What it’s Like to be a Manager

A manager’s job is diverse and complex and requires a range of skills. Although some management theorists propose a long list of skills, the necessary skills for planning, organizing leading and controlling can be summarized in three categories that are especially important: conceptual, human and technical skills.

Conceptual skill is the cognitive ability to see the organization as a whole and relationship among its parts. Conceptual skill involves the manager`s thinking and planning abilities. It involves knowing where one`s department fits into the total organization into the industry and the community. Conceptual skills are needed by all managers, but are especially important for managers at the top. They must perceive significant elements in a situation and broad, conceptual patterns. For example, Microsoft Corporation, the giant software company, reflects the conceptual skills of its founder and chairman, Bill Gates.

While actively participating in and coordinating small units devoted to functional areas such as programming and marketing, Gates spreads his concept for Microsoft by delegating to a cadre of strong managers.

As managers move up the hierarchy, they must develop conceptual kills or their promotability will be limited. A senior engineering manager who is mired in technical matters rather than thinking strategically will not perform well at the top of the organization. Many of the responsibilities of top managers, such as decision making, resource allocation, and innovation, require a broad view.

Human skill is the manager’s ability to work with and through other people and to work effectively as a group member. This skill is demonstrated in the way a manager relates to other people, including the ability to motivate, facilitate, coordinate, lead, communicate, and resolve conflicts.

Technical skill is the understanding of and proficiency in the performance of specific tasks. Technical skill also includes specialized knowledge, analytical ability, and the competent use of tools and techniques to solve problems in that specific discipline. Technical skills are most important at lower organizational levels.

Interpersonal roles. Interpersonal roles pertain to relationships with others and are related to the human skills described earlier. The figurehead role involves handling ceremonial and symbolic activities for the department organization. The leader role encompasses relationships with subordinates, including motivation, communication, and influence. The liaison role pertains to the development of informational sources both inside and outside the organization. An example is a face-to-face discussion between a controller and plan supervisor to resolve a misunderstanding about the budget.

Informational roles. Informational roles describe the activities used to maintain and develop an information network. General managers spend about 75 per cent of their time talking to other people. The monitor role involves seeking current information from many sources.

Decisional roles. Decisional roles pertain to those events about which the manager must make a choice. These roles often require conceptual as well as human skills. The entrepreneur role involves the initiation of change. Managers are constantly thinking about the future and how to get there. Managers become aware of problems and search for project improvements that will be corrected by them.

The disturbance handler role involves resolving conflicts among subordinates or between the managers department and other departments. The resource allocator role pertains to decision about how to allocate people, time, equipment, budget, and other resources to attain desired outcomes.

Small business. Managers in small businesses tend to emphasize different roles than mangers in large corporations. In small fi rms, the most important role is a spokesperson, because managers must be creative and help their organizations develop new ideas to be competitive.

Exercises 1.Which of these statements more accurately summarizes the information of the text?

1. Conceptual skills means

a) The ability to think logically about business affairs

b) To see the organization as a whole and the relations among its parts.

c) The skill to plan business activities for a certain period of time

2. A disturbance handler is a person

a) Who makes fuss about company’s business

b) A very short – tempered person

c) One who resolves conflicts among the subordinates

3. To delegate to a cadre of a manager

a) To promote a manager to a higher position

b) To share some business activities with others

c) To choose the best candidate among the staff

4. To mire in technical problem

a) To be involved in everyday’s business operations

b) To be involved in technique innovations

c) To know how to check up different equipment

5. To facilitate someone

a) To make somebody to be stronger

b) To give somebody better position in a company

c) To help a person to do his best at job

6. To play figurehead role

a) To represent company in all ceremonial activities

b) To be a chief executive of a company

c) To be a well-known businessman

Exercises 2.Answer these questions about the text

1. What managerial functions are included in conceptual skills?

2. How can some significant elements of management functions be implemented in practical work (Take as example Microsoft Company).

3. What way can managers of different levels be involved in basic skills performance?

4. Why is it commonly accepted that human skills are currently prevailing over the others?

5. What way the roles of managers in small business differ the managers in large corporations?

6. Many of the responsibilities of top managers, such as decisions making require broad view.

7. Although some managerial theorists propose a long list of skills they can be both conceptual human and technical ones.

Exercises 3. Read the definitions. Put the anagrams in the correct order. The first letter of each word is in bold.

a) A person inferior in order, rank, power or importance (redale)

b) One who speaks for another or others (sessopporenk)

c) One who seeks information from different sources and scans written materials (otroimn)

d) A manager who transmits current information to others both inside and outside of the company (smiodsintlar)

e) A manager possessing a superb intuition for change (entepeunreren)

f) A person who is responsible for information sources development in the organization (isnlaoi)

Exercises 4. Choose the best word from those given to complete each of the

sentences below

Relationships, decisional, skills, resource, technical.

1. _____ roles pertain to those events about which the manager must make a choice.

2. Manager who performs the organizing function of how to allocate people, time, equipment and budget is usually called _______ allocator.

3. The leader encompasses _____ with subordinates including motivation, communication and influence.

4. Managers who lack human ____are often abrupt, critical and unsympathetic towards others.

5. However _____ skills are less important than human and conceptual skills as managers more up hierarchy.