The Roles of Managers

Summary

This script delves into the complex role of managers, explaining their necessity and the multifaceted nature of their work. It categorizes managerial roles into informational, interpersonal, and decisional, highlighting activities like maintaining information networks, representing the organization, and making strategic decisions. The script emphasizes that while roles can be separated for understanding, in practice, they interconnect, and the emphasis a manager places on each role varies based on factors like position, skills, and organizational goals.

Takeaways

• 😀 The essence of management remains unclear to many, highlighting the need for understanding the role of managers.
• 🤔 Management roles can be categorized into three main types: informational, interpersonal, and decisional.
• 📊 Informational roles involve managing by information, including maintaining an information network and being the monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson.
• 👥 Interpersonal roles focus on relationships with others, encompassing the figurehead, leader, and liaison roles.
• 🛠️ Decisional roles are about making choices and taking action, including the entrepreneur, mediator, resource allocator, and negotiator roles.
• 🗣️ Communication is a significant part of a manager's job, with 75% of their time spent on it.
• 🔎 The monitor role involves seeking and scanning information to stay well informed about the organization's environment.
• 📢 Disseminators and spokespersons are responsible for sharing information within and outside the organization, respectively.
• 🏅 The figurehead role involves ceremonial duties, representing the organization in formal capacities.
• 💡 Entrepreneurial managers are focused on innovation and change, always considering the future and necessary adjustments.
• 🔄 The mediator role involves resolving conflicts, an essential part of maintaining harmony within the team or department.
• ⏰ Resource allocation is a critical decisional role, determining how resources are distributed to achieve goals.
• 🔄 Negotiation is a common management activity, with the negotiator role representing team or departmental interests in various settings.

Q & A

What is the primary purpose of the course mentioned in the script?

The course aims to explore the role of managers, clarifying what they do on a daily basis, and why their role is essential.

How are the roles of managers categorized conceptually in the script?

Managers' roles are divided into three categories: informational, where they manage by information; interpersonal, where they manage through people; and decisional, where they manage through action.

What functions of management are ultimately accomplished through the roles of managers?

The roles of managers help to accomplish the functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

What percentage of a manager's time is typically spent on communication according to the script?

75% of a manager's time is spent on communicating with people.

What is the 'monitor' role in the context of a manager's informational roles?

The 'monitor' role involves a manager seeking current information from various sources to stay well informed.

How does the 'disseminator' role differ from the 'monitor' role for managers?

While the 'monitor' role focuses on acquiring information, the 'disseminator' role involves transmitting current information to others within and outside the organization.

What is the significance of the 'spokesperson' role in a manager's responsibilities?

The 'spokesperson' role is where a manager communicates information to outsiders, representing the organization through various forms of communication.

Can you explain the 'figurehead' role in the interpersonal roles of a manager?

The 'figurehead' role involves ceremonial and symbolic activities where the manager represents the department or organization in a formal managerial capacity.

What does the 'leader' role encompass in terms of a manager's interpersonal relationships?

The 'leader' role includes relationships with subordinates, focusing on motivation, communication, and influence.

What is the 'entrepreneur' role in the decisional roles of a manager?

The 'entrepreneur' role involves innovation and change, with managers consistently thinking about the future and the changes needed to achieve future goals or visions.

How does the 'negotiator' role manifest in a manager's responsibilities?

The 'negotiator' role is where a manager represents the interests of a team or department during negotiations, which can occur in various management activities such as budgeting, union environments, and purchases.

What factors influence the emphasis a manager puts on different roles according to the script?

The emphasis on different roles depends on 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.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 The Elusive Nature of Management Roles

This paragraph delves into the often misunderstood role of managers, highlighting the complexity and multifaceted nature of their responsibilities. It emphasizes the difficulty in defining exactly what managers do on a daily basis, especially for those who haven't performed managerial work themselves. The script introduces the concept of managerial roles divided into three categories: informational, interpersonal, and decisional. These roles encompass a range of activities aimed at fulfilling the managerial functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. The paragraph also notes the interactivity of these roles in the real world, rather than being practiced as independent parts.

Keywords

💡Management

Management refers to the process of coordinating and overseeing the work of an organization to ensure the effective and efficient achievement of its goals. In the video, management is discussed in the context of the roles and responsibilities of managers, emphasizing the need for understanding what managers do and why they are essential.

💡Managerial Work

Managerial work encompasses the tasks and activities performed by managers to lead and control organizational operations. The video script highlights the difficulty in understanding the specifics of managerial work without firsthand experience, suggesting the complexity and multifaceted nature of a manager's role.

💡Informational Roles

Informational roles are those that involve managing by information, which includes maintaining and developing an information network. The video explains that 75% of a manager's time is spent communicating, indicating the critical nature of these roles in gathering and disseminating information within and outside the organization.

💡Interpersonal Roles

Interpersonal roles relate to the relationships managers have with others and are connected to their human skills. The video mentions roles such as the figurehead and leader, which involve ceremonial activities and influencing subordinates, respectively, showcasing the social and relational aspects of management.

💡Decisional Roles

Decisional roles pertain to instances where managers must make choices or take actions. The video script discusses roles like the entrepreneur and mediator, which involve innovation and conflict resolution, highlighting the importance of decision-making in managerial roles.

💡Planning

Planning is a managerial function that involves setting goals and determining the steps necessary to achieve them. The video script implies that the roles of managers are aimed at accomplishing functions like planning, which is fundamental to the overall strategy and direction of an organization.

💡Organizing

Organizing is the function of arranging resources and tasks to facilitate the accomplishment of organizational goals. The video suggests that managers undertake activities related to organizing as part of their role, which is essential for the efficient operation of the organization.

💡Leading

Leading is the function of guiding and influencing a group of people towards achieving the objectives of the organization. The video script refers to the leader role, which includes motivating and communicating with subordinates, illustrating the impact of leadership on organizational success.

💡Controlling

Controlling involves monitoring and correcting activities to ensure that they align with the organization's goals. The video script indicates that controlling is one of the functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling that managers are responsible for.

💡Communication

Communication is the process of exchanging information and ideas to facilitate understanding. The video script emphasizes that a significant portion of a manager's time is spent on communication, underlining its importance in the managerial roles of disseminating and receiving information.

💡Hierarchy

Hierarchy refers to the organizational structure that ranks people or groups according to levels of authority. The video script mentions that the emphasis a manager places on different roles can depend on their position in the hierarchy, indicating how the level of authority can shape managerial responsibilities.

Highlights

The role of managers is often misunderstood despite the presence of management gurus, consultants, and schools.

Managers' roles can be categorized into informational, interpersonal, and decisional.

Managers' activities are aimed at accomplishing the functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

Managers' roles are not practiced as independent parts but interact in the real world.

Informational roles involve maintaining and developing an information network, with communication being a significant part.

75% of managers' time is spent on communicating with people.

The monitor role involves seeking current information from various sources to stay well informed.

The disseminator role is about transmitting current information to others within and outside the organization.

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

Interpersonal roles relate to relationships with others and human skills.

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

The leader role encompasses relationships with subordinates, including motivation and influence.

The liaison role is about developing information sources both within and outside the organization.

Decisional roles involve making choices or taking actions on events that require the manager's input.

The entrepreneur role involves innovation and change, with a focus on future goals and visions.

The mediator role is about resolving conflicts among subordinates or between departments.

The resource allocator role pertains to decisions on assigning resources to achieve desired outcomes.

The negotiator role involves representing team or department interests during negotiations.

Managers at every level perform these roles, which are grouped into informational, interpersonal, and decisional categories.

The emphasis a manager puts on these roles depends on factors such as position, skills, organization type, and department goals.

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 75% 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

[Music]