Best Management Styles in Retail

Retail management has different styles: coaching, team oriented, democratic and pacesetting. Different styles will affect your retail sales too, so what are the best styles for retail? Generally those that encourage, and not discourage.

Best Management Styles in RetailA manager who uses the coaching style in retail sales focuses on developing their staff. This manager is a hands on manager who wants to help improve performance and work on goals. If the staff member is one who shows initiative and wants to be helped, this management style works well. However, this style can also be perceived as “micromanaging.” Done wrong, or used with the wrong employees, it can undermine self-confidence and motivation. Once that happens there goes your retail sales.

A management style that uses a team oriented approach is looking for harmony among staff and connection to people as a group. It emphasizes harmony and increasing morale, good communication and trust. This is a good thing, especially the communication and working together. It can become problematic when bad behavior goes uncorrected in the name of group harmony. Not correcting bad behavior will undermine group harmony when the others perceive that it’s ok to misbehave, or mediocre performance is ok. Why work hard if you don’t have to? If your team isn’t working hard your retail sales will suffer!

The democratic management style draws out and uses the knowledge and skills of each member of the group. This creates a commitment from the entire group and a sense of team. This style works best when the project has an unclear vision and needs the input of the entire group to find direction and stick to the path. It doesn’t work well if there is a crisis and a clear leader is needed.

A leader who is a pacesetter is an individual with high standards and expects the same from the group. They want it better and faster, and completed before “on time”. Pacesetting is not a good style to use constantly as it tends to make people feel they can’t measure up.

As a retail manager you need to find the management style that you are comfortable with, but also that works for your group.

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