Identify five (5) basic management skills and explain the major sources of these skills. Do managers at all levels require these skills? Explain giving examples.

In order to effectively and efficiently undertake their management functions, managers need to have certain unique abilities called managerial skills. Five managerial skills are (a) Technical, (b) interpersonal (or Human), (c) Conceptual, (d)Diagnostic, and (e) Analytical

  • Technical Skills: - These are skills necessary to accomplish specialised activities. They incorporate the ability to use procedures, techniques and knowledge of a specialised field. For instance Doctors, accountants, and even musicians all have technical skills in their respective fields. First line managers have to possess technical skills as they are responsible for the day to day running of the organisation. This requires knowledge of procedures, techniques and skills in their specific areas of responsibility.
  • Interpersonal or Human Skills. At first line level, where managers directly supervise subordinates, they are expected to have the ability to work with, understand, and motivate other people (subordinates) as individuals or in groups. They spend considerable time interacting with people not only inside but also outside the organisation.

This group of abilities is often referred to as interpersonal or human skills and communication skills also form part of these. Interpersonal skills could be linked to Mintzberg’s managerial roles.

  • Conceptual Skills: - These refer to the ability to co-ordinate and integrate all of the organisation’s interests and It entails the ability to see the organisation as a whole, understand how its component parts interrelate and anticipate how a change in one affects the whole.

Managers with a high level of conceptual skills have the mental capacity to understand various cause-and-effect relationships in the organisation and to view the organisation in a holistic manner.

For instance, a conceptual manager would, before making any decision pertaining to his department or function, ascertain the effect of such a course of action on the operations of the whole organisation. Conceptual skills are especially important at the higher level of management i.e. General Managers, Chief Executives and others. They are a requisite at the higher echelons of the management hierarchy.

  • Diagnostic Skills. An organisation could be facing problems e.g. in its operations. Managers must have the ability to diagnose them from their symptoms. For instance, a company could be faced with a spate of resignations. This would probably be a result of industrial relations problems within the organisation. Diagnostic skills enable the manager to be able to determine deep-rooted problems from symptoms and are necessary for effective problem-solving. Diagnostic skills are important at all levels of management but especially at the operational and tactical levels.
  • Analytical skills. These are closely related to and complement diagnostic skills. They entail the ability to identify the key variables in a particular situation, see how they inter-relate and decide which ones should receive the most attention.

Analytical skills enables managers to determine the best possible strategies and select the most appropriate one for a particular situation. Thus, they help managers decide on the best course of action to solve problems identified by diagnostic skills. In some circles analytical skills are similar to decision-making skills, although analysing a problem may itself not amount to making any decision.

There are two main sources of managerial skills which are (1) education and (2) experience.

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Susmita Sah
Jan 13, 2022
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