Management styles: meet the coach

Your project management course probably did not describe the different managerial styles which can be adopted by the project manager. This article therefore focuses on one of these styles - the coaching style.

James has managed an independent poetry journal for the past thirty-odd years. The market for poetry is small, so his business never makes a massive profit, but he is happy enough to see it ticking over.

As James is based in a university town, he takes a steady stream of fresh graduates to fill internships and basic administrative posts. Most move on to bigger publishing companies within the first twelve months, and he has only three long-term staff members.

James is used to training up new editors, and he takes pride in his ability to turn all of his new graduates into prime candidates for editorial positions. He even keeps in contact with some of his old staff, watching them rise through the ranks to manage publishing companies and take control of their own magazines.

However, James does remember a couple of graduates who resented his teacher-like style.

“They wanted to be left to their own devices.” He shrugs. “They didn’t understand that there’s simply so much to learn. They thought they could just walk out of the classroom and learn on the hoof.”

Sue, his longest-standing member of staff, smiles and reminds him that this was how he learnt, working as an assistant at a large printing-press. She recalls how James became so focused on trying to train resistant graduates that he abandoned his ordinary duties and let the business slide.

“We’re a fairly resilient company,” she says. “Most of our client base have been with us since the beginning. Still, all that effort into those few graduates, and they all left early anyway.”

James’ coaching management style makes his company excellent training ground for new editors, but does not enable him to develop a long-term, cohesive team beyond his core three members of staff. While his business is stable, he has been unable to expand, because as soon as staff are suitably-trained, they move on.