Meaning & use
laissez faire management
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Meanings
phraseuncountablebusinessformal
A style of managing in which leaders give workers freedom to make their own decisions.
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun phrase; do not say 'a laissez faire management' or add a plural -s.
Patterns
- laissez faire management
- adopt laissez faire management
- a laissez faire management style
The startup is known for laissez faire management, so teams set their own schedules.
Under laissez faire management, employees decide how to reach the goals.
Critics say laissez faire management works only with very experienced staff.
phraseuncountablebusinessformal
A way of running an organization that avoids strict control or detailed rules.
Grammar: Often followed by 'of' plus the organization: 'laissez faire management of the company'.
Patterns
- laissez faire management of something
- a period of laissez faire management
Her laissez faire management of the department led to some confusion at first.
The company returned to laissez faire management after the new boss left.
Common combinations
- a laissez faire management style
- He prefers a laissez faire management style with few meetings.
- adopt laissez faire management
- The firm adopted laissez faire management to encourage creativity.
- laissez faire management approach
- Their laissez faire management approach gives interns real responsibility.
- laissez faire management of something
- Laissez faire management of the project suited the senior engineers.
- a laissez faire attitude
- A laissez faire attitude to deadlines can cause problems.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hands-off management
- A more everyday term with the same idea; it is less formal than 'laissez faire management'.
- delegative management
- A technical term that stresses giving tasks to others; it does not necessarily mean avoiding all rules.
Opposites
Word family
- laissez faire adjective
- Describing a policy of letting things take their own course, as in 'a laissez faire economy'.
- laissez faire noun
- The practice of allowing people to act without interference.
Commonly confused: laissez faire management or lazy management? laissez faire management or micro-management?
laissez faire management vs lazy management
'Lazy management' is negative and means managers avoid work; 'laissez faire management' is a deliberate, often respected style.
laissez faire management vs micro-management
This is the opposite: closely controlling every detail of workers' tasks.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'laissez faire management' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase is uncountable, so it takes no article or plural: 'uses laissez faire management'. Options 2 and 3 wrongly add 'a' or a plural, and option 4 omits the article needed before 'style'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “laissez faire management”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.