Managing a team is a complex exercise influenced by several factors, such as the nature of the project, team dynamics, the objectives to be achieved, and individual skills. Managers often need to juggle different approaches to find the right balance between efficiency and engagement. Each management style has its own characteristics and can significantly impact motivation, performance, and company culture. In this article, we will explore ten of the most commonly used management styles, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. Understanding these different styles allows managers to choose the most appropriate approach for their team, depending on the situations encountered, and to create a work environment conducive to collaboration, innovation, and performance.

1. Democratic (or Participative) Management

The manager consults their employees before making decisions, encouraging active participation. This strengthens engagement and stimulates innovation but can slow down decision-making and lead to conflicts if consensus is hard to achieve.
Advantages: Strong involvement, creativity, better communication.
Disadvantages: Slow decision-making, potential conflicts.

2. Laissez-faire (or Liberal) Management

The manager gives employees a great deal of autonomy, allowing them to manage their own work. This style fosters creativity and autonomy but can lead to a lack of direction and productivity if employees are not sufficiently motivated.
Advantages: Autonomy, empowerment, relaxed environment.
Disadvantages: Lack of direction, decreased productivity.

3. Transactional Management

This style is based on a system of rewards and sanctions depending on performance. It is effective in achieving short-term goals but leaves little room for creativity and can demotivate employees in the long run.
Advantages: Clear structure, increased productivity.
Disadvantages: Lack of innovation, motivation limited by rewards.

4. Transformational Management

The manager inspires and motivates employees by sharing a long-term vision. This enhances motivation and innovation but requires a high emotional investment from the manager, which can be exhausting.
Advantages: Strong motivation, innovation, positive culture.
Disadvantages: Demanding, sometimes unclear vision.

5. Coaching Management

The manager acts as a coach, helping employees develop professionally. This style improves skills and boosts confidence but takes time and requires regular follow-up.
Advantages: Skills development, increased confidence.
Disadvantages: Time-consuming, unsuitable for quick results.

6. Situational Management

The manager adjusts their style based on the situation and the needs of the team. This allows for responding to specific needs but can create confusion if the style changes too often.
Advantages: Great flexibility, adaptation to needs.
Disadvantages: Complex to manage, possible confusion.

7. Delegative Management

The manager delegates tasks and responsibilities to employees while providing support. This fosters autonomy but can lead to problems if employees are not prepared to handle their responsibilities.
Advantages: Empowerment, frees up time for the manager.
Disadvantages: Potential errors, lack of coordination.

8. Servant Leadership

The manager focuses on the well-being and development of their team. This creates a positive work environment but can be perceived as a lack of leadership in critical situations.
Advantages: Trust and engagement, positive culture.
Disadvantages: Weak leadership in crises, time-consuming.

9. Performance-Oriented Management

The manager sets clear objectives and regularly measures results. This style encourages productivity but can put excessive pressure on employees and limit creativity.
Advantages: High productivity, clear goals.
Disadvantages: Excessive pressure, unhealthy competition.

10. Micromanagement

The manager closely monitors employees’ work, giving them little autonomy. While this ensures high-quality output in some situations, it demotivates employees and can lead to high turnover.
Advantages: Quality control, useful for inexperienced employees.
Disadvantages: Demotivation, stress, manager overload.

Conclusion

In an Agile environment, the role of management differs significantly from traditional practices. The Scrum Master, for example, perfectly embodies the role of a servant leader, focused on supporting the team. This management style emphasizes the well-being of team members, their personal development, and the removal of obstacles so that they can focus on creating value. Servant leadership is therefore at the heart of Agile methodologies.

However, around this team, particularly at the organizational level and in interactions with stakeholders, other leadership styles can also play a role in fostering agility. Participative management and coaching management complement this approach by promoting autonomy, engagement, and skills development within teams. These styles value collective decision-making, self-organization, and continuous improvement, which are key principles in Agile and Scrum.

Situational management can also be useful in an Agile context, especially when teams need to adapt quickly to complex or changing situations. Depending on the team’s maturity, the manager or Scrum Master can adjust their approach to support members appropriately, providing more structure to less experienced teams while offering more autonomy to mature, self-organized ones.

Alignment with Agility

Thus, in an Agile framework, servant leadership is naturally predominant through the role of the Scrum Master. However, to properly guide and support teams, styles such as participative management, coaching management, and occasionally situational management can be deployed to create an environment conducive to innovation, collaboration, and project success. These leadership approaches promote adaptability, empowerment, and skill development, which are essential pillars for the success of Agile teams.

In conclusion, servant leadership remains at the center, but other styles can be used contextually to strengthen the agility of the organization and the work environment.