Management styles: meet the affiliative manager

Andrew invites me into his office to discuss his 15 years of successful team management over coffee and biscuits. He taps the tin proudly as we sit down. “Made by our baking club on a Monday evening,” he says. “We also have a book club on Thursdays, and all of us go out to the cinema or the bowling alley on Friday nights, except when there’s a company dinner.”

Andrew is renowned for his emphasis on team-building, the tray of hot drinks that he brings around mid-afternoon and the office goldfish that he keeps on his windowsill. He is loved by his staff, and regarded somewhat indulgently by his office superiors. Andrew is the first to admit that when the Christmas demand hits and the office environment becomes intense, he is the first to suggest a break and a slice of cake, rather than the increased pace of work expected by his peers.

This style of management, while winning Andrew many friends and supportive, motivated staff members, also means that his team consistently fall behind targets, that he spends more time discussing skills than actually developing them, and that his department is left to stagnate.

When a new development project was introduced several months ago, perfectly suited to Andrew’s background as a maths tutor, everybody was sympathetic but nobody was surprised to discover that his team had been passed over yet again.

Andrew shrugs as he stirs sugar into his coffee. He nods towards the office where his team works. “They’re happy with their work, and that’s what is important.”

Andrew’s affiliative management style may sound like a dream come true to many staff, but while it is effective for building team bonds and staff trust, in the long term it can lead to inertia. Andrew’s unwillingness to play ‘the boss’ means that his staff have no direction and no motivation to push forwards.