What is Management?

Summary

This video explores the essential roles and skills of managers, breaking down their responsibilities into three categories: informational, interpersonal, and decisional. Managers must communicate effectively, manage relationships, and make key decisions to achieve organizational goals through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. The evolving role of managers emphasizes empowering teams, fostering innovation, and shaping organizational culture for future success. Essential skills like technical, human, and conceptual abilities are highlighted, with a focus on how managers navigate complex environments to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, and high performance.

Takeaways

• 🧐 The role of managers is often misunderstood without direct experience, and this course aims to clarify what managers do on a daily basis.
• 📊 Managers' roles can be categorized into informational, interpersonal, and decisional roles, which are interconnected in real-world management.
• 🗣️ Informational roles involve managing by information, with 75% of managers' time spent on communication, including monitoring, disseminating, and acting as a spokesperson.
• 🤝 Interpersonal roles focus on relationships and human skills, including being a figurehead, leader, and liaison within and outside the organization.
• 🛠️ Decisional roles concern making choices and taking action, such as being an entrepreneur, mediator, resource allocator, and negotiator.
• 🚀 Management is crucial for achieving organizational goals efficiently and effectively through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.
• 🌟 Today's managers are shifting from being controllers to enablers, focusing on empowering teams and fostering a culture of innovation and adaptability.
• 🔄 The importance of management lies in the organization's ability to use resources wisely to meet its goals, emphasizing both effectiveness and efficiency.
• 🛠️ Technical skills are essential at lower organizational levels but become less critical as managers ascend, making way for the importance of human and conceptual skills.
• 🤔 Conceptual skills are critical for top managers, involving strategic thinking, understanding the organization's place in the broader environment, and solving complex problems.
• 🔑 Human skills are increasingly vital across all management levels, focusing on motivation, communication, and conflict resolution to drive employee engagement and commitment.

Q & A

What are the three conceptual categories that describe the roles of managers?

The three conceptual categories that describe the roles of managers are informational, interpersonal, and decisional.

What does the informational role of a manager involve?

The informational role involves managing by information, which includes maintaining and developing an information network, and includes the monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson roles.

Can you explain the interpersonal roles of managers?

Interpersonal roles pertain to the relationships with others and include the figurehead, leader, and liaison roles, which are related to human skills and involve activities such as motivation, communication, and influence.

What are the decisional roles that managers must undertake?

Decisional roles pertain to events where the manager must make a choice or take action, including the entrepreneur, mediator, resource allocator, and negotiator roles.

How much of a manager's time is typically spent on communication?

Seventy-five percent of a manager's time is about communicating with people.

What is the role of a manager in the context of the organization's goals?

Managers are responsible for coordinating resources effectively and efficiently to accomplish the organization's goals.

What are the four basic functions of management?

The four basic functions of management are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

How has the role of managers shifted from traditional to new management competencies?

The shift from traditional to new management competencies involves moving from being a controller to an enabler, focusing on oversight results, relationships, and design, and employing empowering leadership styles.

What are the three broad categories of skills necessary for managing an organization?

The three broad categories of skills necessary for managing an organization are technical, human, and conceptual skills.

Why are human skills increasingly important for managers at all levels?

Human skills are increasingly important because they involve the ability to work with and through other people, including motivation, facilitation, coordination, leadership, communication, and conflict resolution, which are essential for effective management at all levels.

What does the concept of organizational effectiveness mean?

Organizational effectiveness refers to the degree to which an organization achieves its stated goals, providing products or services that customers value.

Outlines

00:00

🧐 Understanding the Managerial Roles

This paragraph delves into the complex role of managers, emphasizing the difficulty in defining their duties despite the abundance of management resources. It outlines three key categories of managerial roles: informational, interpersonal, and decisional. Informational roles focus on managing by information, interpersonal roles on managing through people, and decisional roles on managing through action. The paragraph explains that while these roles are distinct for analytical purposes, they are interwoven in practice. It also highlights that managers spend a significant portion of their time communicating and maintaining an information network, with specific roles like monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson. The interpersonal roles, such as figurehead, leader, and liaison, are crucial for managing relationships, while decisional roles like entrepreneur, mediator, resource allocator, and negotiator, are about making choices and taking actions to achieve organizational goals.

05:01

🚀 Modern Management Approaches

Paragraph 2 discusses the shift in management styles from traditional to more contemporary approaches. It stresses the importance of managers adopting empowering leadership styles that foster authentic conversations and collaboration. The focus is on designing flexible organizational environments that can adapt to change, anticipate threats and opportunities, and promote creativity and innovation. The paragraph also touches on the significance of managers in achieving organizational goals efficiently and effectively, highlighting the four basic functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. It underscores the need for managers to possess a mix of technical, human, and conceptual skills, with an emphasis on the increasing importance of human skills for effective management at all levels.

10:03

🛠️ Technical, Human, and Conceptual Skills in Management

The final paragraph examines the three broad categories of skills necessary for effective management: technical, human, and conceptual. Technical skills, which are crucial at lower organizational levels, involve mastery of specific methods, techniques, and equipment. Human skills, essential for all managers, involve the ability to work with and through others, including motivation and conflict resolution. Conceptual skills, particularly important for top managers, involve the ability to see the organization as a whole and to think strategically. The paragraph also notes the changing requirements of these skills as managers move up the organizational hierarchy and the importance of adapting to the demands of a rapidly changing world.

Keywords

💡Managerial Roles

Managerial roles refer to the various responsibilities and functions that managers undertake in an organization. The video script divides these roles into three categories: informational, interpersonal, and decisional. These roles are crucial for understanding how managers contribute to the organization's goals. For instance, the informational roles include 'monitor,' 'disseminator,' and 'spokesperson,' which highlight the importance of communication and information flow within and outside the organization.

💡Planning

Planning is one of the primary functions of management, which involves setting goals for the future and determining the necessary tasks and resources to achieve those goals. The video emphasizes that planning is about defining where the organization wants to be in the future and how to get there, which is essential for guiding the organization's direction and resource allocation.

💡Organizing

Organizing is another key management function that follows planning. It involves assigning tasks, grouping tasks into departments, delegating authority, and allocating resources. The script mentions that organizing is about how the organization tries to accomplish the plan, which is critical for ensuring that the right people are working on the right tasks to achieve the organization's objectives.

💡Leading

Leading is the use of influence to motivate employees to achieve organizational goals. It encompasses creating a shared culture and values, communicating goals, and instilling a desire to perform at a high level. The video script illustrates that leadership is not just about being a top manager but also about providing strong leadership within departments, teams, and small businesses.

💡Controlling

Controlling is the fourth function in the management process, which involves monitoring employees' activities, determining whether the organization is moving towards its goals, and making corrections as necessary. The script notes a trend towards less top-down control and more emphasis on training employees to self-monitor and correct, with managers still bearing the ultimate responsibility for control.

💡Informational Roles

Informational roles are those where managers manage by information. This includes maintaining and developing an information network, which is crucial for staying well-informed and making informed decisions. The script describes roles such as 'monitor,' where managers seek current information, and 'disseminator,' where they transmit information to others, highlighting the importance of information in managerial work.

💡Interpersonal Roles

Interpersonal roles pertain to the relationships managers have with others. These roles are related to human skills and include activities such as the 'figurehead' role, where managers engage in ceremonial and symbolic activities, and the 'leader' role, which involves direct relationships with subordinates, including motivation and communication. The video script underscores the importance of human skills in managerial effectiveness.

💡Decisional Roles

Decisional roles involve situations where managers must make choices or take action. These roles include the 'entrepreneur,' where managers drive innovation and change, and the 'negotiator,' where they represent team or department interests in negotiations. The script illustrates that decision-making is a critical aspect of management, requiring managers to allocate resources and resolve conflicts effectively.

💡Technical Skills

Technical skills refer to the understanding and proficiency in the performance of specific tasks. These skills are particularly important at lower levels of the organization and include mastery of methods, techniques, and equipment in specific functions. The video script notes that while technical skills are essential, they become less important as managers move up the hierarchy and human and conceptual skills become more critical.

💡Human Skills

Human skills are a manager's ability to work with and through other people, which includes motivation, facilitation, coordination, leadership, communication, and conflict resolution. The video script emphasizes that human skills are increasingly important for managers at all levels and are crucial for frontline managers who work directly with employees.

💡Conceptual Skills

Conceptual skills involve the cognitive ability to see the organization as a whole and understand the relationships among its parts. These skills are necessary for strategic thinking, long-term planning, and solving complex problems. The video script highlights that conceptual skills are especially important for top managers, who are responsible for decision-making, resource allocation, and innovation.

Highlights

The role of managers can be divided into three categories: informational, interpersonal, and decisional.

Managers spend 75% of their time communicating with people.

The monitor role involves seeking current information from many sources.

The disseminator role is where managers transmit information to others within and outside the organization.

The spokesperson role involves communicating information to outsiders through various forms.

The figurehead role includes ceremonial and symbolic activities for the department or organization.

Leadership encompasses relationships with subordinates, including motivation and influence.

The liaison role pertains to the development of information sources inside and outside the organization.

The entrepreneur role involves innovation and change, thinking about the future and needed changes.

The mediator role involves resolving conflicts among subordinates or between departments.

Resource allocator role pertains to decisions on assigning resources to attain desired outcomes.

The negotiator role is where managers represent team or department interests in negotiations.

Management is the attainment of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

There's a shift from traditional management to new competencies essential in today's environment.

Today's effective manager is an enabler who helps people do and be their best.

Managers shape the cultures, systems, and conditions and give people the freedom to move the organization.

Managers have to move from supervising individuals to leading teams.

Today's managers need to enhance communication and partnership.

Managers are responsible for coordinating resources to accomplish the organization's goals.

Organizational effectiveness is the degree to which the organization achieves its stated goals.

Managers perform activities within the four primary functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

The necessary skills for managing an organization can be categorized into technical, human, and conceptual skills.

Technical skills refer to the understanding and proficiency in the performance of specific tasks.

Human skills are essential for managers at all levels, especially for frontline managers.

Conceptual skills involve the cognitive ability to see the organization as a whole and its relationship among parts.

Transcripts

[Music]

despite a proliferation of management

gurus management consultants and

management schools it remains murky to

many of us what managers actually do and

why we need them in the first place

unless someone has actually performed a

managerial work it's hard to understand

exactly what managers do on an hour by

hour or day by day basis in this course

we explore this role of managers a role

is a set of expectations for a managers

behavior the roles of managers can be

divided into three conceptual categories

informational where we manage by

information interpersonal where we

manage through people and decisional

where we're managing through action each

role represents activities that managers

undertake to ultimately accomplish the

functions of planning organizing leading

and controlling although it's necessary

to separate the components of a

manager's job to understand the

different roles of a manager the real

job of management isn't practiced as a

set of independent parts all of the

roles interact in the real world

informational roles describe the

activities used to maintain and develop

an information network seventy-five

percent of managers time is about

communicating with people the monitor

role involves seeking current

information from many sources

the manager acquires and scans

information to stay well informed the

next two roles are quite the opposite

the disseminator role is where the

manager transmits current information to

others both inside and outside the

organization who can use it

the disseminator role is where managers

forward information within the

organization doing things like sending

memos and reports making phone calls or

holding meetings likewise the

spokesperson roles where a manager or

transmit information to outsiders

through various forms of communication

interpersonal roles pertain to the

relationships with others and are

related to the human skills described

earlier the figurehead role involves

ceremonial and symbolic activities for

the department or organization the

manager represents the organization in

his or her formal managerial capacity as

a head of the unit

the leader role encompasses

relationships with subordinates

including motivation communication and

influence the liaison role pertains to

the development of information sources

both inside and outside the organization

finally decisional roles pertain to

those events about which the manager

must make a choice or take action the

entrepreneur role involves innovation of

change managers are consistently

thinking about the future and the

changes needed to achieve a future goal

or vision the mediator role involves

resolving conflicts among subordinates

or between the managers Department and

others the resource allocator role

pertains to decisions about how to

assign people time equipment money and

other resources to attain desired

outcomes the managers must decide which

projects receive budget allocations

which of several customer complaints

receive priority and how to spend his or

her own time

and finally the negotiator role is where

the manager represents a team or

departments interests when negotiating

issues negotiation happens in budgeting

union environments purchases and many

other management activities managers at

every level perform these tendrils which

are grouped into informational

interpersonal and decisional roles the

relative emphasis that a manager puts on

these roles depends on a number of

factors such as the manager's position

in the hierarchy natural skills and

abilities the type of organization and

department goals that need to be

achieved management is the attainment of

organizational goals in an effective and

efficient manner through planning

organizing leading and controlling

organizational resources there is a

shift from traditional management

approach to new management competencies

that are essential in today's

environment there are managers of all

types of organizations who are learning

to apply new management skills and

competencies in oversight results

relationships and design instead of

being a controller

today's effective manager is an enabler

who helps people do and be their best

today's managers learn to

design the rules of the game without

specifying the actions of the players

managers shape the cultures systems and

conditions and then give people the

freedom to move the organization in the

direction it needs to go they help

people get what they need

remove obstacles provide learning

opportunities and offer feedback

coaching and career guidance when it

comes to accomplishing tasks managers

have to move from supervising

individuals to leading teams instead of

management by keeping tabs

they employ an empowering leadership

style managing relationships based on

authentic conversation and collaboration

is essential for successful outcomes

today's managers need to enhance

communication and partnership

today's best managers our future facing

focused on designing an environment that

is flexible enough to change that is

they design the organization and culture

to anticipate threats and opportunities

from the environment challenge the

status quo and promote creativity

learning adaptation and innovation

today's world is constantly changing but

the more unpredictable the environment

the greater the opportunity is if

managers have the skills to capitalize

on it

the definition of management encompasses

the idea of attaining organizational

goals in an efficient and effective

manner frankly management is so

important because organizations are so

important an organization is a social

entity that's goal directed and

deliberately structured organizations

pervade in our society and managers are

responsible for seeing that the

resources are used wisely to obtain an

organizational goals based on our

definition of management the managers

responsibility is to coordinate

resources in an effective and efficient

manner to accomplish the organization's

goals organizational effectiveness is

the degree to which the organization

achieves a stated goal effectiveness

means providing a product or service

that customers value organizational

efficiency refers to the amount of

resources used to achieve an

organizational goal it's based on the

amount of raw material money and P

that are necessary for producing a given

volume of output efficiency can be

defined as the amount of resources used

to produce a product or service so the

ultimate responsibility of managers is

to achieve high performance which is the

attainment of organizational goals by

using resources in efficient and

effective manner there are four basic

functions of management planning

organizing leading and controlling will

explore each as we define management in

today's organizations planning is about

identifying goals for future

organizational performance in deciding

on the tasks and use of resources needed

to attain them managerial planning

defines where the organization wants to

be in the future and how to get there

organizing typically follows planning

and reflects how the organization tries

to accomplish the plan organizing

involves assigning tasks grouping tasks

into departments delegating Authority

and allocating resources across the

organization leading is the use of

influence to motivate employees to

achieve organizational goals leading

means creating a shared culture and

values communicating goals to people

throughout the organization and infusing

employees with the desire to perform at

a high level one doesn't have to be a

top manager of a big organization to be

an exceptional leader many managers

working quietly in both large and small

organizations around the world provide

strong leadership within departments

teams nonprofit organizations and small

businesses controlling is the fourth

function in the management process

control e means monitoring employees

activities determine whether the

organization is moving towards its goals

and making corrections as necessary one

trend in recent years is for

organizations to place less emphasis on

top-down control and more emphasis on

training employees to monitor and

correct themselves however the ultimate

responsibility for control still rests

with managers

managers perform a wide variety of

activities that fall within the four

primary management functions of planning

organizing leading and controlling

although some management theorists

propose a long list of skills the

necessary skills for managing an

organization can be placed in three

broad categories conceptual human and

technical let's take a look the

application of these three skills

changes dramatically when a person is

promoted to management technical human

and conceptual although the degree that

each skill is required at different

levels of an organization may vary all

managers must possess some skill in each

of these important areas to perform

effectively many managers get promoted

to their first job because they've

demonstrated an understanding and

proficiency in the performance of

specific tasks which are referred to as

technical skills technical skills refer

to the understanding of and proficiency

in the performance of specific tasks

technical skills include mastery of

methods techniques and equipment

involved in specific functions such as

engineering manufacturing or finance

technical skills also include

specialized knowledge analytical ability

and the competent use of tools and

techniques to solve problems in a

specific discipline technical skills are

particularly important at lower levels

of the organization

however these skills become less

important as human and conceptual skills

as managers move up the hierarchy top

managers with strong technical skills

sometimes have to learn to step back so

that others can do their jobs

effectively human skills refer to a

manager's ability to work with and

through other people and work

effectively as part of a group these

human skills are demonstrated in the way

that a manager relates to other people

including the ability to motivate

facilitate coordinate lead communicate

and resolve conflicts human skills are

increasingly important for managers at

all levels and types of organizations a

recent study found that human skills

were significantly more important than

technical skill

for predicting manager effectiveness

human skills are essential for frontline

managers who work with employees

directly on a daily basis a recent study

found that the motivational skill of the

frontline manager is the single most

important factor in whether people feel

engaged with their work and committed to

an organization conceptual skills refer

to the cognitive ability to see the

organization as a whole in the

relationship amongst parts conceptual

skills involve knowing where one's team

fits into the total organization and how

the organization fits into the industry

the community and the broader business

and social environment it means the

ability to think strategically to take a

broad long-term view and to identify

evaluate and solve complex problems

conceptual skills are needed by all

managers but especially by managers at

the top many of the responsibilities of

top managers such as decision making

resource allocation and innovation

require a broad view good management

skills are not automatic in recent years

numerous highly publicized examples have

shown what happens when managers fail to

apply their skills effectively to meet

the demands of uncertain rapidly

changing worlds around them managers

have complex jobs that require a range

of abilities and skills

[Music]