1.02 What managers need

To be effective, managers need certain skills. These skills fall into three main categories—technical skills, interpersonal skills, and conceptual skills.

Technical skills. Although many managers don’t perform the same tasks as their employees, they still need to understand the technical aspects of the business. Managers need to be able to answer questions, give directions, and solve problems. To do this, they must understand various work processes, and they should know how to use the specialized tools required for these processes. For instance, how effective would you be as the manager of an accounting department if you didn’t have math skills? How could you manage if you knew nothing about preparing invoices or using accounting software? That does not mean that you must be an expert in each area of every job. It just means that you must have an overall knowledge of the business’s work.

Interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skills are extremely important at all levels of management. Managers are not alone; they must work with others to be successful. Therefore, they need to be able to communicate, interact, and build relationships. To do that, they must treat employees fairly, listen to their concerns, and understand that employees are essential for business success. And, managers must clearly communicate their ideas and expectations to employees so that the workers can be productive. Workers cannot be expected to accomplish the business’s goals if they don’t know what the goals are or understand the procedures they should follow to achieve the goals.

Conceptual skills. Another important skill that managers must have is the ability to see the “big picture.” Managers must be able to look at the organization as a whole and understand how its various parts are interrelated. They need to anticipate how a change in one department could impact all the others. Managers must also understand how the organization fits into its environment. In other words, they need to know how the company affects and is affected by its industry, its community, and the economy.

Managers need strong conceptual skills to think creatively and make wise decisions. They must be able to identify and define problems and opportunities for business improvement. Then, they should use whatever information is available, along with their own creativity, to generate possible options and solutions. After weighing the choices, managers must select the best method for solving the problem or grasping the opportunity. And, the chosen method should be what is best for the whole organization, not for just one department or person.

Take a closer look at important management skills here. Links to an external site.