Most Effective Management Styles for Large Teams

Is your team growing larger by the day? Are you hiring more people than you had expected thanks to the massive growth of your business? Is your company expanding and bringing in new talent? This is great news! But now, as you face the success of your growing business, you have to manage a larger team.

Whether you've been in this position before or this is your first time, managing a large team can be daunting. Large teams come with their own unique and diverse challenges as you are now dealing with more personalities and more potential disagreements and idiosyncrasies. And though there are lots of proven management styles, not all of them are tailored for large teams.

But fear not! We devised a list of the most effective styles you can use to manage a large, growing team successfully.

What Is Management Style?

Before settling on what management style will best suit your large team, you should understand what this term means. There are different textbook explanations, but we settled on the one that can be translated across different organizations.

Management style deals with the relationship a manager should have with their team. It also defines a manager's planning and organizational ethic, delegation tactics, as well as organizational and communication skills. A good manager must use a management style that works for them and their team.

Transactional Management

As the name suggests, this style of management is incentive-based. It is founded on the theory that you can motivate team members by attaching preset rewards to certain, known goals.

Pros

• Increased motivation and productivity within teams.
• Reduced need for micromanagement.
• Greater performance as individuals or teams work together to hit targets.

Cons

• Can lead to unhealthy competition between team members.
• It can be expensive to maintain if the reward is not budgeted well.
• Effective only for short periods, e.g., quarterly or bi-monthly.

Charismatic Management

This style of management is also called a visionary or inspirational type of management. Your main role in this style is to convey the company's goals, objectives, and vision to your team and trust them to carry it through. Your team will follow through on their goals and targets by following your charismatic leadership.

Pros

• It helps a team remain focused and united in goal setting and achievement.
• It helps create unity in a large team that is divided or has problems agreeing.
• Reduces the need for micromanagement.

Cons

• You have to have an outgoing nature. This management style will not work if you are reserved.
• If you have a team that is not professional or requires close supervision, this style will also not work.

Transformational Management

In transformational management, you lead your team by pushing them out of their comfort zone and raising your expectations. The main focus is on growth, and you will work alongside your team to consistently keep them on their toes.

Pros

• You encourage both creativity and staff input.
• Creates healthy competition among team members.

Cons

• It could lead to burnout and demotivation, especially if the bar is raised too high.
• Team members could find themselves spread too thin. This can lead to a strained work environment.

Delegative Management

In this style of management, and as the title suggests, your job is to delegate duties and assignments to your team. Your team has the independence to carry out the tasks assigned to them within a stipulated time frame to meet goals. This management style requires you to check in with your team frequently and review their success and give feedback.

Pros

• It gives your team members a sense of ownership over their work.
• You encourage team members to be creative and proactive problem solvers.
• Increase in job satisfaction thanks to job autonomy.

Cons

• You may find yourself micromanaging.
• If you delegate to a team whose leader is weak, work may suffer, leading to poor output.
• It can create resentment as some team members may feel that you are not doing enough to assist them.

Pace-setting Management

You set the work pace, and your team follows. This kind of management style derives its success from setting the bar high and watching as your team follows you to reach it. For your team to reach the bar that you set, always ensure that they stay motivated by creating short term goals with a reward.

Pros

• With the right reward, your team can stay motivated for long periods of time.
• Works great when you can break down a huge goal into different milestones.
• Challenges your team to get out of their comfort zones.

Cons

• A very high bar can work against you as it can set your team up for failure.
• Can create resentment, especially if you have highly competitive team members who keep hitting their targets, while the rest do not.

Conclusion

You can manage a large team effectively if you use any one or a combination of these management styles. While the success that you are looking for is largely based on the management style that you use, your commitment to achieving higher levels with your team is equally as important. Never show your team that you want to give up, even when times get tough. If they see that you are committed to them, they will commit to you.