A directive or authoritarian management style implies unquestioning obedience. With this style, leaders prefer to give orders to subordinates and are not inclined to any dialogues with them.
What is directive style?
Managers who prefer a directive management style completely control the work of employees, chastise them for mistakes in their work, complementing this with a hidden or explicit threat and aggression. The most common method of motivation is presenting negative consequences to subordinates from mistakes that they can make in case of non-observance of orders.
Benefits of the directive style
For some tasks, the directive style can be quite effective. In crisis situations, it is virtually impossible to do without it. A good manager can quickly eliminate the causes of the crisis and restore the former quality indicators using authoritarian methods.
The use of a directive style can be useful when solving unambiguous and straightforward tasks, when bickering with management can only lead to a decrease in efficiency and an increase in the duration of tasks.
Authoritarian management can come in handy when dealing with non-executive workers when other methods don't work. In addition, the effectiveness of this style increases in situations where deviation from the tasks set by the leadership threatens serious problems.
Effective use of directive style
In order to effectively take full advantage of the directive style, you should clearly know and understand all the responsibilities of subordinates, know their job descriptions and force employees to follow these instructions unquestioningly.
The orders given by the manager must be clear, thoughtful and accurate. Subordinates must clearly understand the tasks assigned to them.
Only a confident boss can use the authoritarian steel of leadership. He should take full responsibility for the orders given to himself. Therefore, he must convey them to his subordinates in all possible ways.
The manager must establish clear criteria for assessing the effectiveness of the work performed by subordinates, otherwise the assigned tasks may be performed inaccurately.
The manager should control the work of employees, be aware of everything that is happening around him. This can be achieved by completely immersing yourself in the work process, as well as being in constant contact with the available information, which is necessary for a qualitative assessment of the work done by each subordinate.
In addition, the manager should insist on strict adherence to the rules in force. They should be common to everyone. Inappropriate behavior must be immediately crossed and punished within the limits established by the rules.
