Directive and Democratic Management - Essay Example

In the directive management style, all the decisions regarding the project or organization are made by the manager the directives are communicated to the employees. The employees are further expected to carry out the directives under close and strict supervision. The subordinates should not question the directives and should ensure that each instruction applies to the letter. In such management, innovation, and creativity from the employees are not put into practice since the manager does not take into consideration the views of the employees. There are all sorts of control measures from the management such as punishments, task orientation, rewards, and arbitrary rules. The management assumes that the manager knows it all and is sure of what is best for the organization.

The democratic management style entails a structured and cooperative system that has space for employees to make decisions. Much focus is directed to group relations and the sensitivity of the employees in the organization. The manager who uses such type of style in his or her leadership requires professional competence. The employees take responsibility for their actions, and the leader must not be there to supervise like in the authoritarian leadership style. The subordinates share ideas with the manager and the entire team concerning activities that the project has. The leaders who use this type of leadership style are confident, warm and friendly and encourage the employees to participate and grow professionally. Democratic leadership applies in working environments where people have high levels of skills and knowledge (Ciccarelli & White, 2015, pg. 22).

Regardless of the efforts that a manager may apply to see that his or her style of management is successful, other internal factors come into play. The employees’ nature at the organizations determines so much how they will approach the directives of activities they are assigned. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the motivational factor in a person, particularly the employee in this case, determines how effective a management style will be. One important thing to note is that democratic management tends to raise the morale of the employees as opposed to directive management. This is because, in democratic management, the employee has space to give their opinions, unlike in directive where the manager says it all. Instead of motivating the employees, the manager instills fear in them.

The five levels of the hierarchy of needs and their status for the employees have major roles to play in the success of a manager regardless of the management style that he or she uses. These levels include psychological needs, security needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualizing needs. The self-actualizing needs play the largest part in determining the morale of an employee. Self-actualizing employees are self-aware and concerned with personal growth. This can be the biggest challenge for a manager who practices directive management. Democratic management gives little space to such people hence possibilities of cooperation in the organization (Ciccarelli & White, 2015, pg.48).

Personal traits and cultural backgrounds of the employees will always have an impact on the type of management style that is practiced in an organization. The effectiveness of both the directive and democratic management styles depends on how the employees behave, their level of maturity, how they were socialized, and to what extent they are open. Openness and freedom do not apply in directive management but in democratic management, there is some level of freedom and openness since the employees are given time to air their views. In addition, the type of management style that is used in an organization depends on what project is at hand. Some projects are well-framed, and the employees just need to act without holding discussions.