Types of Managers

Most of us have encountered the various types of managers in an organization or otherwise, in many walks of our lives. Managers are mostly typecast according to the different types of management styles, personality, function and involvement. The role of a manager, on a general note, is to get things done by others by making optimum use of available resources, exercising authority over and taking responsibility for all such resources that are allocated to be under his/her supervision. In short, to perform all the functions of management! All said and done, let's take a look at the various types of managers and their unique characteristics based upon their roles, functions, personalities and typecast quirks!

Types of Managers in a Company

Typically, based upon organizational functions, you will find the following manager types in a standard commercial organization.

• Purchase Manager who is responsible for procuring raw materials in a manufacturing company.
• Production Manager who is responsible for managing the manufacturing process.
• IT Manager who is responsible for supervising all computing and IT communication related issues.
• Marketing Manager who is responsible for supervising the promotion and advertising of the company's products/services.
• Sales Manager who looks after the sales department and sets targets for sales personnel and appraises their performance on the basis of the extent of target achievement.
• Finance Manager who is responsible for the financial management of the organization.
• Human Resources Manager who is responsible for the HR department and oversees all human resource management functions like recruitment, payroll, attendance, employee exit, etc. besides displaying all basic management skills.
• Product Development Manager who is authorized with the management of the technical division of new product design and product innovation.

Other than these, a standard company may have a general manager and an operational manager, depending upon the type and scale of its operations. Software development and testing companies also have two types of project managers - functional project managers who are deeply involved with every technical aspect of the project and activity or resource managers who manage the operational and people part of the project, leaving the technical aspects to his subordinate IT professionals. In most companies these days, we can see another school of managers called case managers. These case managers are chiefly vested with the responsibility of attending to employees' medical well-being There are, broadly, two types of case managers - medical case managers who are responsible for getting medical aid for emergency medical contingencies of he employees and liaison case managers who act as the mediator between the medical professionals and the employer organization.

Types of Managers Based Upon Management Styles

There can be the following types of managers based upon the four most prominent types of management styles. Each subheading underlines different aspect of management styles and techniques.

• The Authoritarian Manager is one who is the sole decision maker for his management unit and prefers his subordinates to perform their tasks exactly as outlined by him. In a way, this type of manager makes work easier for the employee as the latter knows exactly what is expected of him/her and the way in which the task is to be performed. The thinking part is left to the boss while the doing part lies with the subordinate. This type of manager displays management skills of strong leadership and direction but may lack the knack for delegation.
• The Democratic Manager is that person who believes in majority consensus and takes any decision only after consulting his/her subordinates. This type of manager displays participative management style by allowing his subordinates' participation in the decision-making process, giving them a sense of belonging and deeper involvement in the organizational fabric.
• The Paternalistic manager is the one who acts like a parent figure to his subordinates and makes sure to regularly bond with his subordinates to listen to their professional issues and lend a helping hand to ease their operational difficulties. A paternalistic manager encourages his subordinates to work as a family and be supportive of the collective effort for the bigger organizational well-being.
• The Laissez Faire Manager communicates the tasks to be performed by his subordinates and sets targets and deadlines for the completion of such tasks. Thereafter he leaves the method to the subordinates. As long as the employees complete the task in line with the organizational standards and within the specific deadline, it doesn't matter what methods are employed by them to do so.

Types of Managers Based Upon Idiosyncratic Behavior

I don't think I need to elaborate on the following types of managers. One look at the type captions and you'll get what kind of manager I'm hinting at and how well they fare on a management skills list!

• Dump-and-Leave Manager - They show up only when a situation arises, make hasty decisions and suggest whirlwind solutions, ruffle everyone's feathers and then disappear as quickly as they show up!
• Absentee Manager - They are the exact opposite of micromanaging bosses who constantly breathe down your neck; all the freedom's good but sometimes, stability, which results from supervision, goes for a toss!
• The Credit Snatcher - You do all the hard work, sweat over your assignment like a pig but Boss-man swoops in just in time to take all the credit!
• The Show Off Manager - It's good if the boss likes to show off his team to other departments as examples of good hiring decisions. What if he insists on showing off his bossiness to others by throwing his weight upon the team??
• The Please-All Manager - Upside: diplomatic; Downside: lacks a backbone!
• Pitch-Fork Manager - The Devil incarnate, constantly on your case!
• The One-Stop Problem Solver - He's the person to go to for issues ranging from compensation grievances to technical glitches as he is sure to offer you a practical solution. Perhaps he IS that good at everything or, maybe, he is on excellent terms with all relevant verticals so that he can put a word in for you if the need arises!
• The Pontificator/Situational Innovator - The lopsided genius!
• The Passive Manager - He runs the show from backstage!
• The Proactive Manager - He needs to be involved in and updated about each and every task assigned to the team. In fact, this boss likes nothing more than rolling up his sleeves and working things out in the field with his team in tow!

After going through the above types of managers, I'm sure you must have been able to identify which category our own boss belongs to. On the other hand, if YOU are the boss, you may have identified by now where you stand vis-à-vis your management style and personality. If you have just been promoted to a managerial position, you may do well to do some research on leadership skills for managers and management skills for new managers. One cannot say for sure which type of manager is THE IDEAL - different operations and different people require different management styles for optimization of organizational goals. All different types of managers have their own brownie points, provided the right type supervises the right people and right operations.