Get premium membership and access questions with answers, video lessons as well as revision papers.
Skills are the various talents that managers need to perform their roles effectively. A skill is an ability or proficiency in performing a particular task. Different types of skills are required by modern managers as their jobs become more complex. Effective managers should possess a certain combination of skills that set them apart from others. The various categories of skills are inter-related and are required by all managers. However, each of them varies according to the level of the manager in the organization.
a. Technical Skills
They are the skills a manager needs to perform specialized tasks within the organization. It's the ability to use specific knowledge, techniques and resources in performing work and includes mastery of methods, techniques and equipment involved in performing specific functions.. They are important for first level managers because they spend most of their time working and interacting with the operating employees. They must also have a good understanding of the work being done by the employees it they are to supervise them effectively skilled accounting supervisor should be able to guide and assist the accounting work of his subordinates and help them in solving technical/accounting problems experienced at the operational level.
b. Conceptual Skills
It relates to a managers ability to think in abstract. It's where managers need to see relationships between forces others aren't seeing and to understand how a variety of factors are interrelated and to take a global perspective of the organization and its environment. Involves the manager's thinking and planning abilities and the manager takes a broader view of the organization. Top managers require these skills because they're responsible for identifying and exploiting new opportunities.
It is the cognitive ability to see the organization as a whole and the relationship among its parts that is how the parts depend upon or relate to one another. It involves knowing where one's unit fits into the total organization and how the organization relates to the broader environment of which it forms a part.
c. Diagnostic skills
These are skills used to define and understand situations. They are applicable to the top managers. They are moderately important to middle managers and least important to supervisory managers.
d. Human Relations Skills
Skills a Manager needs to work well with people. They include; ability to understand one else's position , ability to present ones position in a reasonable way, ability to compromise and to deal effectively with conflicts, ability to motivate others, ability to coordinate, lead, communicate etc. A manager with human skills allows subordinates to express themselves without fear and encourages participation and involvement. They are important to all because at each level, managers interact and work with people.
e. Stress and Change Management Skills
Nearly all managers work in stressful environment. In the normal course of doing their jobs, they experience high levels of ambiguity and often try to change organizations and people resistant to change. Stress could be caused by; responsibility for the performance or welfare of others, lack of involvement in decisions that affect the person experiencing stress, crowded, noisy, uncomfortable working conditions, organizational work and change and receiving performance evaluations. Stress is not automatically bad, but it can affect adversely the physical and mental health as well as work performance. They experience frustrations. Managers are responsible for introducing and managing change which can be a source of stress.
marto answered the question on March 4, 2019 at 06:57