MANAGERIAL ROLES, FUNCTIONS AND SKILLS

Prof. Asok Kumar Banerjee ban_asok@yahoo.com

UNIT OBJECTIVES
THIS UNIT EXPLAINS Managerial functions Roles to be performed by managers Types of managerial skills

Management Functions

Management Function
There are basically five primary functions of management. These are:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Planning Organising Staffing Directing Controlling

1. Planning
Planning is future oriented and determines an organisations direction. It is a rational and systematic way of making decisions today that will affect the future of the company. It is a kind of organised foresight as well as corrective hindsight. It involves the ability to foresee the effects of current actions in the long run in the future.

2. ORGANISING
Organising requires a formal structure of authority and the direction and flow of such authority through which work sub-divisions are defined, arranged and co-ordinate so that each part relates to the other part in a united and coherent manner so as to attain the prescribed objectives.

It follows, therefore that the function of organising is concerned with: 1. Identifying the tasks that must be performed and grouping them whenever necessary 2. Assigning these tasks to the personnel while defining their authority and responsibility 3. Delegating this authority to these employees 4. Establishing a relationship between authority and responsibility 5. Co-coordinating these activities

3. STAFFING
Staffing is the function of hiring and retaining a suitable work-force for the enterprise both at managerial as well as non managerial levels. It involves the process of recruiting, training, developing, compensating and evaluating employees, and maintaining this workforce with proper incentives and motivations. Since the human element is the most vital factor in the process of management.

4. DIRECTING
The directing function is concerned with leadership, communication, motivation and supervision so that the employees perform their activities in the most efficient manner possible, in order to achieve the desired goals. The leadership element element involves issuing of instructions and guiding the subordinates about procedures and methods.

5. CONTROLLING
The function of control consists of those activities that are undertaken to ensure that the events do not deviate from the pre arranged plans. The activities consist of establishing standards for work performance, measuring performance and comparing it to these set standards and taking corrective actions as and when needed to correct any deviations.

MANAGERIAL ROLES

Another approach to study management is to examine the role that managers are expected to perform. These roles can be defined as the organised sets of behaviors identified with the position. These roles were developed by Henry Mintzberg in the late 1960s after a careful study of executives at work. All these roles in one form or another deal with people and their interpersonal relationships.

1. INTERPERSONAL ROLES
Managers spend a considerable amount of time in interacting with other people both within their own organisations as well as outside. These people include peers, subordinates, superiors, suppliers, customers, government officials and community leaders. All these interactions require an understanding of interpersonal relations. Studies show that interacting with people takes up nearly 80% of a managers time.

These interaction involve the following three major interpersonal roles: a. FIGUREHEAD : Managers act as symbolic figureheads performing social or legal obligations. These duties include greeting visitors, singing legal documents, taking important customers to lunch, attending a subordinates wedding or speaking at functions in schools and churches. All these primarily are duties of a ceremonial nature but are important for the smooth functioning of the organisation.

b. LEADER : The influence of the manager is most clearly seen in his role as a leader of the unit or organisation. Since he is responsible for the activities of his subordinates, he must lead and coordinate their activities in meeting task-related goals and he must motivate them to perform better. He must be an exemplary leader so that his subordinates follow his directions and guidelines with respect and dedication.

FORMAL POSITIONAL AUTHORITY Inter personal roles Figurehead Leadership Liaison

Informational Roles
Monitor

Disseminator
Spokesperson

Decisional Roles
Entrepreneur

Conflict-Handler
Resource allocator Negotiator

VARIOUS MANAGERIAL ROLES

c. LIAISON : In addition to their constant contact with their own subordinates, peers and superiors, the managers must maintain a network of outside contacts in order to assess the external environment of competition, social changes or changes in governmental rules, regulations and laws. In this role, the managers build up their own external information system. In addition, they develop networks of mutual obligations with other managers in the organisation. They also form alliances to win support for their proposals or decisions.

2. INFORMATIONAL ROLES
By virtue of his interpersonal contacts, a manager emerges as a source of information about a variety of issues concerning the organisation. In this capacity of information processing, a manager executes the following three roles:

a. MONITOR
The manager are constantly monitoring and scanning their environment, both internal and external, collecting and studying information regarding their organisation and the outside environment effecting their organisation. This can be done by reading reports periodicals, by asking their liaison contacts and through gossip, hearsay and speculation.

b. DISSEMINATOR OF INFORMATION
The managers must transmit their information regarding changes in policies or other matters to their subordinates, their peers and to other members of the organisation. This can be done through memorandums, phones calls, individual meetings and groups meetings.

c. SPOKESPERSON
A manager has to be a spokesman for his unit and he represents his unit in either sending relevant information to people outside his unit or making some demands on behalf of his unit.

3.DECISIONAL ROLES
a. ENTREPRENEUR : As entrepreneurs, managers are continuously involved in improving their units and facing the dynamic technological challenges. They are constantly on the lookout for new ideas for product improvement or products addition. They initiate feasibility studies, arrange for capital for new products if necessary, and ask for suggestions from the employees for ways to improve the organisation. This can be achieved through suggestion boxes, holding strategy meetings with project managers and R & D personnel.

b) CONFLICT HANDLER: The managers are constantly involved as arbitrators in solving differences among the subordinates or the employees conflicts with the central management. These conflicts may arise due to demands for higher pay or other benefits or these conflicts may involve outside forces such as vendors increasing their prices, a major customer going bankrupt or unwanted visits by governmental inspectors.

c) RESOURCE ALLOCATOR: The third decisional role of a manager is that of a resource allocator. The managers establish priorities among various projects or programs and make budgetary allocations to the different activities of the organisation based upon these priorities.

d) NEGOTIATOR: The managers represent their units or organisations in negotiating deals and agreements within and outside of the organisation. They negotiate contracts with the unions. Sales managers may negotiate prices with prime customers. Purchasing managers may negotiate prices with vendors.

MANAGERIAL SKILLS

A skill is an acquired and learned ability to translate knowledge into performance. It is the competency that allows for performance to be superior in the field in which the worker has the required skill. All managers need to possess technical. Interpersonal, conceptual, diagnostic, communicational and political skills.

While technical and diagnostic skills refer to the knowledge and ability of understanding the processes involved and scientifically analysing problems and opportunities, all other skills deal with people in one form or the other. These human skills are the most important assets of any successful manager.

a. TECHNICAL SKILLS
These skills basically involve the use of knowledge, methods and techniques in performing a job effectively. This is a specialised knowledge and expertise which is utilised in dealing with day-to-day problems and activities. For example, engineers, accountants, computer programmers and systems analysts, all have technical skills in their areas and these skills are acquired through education and training

This skill is highly necessary at the lower level of management and as one moves to higher levels of management, the relatives importance of technical skills usually diminishes. This is so because unlike first level supervisors, managers at higher levels have less direct contact with technical operating problems and activities.

b. HUMAN SKILLS
Human skill is the ability to work with other people in a cooperative manner. It involves understanding, patience, trust and genuine involvement in interpersonal relationships. These are interpersonal skills and are necessary at all levels of management. People with good interactory human skills build trust ad cooperation as they motivate and lead and thus become successful managers.

CONCEPTUAL TOP SKILLS

MIDDLE
JUNIOR LEVEL

HUMAN SKILLS

TECHNICAL SKILLS

c. CONCEPTUAL SKILLS
Conceptual skills is the ability to view the organisation as a whole and as a total entity as well as a system comprised of various parts and subsystem integrated into a single unit. This skill is specially crucial for the top level executives who must keep the whole system under focus.

d. DIAGONISTICS SKILLS
This skills refer to a managers analytical ability where a manager can logically and objectively investigate and analyse a problem or an opportunity and use scientific approaches to arrive at a feasible and optimal solution. It is important however that a manager gets to the root cause of the problem so that the solution is the real and a permanent one rather than simply a short-term or a cosmetic one.

e. COMMUNICATIONAL SKILLS
Communicational skills are an important component of an interpersonal skill and are basic to all other skills and these are important and necessary to all levels of management. A managers best idea will have little impact if they cannot be communicated effectively. Good communication is the foundation of sound management.

Proper communication eliminates delay, misunderstanding, confusion, distortion and conflicts and improves coordination and control. All the four communication skills namely writing, reading, listening and non-verbal gestures are important ingredients of successful leadership.

f. POLITICAL SKILLS
Political skills can be described as the ability to get your own way without seeming to be selfish or self oriented. It is the ability to get your share of power and authority and use it without fear of loosing it. It is the most complex of skills in the sense that it is required for establishing the right connection and impressing the right people and then skilfuly using these connection to your own advantage.

Political skill is most important at the middle management level because middle managers always aspires to reach the top level of management and right connections help in such aspirations.

THANK YOU