfect and we all have weaknesses or blind spots when it comes to our own shortcomings.
However, getting a deeper understanding of both your strengths and weaknesses enables you to focus your development, improve in certain areas and identify opportunities when it would be more effective for you to utilise the strengths of your team.
3. It helps you engage your team
Engagement is a word used a lot in today’s world of work. The impact of disengaged employees is clear and can have a hugely negative impact on performance levels as well as staff turnover.
Your management style has a direct impact on how engaged your employees are. We have all heard the phrase “people don’t leave jobs, they leave managers”, and although this isn’t always the case it does unfortunately ring true in many cases. If you understand how to flex your style to suit each individual, they’re much more likely to feel comfortable coming to you with questions, concerns, suggestions, or ideas, and engagement will rise.
How do you understand your management style?
When it comes to management styles, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Whilst all effective managers share common traits, it’s normal to tailor your particular management style to your communication preferences and personality type. You may already have a management style and not be aware of it, so here’s a few places to start to help you get clear on your approach.
1. Develop your self awareness
The best place to start with discovering your management style is to develop your self awareness. By knowing your values, personality, needs, habits and emotions, and how they affect your actions and the actions of others, you have a clear foundation of the type of manager you are – or aspire to be.
2. Ask for feedback
To understand your management style, you need to understand how it’s received by others and the impact you have. Asking those around you for feedback on your management gives you a deeper insight, and it will help you discover any blind spots. Whether you ask your team, a mentor or colleague, it can help to get a different perspective for you to truly understand your management style.
3. Use tools like Insights Discovery
Insights Discovery is a tool I use with many of my own clients, although there are similar methodologies available. Insights is a really simple way of understanding your style, strengths and the way you work with others. It uses a framework based on 4 colour energies: fiery red, sunshine yellow, earth green and cool blue. Each colour represents different management styles and traits which determines how and why people behave the way they do.
Become an Evolved Manager
In the Evolved Manager Free Resource hub there’s a range of webinars and articles to help you understand your management style, develop your skills as a people manager and better support your team so they can reach their potential and perform to their best.
Sign up to the Evolved Manager Free Resources Hub here.
You can also join The Evolved Manager Community here – my free group for People Managers and HR to connect, share their values, experiences and support each other’s development.
If you would like to know more about Insights training for you and your team, drop me an email on hr@pennyjoneshr.com
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