7 Skills of Managers

Contents

1. Objectives

2. Introduction

3. Three skills required to become a good manager

4. Significance and Development of three-skill approach

5. Summary

1. Objectives

At the end of the module, the learner will be able to-

Explain the skills required to become a good Manager
Explain the Development of the skills

2. Introduction:

Education management is a field of study. It comprises of personnel associated with this field viz: principals, teachers and others. These personnel together are responsible for imparting quality education. Performance of each personnel depends on the skills possessed by them.

Here, the term skill suggests an ability which may not be inborn but can be nurtured and is observed through the performance of individual. Therefore, based on effectiveness of action one can judge the extent of skill possessed by an individual. Each personnel of the education system is managing the system at different levels. Let us see what work is done by different personnel in secondary schools and what skills are required to do this work effectively.

Scenario one:

Ms. Sunayana Naik is working as an assistant teacher in Vidya Niketan School for last five years. Every week she has to take 45 classes. She is responsible for teaching science and mathematics to standard VIII to X students. She has been given the responsibility of organising the science exhibition. She also prepares her students for competitive examinations of science and mathematics. As a class teacher of IX D, she has to conduct an open house for the parents. She is a member of parent teacher association of her school.

Q1: Which skills Ms. Naik should possess for performing her role of an assistant teacher effectively?

Scenario two:

Ms. Sunayana Naik has completed fifteen years as an assistant teacher in the same school. Due to her seniority now, she has become supervisor. Her teaching load is much less than assistant teacher. She is responsible for preparing time table. She has to coordinate with the teaching and non-teaching staff of the school. She has to supervise the work of teachers. She is required to plan the curricular and co-curricular activities. On the whole, we can say that she has to assist principal for smooth functioning of school.

Q 1: Which skills Ms. Naik should possess for performing her role of supervisor effectively?

Scenario three:

After serving the school for last twenty years, Ms. Sunayana Naik is now the principal of Vidya Niketan School. She has following responsibilities:

a) Ex-officio Secretary of School Management committee

b) Responsible for disbursing salary of the staff

c) Monitoring of school records

d) Monitoring accounts of the school

e) Handle the correspondence between school and government or board

f) Supervise the work of teaching and non-teaching staff

g) Conduct the school examination.

h) Plan the school activities as per vision and mission of the school

i) Liaison with school management

j) Distribution of the work

k) Responsible for overall functioning of the school

l) Implement the government policies

m) Prepare development plan of the school

n) Frame rules and regulations for students

o) Prepare the budget of the school etc.

Q1: Which skills Ms. Naik should possess for performing her role of school principal effectively?

In the first scenario, Ms. Naik as an assistant teacher, teaching science and maths subject at secondary level. Hence, she should possess following skills:

Teaching skill: methodology of teaching her subjects.
Preparing teaching aids as well as learning material for her subject
Preparing evaluation tools for evaluating her students
Organising the subject related activities
Dealing with the students
Dealing with the parents.

In the second scenario Ms. Naik is functioning as supervisor of the same school. Hence, she should possess following skills:

Teaching skill: methodology of teaching her subjects.
Preparing teaching aids as well as learning material for her subject
Preparing evaluation tools for evaluating her students
Organising the subject related activities Dealing with the students
Dealing with the parents.
Coordinating with teaching and non-teaching staff of the school.
Planning the curricular and cocurricular activities of the school
Supervise teachers

This shows that she requires few more skills, which are not required for assistant teacher (Skill number seven, eight, and nine).

In the third scenario, Ms. Naik is functioning as principal of the same school. She should possess following skills:

Teaching skill: methodology of teaching her subjects.
Preparing teaching aids as well as learning material for her subject
Preparing evaluation tools for evaluating her students
Organising the subject related activities
Dealing with the students
Dealing with the parents.
Coordinating with teaching and non-teaching staff of the school.
Planning the curricular and co-curricular activities of the school
Planning school activities
Solve the problems related to school
Prepare developmental plan of the school
Prepare budget of the school
Frame rules and regulations
Liaison with different agencies
Correspondence with board/department/ government

This shows that Ms. Naik requires other skills which are of higher level (from ten to fifteen) and quite different from what are required for assistant teacher.

If we compare the responsibilities of Ms. Naik in different positions, it is evident that the teaching load has been reduced largely but the other responsibilities have been increased. As an assistant teacher, she was responsible for teaching to her classes. As a supervisor, we notice that her teaching related responsibilities are reduced to some extent and administrative work is assigned to her to some extent. As a principal of the school, she has minimal teaching load but has 100% administrative responsibilities, as she is responsible for overall functioning of the school. So one can say as an assistant teacher, she was functioning as first level manager, as a supervisor her position was that of middle level manager and as a principal she is functioning as top level manager. Robert Katz in his classical article ‘Skills of an Effective Administrator’ published in Harvard Business Review of September 1974 has given three skills approach. He has given this approach based on the assumption that managers direct the activities of subordinates and are responsible for achieving goals of the organisation.

3. Three skills required to become a good manager

Ø Technical skills

Ø Human skills

Ø Conceptual Skills

I. Technical Skills:

These are the skills which indicate proficiency in doing specific activities effectively. It involves using specific methods, processes, procedures and techniques. Teachers, engineers, doctors, architects etc. need to have specific profession related technical skills. These technical skills include profession specific knowledge, analytical ability required in that profession and skill of using tools and techniques related to profession. Profession wise the skill set required varies.

This skill is required for lower level managers as they are the ones who are working in the field. If we consider teacher as an educational manager, he/she should possess the skill of lesson planning. For doing so she/he has to set the objectives of the lesson. The objectives are based on goals of school. It may be achieving 100% result or preparing good human being. As per the objectives, the methodology will differ. E.g. if the objective is completion of syllabus then lecture method will be adopted but if the objective is developing scientific attitude then teacher may use debate or discussion method. While planning lesson, he/she has to think about availability of infrastructural resources. If they are not available then he/she should have a plan to generate the same. He/she also has to think about evaluation strategy which will depend on the objectives and the teaching-learning strategy adopted by teacher.

II. Human Skills:

These are the skills which are required to work effectively in the group and build the team. This skill involves working with human beings and help mangers to understand people and motivate them. The person having human skills will have high emotional quotient as he/she will be able to understand his/her own emotions as well as of others. The person possessing human skills will always try to achieve win-win situation as he/she values the emotions of other persons. The person good in human skills are skilful in communicating with others. They can create open and secured environment in which subordinates can freely express themselves. Such manager uses participatory approach where subordinates are involved in planning activities related to them and are sensitive to the needs of others.

Scenario four:

The timing of Vidya Niketan School is from 8am to3pm. The principal wanted to make it to 7:30am to 3pm. Therefore, she took out a circular mentioning the changed school timings, which will be effectively implemented from next week. After it reached to the staffroom, everybody was shocked and worried about coming half an hour early. Eighty percent of the teachers were staying very far, travelling from 40-45 KM far places. After reading the circular, staff members decided to have a word with principal. They thought that they would try to convince for having half an hour more in the afternoon, as it is very difficult to get transport facilities in the morning. Unfortunately, she refused to give hearing to them and all were disappointed. As a result, staff decided to approach union. Next day, Union leader came to school and threatened the principal that if she doesn’t withdraw the circular with immediate effect then staff will go on strike.

If we analyse the behaviour of principal, it appears that the principal is not bothered about the emotions and feelings of the staff members. She did not consult staff members at all and take out circular without understanding their problems and arrangements they will have to make. The insensitivity of principal leads to creation of more problems and negativity towards each other that may influence further functioning of school. If she had taken the staff into confidence then the situation would have been different.

Scenario five:

Ms. Anita D’souza is working as class teacher of standard IX A. Sara is a sincere student of her class. Ms. D’souza observed that these days Sarah is not attentive in the classroom. She doesn’t complete the given homework. She is in her own world. Ms. D’souza checked with other teachers, they had the same observation. Ms. D’souza asked Sarah to call her parents for meeting. At the time of meeting, her mother told Ms. D’souza that their family is facing financial crunch. Sarah has 2 siblings and she is the eldest. Every day there is discussion in the family about how to survive in this situation. How to continue education of the children. This discussion affected Sarah and she started getting nightmares and worried about her and her family’s future. Hence, she couldn’t concentrate on her studies. After understanding the situation Ms. D’Souza gave her mother contact numbers of non-profit educational organizations who give scholarship to needy students to complete their education. Sarah’s mother approached the NGOs and applied for aid. Ms. D’souza helped Sarah’s mother in doing the required paperwork. Due to her constant follow up, Sarah and her siblings could get scholarship and continue their education and Sarah became normal.

In this scenario, we can see that it is the keen observation of teacher and sensitivity about the problems of the students helped Sarah to complete her education.

Scenario six:

Mr. Shah is working as supervisor of St. John High School. Mr. Gupta is the class IV employee. While working in the office, Mr. Gupta complained about chest pain. Mr. Shah immediately called the doctor. He informed Mr. Gupta’s family about his illness. As per the doctor’s advice, Mr. Shah called ambulance and admitted Mr. Gupta to hospital. Doctors in the hospital said that if Mr. Gupta would have been admitted little late he would not have survived. It is the timely action of Mr. Shah which donated life to Mr. Gupta. He paid the deposit of the hospital from his pocket. He waited till family members of Mr. Gupta arrived in the hospital. Till Mr.Gupta discharged from the hospital he regularly visited the hospital.

In this scenario we can see that it is the sensitivity and kindness of Mr. Shah because of which Mr. Gupta survived. He treated Mr. Gupta like his family member.

From the above scenario we can say that human skill is required for all levels of managers. Following are the skills which come under human skills:

Ø Communication skill

Ø Team building

Ø Creating open environment

Ø Empathy

Ø Interpersonal

Teachers require this skill as they are working with human beings i.e. students, parents, colleagues and community. Supervisors and principal also need these skills but to a lesser extent as the number of human beings with whom they have to interact on daily basis are much less than a teacher.

III. Conceptual skills:

It involves the ability to see the institution as a whole. It involves understanding the relationship between various elements of the organisation, having awareness about the functions of the organisation and an ability to visualise how change in one part will have the effect on the organisation as a whole. This skill helps in taking decisions. The correctness of the decision depends on conceptual skill of the person. This skill is required for creating vision and developmental plans of the organisation. It also involves ability to work on hypothetical situation. Conceptual skill are most required for top level managers as they are responsible for framing and implementing the policies for welfare of organisation and less for middle level managers.

It is our general observation that during the tenure of a specific leader an organisation does impressive work. The reason is that the top level manager or leader possess conceptual skill. Conceptual skills helps in framing vision of the institution. This helps in creating social image of the institution. As per the vision of the manger, his/her planning and resource allocation will differ. E.g: Educational manager who believes in developing human being will plan the school activities in which he will give importance for community work, group learning and activities for developing the social skills. Whereas, if the manger has the aim of having 100% result of school then he or she will plan the activities such as conducting practice test, guidance for how to write answers etc. This clearly depicts that conceptual skills of manger plays crucial role in working of an organisation. Hence, it is very necessary to select the leader carefully. This is true for all types of organizations.

Scenario seven:

Mr. Sheth who is a science teacher has been given responsibility of organising quiz competition on the occasion of science day. Principal asked two teachers to assist him in this task. As a chairperson of the committee Mr. Sheth has to do following tasks:

Ø Decide timings for the quiz

Ø Workout the logistics

Ø Have question bank

Ø Decide anchor

Ø Frame rules

Ø Decide prizes

Ø Form teams etc.

He has to plan all the tasks beforehand so that there will not be any problem on science day.

Here, Mr. Sheth is planning related to small event i.e. quiz competition. He has to think about logistics as well utilization of human resources. He also needs to be prepared for trouble shooting.

Scenario eight:

Ms. Bapat supervisor in St. Joseph College has been given responsibility of conducting college level examination. This college offers B.A. (Marathi, Hindi, English, Sociology, Psychology and Geography specialisation), B.Sc. (Botany, Zoology, Chemistry, Microbiology, Physics and mathematics specialisation), B.Com, B.M.S. and B.C.A. programmes. Approximately 5000 students are enrolled in this college. He has to do perfect planning related to examination which includes:

Ø Preparing time table

Ø Getting the question paper printed

Ø Supervision time table

Ø Provision for stationary

Ø Generation of seat numbers

Ø Preparing classrooms

Ø Collection of answer sheet

Ø Keeping answer sheets in custody

Ø Distribution of answer sheets to examiners etc.

This plan has to be perfect as the work of examination is very important.

Here, Ms. Bapat is doing planning related to college level activity which is very important. She has to do planning related to classroom availability, sitting arrangement i.e. logistics. At the same time she has to plan for human resource allocation. Ms. Bapat personally needs to supervise all the activities.

Scenario nine

Ms. Singh is the Principal of XYZ College. This college is more than 100 years old reputed school. The student strength of the college is more than 10,000. The management of the college wants to develop this college. One charitable trust has agreed to donate 50 lakhs to the college for this purpose. For this charitable trust has asked them to submit project plan for expansion. Management has asked Ms. Singh to prepare project plan. This task is very complicated and requires lot of thinking.

For preparing the project plan, Ms. Singh has to first think about the vision and mission of the college. She has to consider the existing infrastructure and available human resources. She needs to think creatively about the future requirements of the society. On the basis of visualised needs she has to propose starting of innovative programme. She needs to give justification for the programme. She has to identify the infrastructural requirement as well as human resource requirements. She has to prepare the budget for the development plan. She also has to consider the phases of the development. For each phase she needs to specify the timeline as well budgetary requirements along with the deliverables i.e. how much work will be completed.

Here, Ms. Singh is doing futuristic planning. For this, she has to do higher level of thinking. The planning has to be realistic. She also should be able to prepare the budget carefully. As college is going to get grants for development, a careful planning is expected.

It can be observed that the complexity of the tasks mentioned in scenario seven, eight, and nine is increasing as per the level of manager.

Relative importance of the skill:

All the skills are required for all levels of manager only the degree varies from level to level. Following figure depicts the same:

From the above figure, it is evident that lower level managers require maximum technical skills. As the person moves the ladder, the requirement of technical skills reduces. With respect to human skills it can be said that it is equally important for all levels of manager. Conceptual skill is required maximally for those who are working at top level and minimal for first level managers.

Technical skill is required for first level manager. If we consider the example of Ms. Naik (Refer scenario one), we can say that when she was working as assistant teacher she required more of technical skill. But as she entered the upper managerial position (Refer scenario two) she required less technical skill and more of conceptual skill. For human skills, we cannot differentiate as at all levels of management human skills are essential as management is working with people.

Still at the first level, it is most important as the contact between first level manager and worker is more. Same is true for schools as assistant teachers have more interactions with students as compared to supervisor and principal they need human skills more. At the same time, conceptual skills are most important for top level managers as they are responsible for functioning of the institution.

4. Significance of three-skill approach

From the preceding discussion, we have seen that conceptual skills is more important for top level managers and technical skills for first level managers. This knowledge helps us in selecting appropriate personnel for the positions. This point needs to be considered while selecting mangers at different position. Let us consider the following example:

X College has advertised the post of assistant professor in Hindi and a post of the Principal. The interview call letter for the post of assistant professor states that he/she has to prepare one topic and make presentation in front of the selection committee for ten minutes. Whereas the interview call letter for the post of principal mentions that, the candidate has to prepare a developmental plan of the organization and present it.

At the time of interview of the assistant professor selection committee members, ask subject based and pedagogy based questions. Whereas for the post of principal, the selection committee members ask the questions to check vision, problem solving ability, critical thinking and analytical ability and decision-making ability of the candidate. Hence, it can be concluded that three skill approach helps in selecting right candidates.

Development of Managerial Skills:

We are aware that mangers play very significant role, managing an organisation. Hence, it is necessary that they should possess technical, human and conceptual skills. Let us see what can be done for developing these skills:

Technical skills:

This skill is about performing the tasks. Generally, they are developed when the personnel is acquiring basic qualification for entering the world of work and they differ as per the requirement of that particular profession or job. E.g: teachers acquire pedagogical, evaluation and management related skills when they take diploma/degree in teacher education. These skills are evaluated at the time of appointing the personnel as first level manager. Hence, the management programmes does not have any component related to this skill.

Human skills:

Managers at all levels need to work with human beings. Hence, this skill is required for all levels of managers. It is possible that manger may possess conceptual skill to a large extent but lack in human skill then he/she will not be able to function effectively. Hence, for developing this skill deliberate efforts are needed at pre-service as well as in-service training programme

a) Cooperative learning strategy: They develop communication skills, social relationships, and interpersonal skills, ‘we’ feeling and give experience of working in the team.

b) Sensitivity training: As the name suggests, this technique is useful for making the person aware about his/her goals as well prejudices and sensitive to other persons and in understanding interactions in the group.

c) Activities for enhancing emotional intelligence: It is well known that emotional intelligence plays an important role in success of individual. Research has suggested that EQ is responsible for 80% of the success. Hence, workshops for enhancing the emotional intelligence must be organised.

d) Social intelligence development: Managers cannot work alone they are required to be part of a team. Hence, they need to possess social intelligence. This is the capacity of an individual to effectively navigate and negotiate in the team. This can be done by giving chance to practice assertive techniques, authentic communication, becoming aware of non-verbal communication.

Conceptual Skill:

This skill is required for all levels of managers but it is most important for those who are working at senior positions. Higher level thinking is involved in conceptual skill. The programme for preparation of mangers should give inputs for developing the following higher order of thinking:

a) Workshops for developing the creativity can be organised.

b) Problem based learning can be used as effective strategy for classroom teaching.

c) Using case study approach will help in fostering conceptual skill.

d) Coaching: This technique helps in orienting the first level or junior mangers about realities of the workplace and help them to overcome barriers to effective performance.

e) Job rotation: This technique is used to rotate the assigned jobs of the employee throughout employment. This provide opportunity for employees to become familiar with the work culture of the organisation. This prepares them for their promotion.

f) Participatory decision making: It involves allowing or encouraging employee to be the part of decision making process. It orients the people about the philosophy of organisation. Employee gets first-hand experience of decision making. This experience equips the person for working at top managerial positions.

5. Summary:

a) Technical skills

b) Human skills

c) Conceptual Skills

Technical skills which indicate proficiency in doing specific activities effectively. It involves using specific methods, processes, procedures and techniques. Teachers, engineers, doctors, architects etc. need to have specific profession related technical skills. These technical skills include profession specific knowledge, analytical ability required in that profession and skill of using tools and techniques related to profession. This skill is required to a great extent for lower level managers. Human skills are the skills which are required to work effectively in the group and build the team. This skill involves working with human beings. They help mangers to understand people and motivate them. This skill is required for all levels of managers. Conceptual skill involves the ability to see the institution as a whole. It involves understanding the relationship between various elements of the organisation, having awareness about the functions of the organisation and an ability to visualise how change in one part will have the effect on the organisation as a whole. This skill helps in taking decisions. The correctness of the decision depend on conceptual skills of the person. This skill is required for creating vision and developmental plans of the organisation. It also involves ability to work on hypothetical situation. Conceptual skills are most required for top level managers as they are responsible for framing and implementing the policies for welfare of organisation and less for middle level managers

you can view video on Skills of Managers

References

Katz Robert (1974) Skills of an Effective Administrator, Harvard Business Review, September https://hbr.org/1974/09/skills-of-an-effective-administrator accessed on 15th September,2015
Katz Robert (2009) Skills of an Effective Administrator, Harvard Business School
Publishing Corporation, Boston, Massachusetts
Pandya S.R. (2004) Administration and Management of Education, Himalaya
Publishing house, Mumbai
Stoner James A.F. et al (1995) Management, Sixth edition, Dorling Kindersly (India) Pvt. Ltd, Delhi