Wednesday, February 14, 2007

A "Chatty" Management Style

Commenting on "As Women Move up the Corporate Latter, Will Decision Making Change"

A management style that depends on feedback and consensus sounds like an effective way to get the job done. A male professor of mine, who once worked for a manufacturing company, practiced this style of management. He said he spent very little time in his office, and instead worked on communicating with his workers. He believed that by developing these relationships he was able to obtain quicker and more useful information, which in the end allowed him to do his job much better. Although he claimed he was an effective and efficient manager, employees believed he wasn’t getting any work done. Because he was always talking and walking around, he too was perceived as “too chatty” and nosey. Being that he was a male, I found this quite interesting. Most of the time qualities such as these are attached to women. Apparently, in order to be perceived as working, women (and even men!) must stay cooped up in their offices all day long.

No comments: