Managers: levels, skills and roles
Managers work at three levels. Katz says they need technical, human and conceptual skills; Mintzberg groups their work into ten roles.
Levels of management
| Level | Examples | Main focus |
|---|---|---|
| Top managers | Chairman, CEO, managing director, executive directors | Long-term direction, strategy and policies for the whole organization |
| Middle managers | Regional manager, department head, plant manager | Turn strategy into plans; link top management with supervisors |
| First-line managers | Supervisor, shift leader, team leader | Daily operations and direct supervision of workers |
| Non-managerial employees | Machine operator, cashier, clerk | Do the work; nobody reports to them |
Katz's three managerial skills
| Skill | Meaning | Most needed by |
|---|---|---|
| Technical | Job-specific knowledge and methods, such as an accountant applying SLFRS or an engineer reading a drawing | First-line managers |
| Human (interpersonal) | Working well with people, alone and in groups: communicating, motivating, resolving conflict | All levels about equally |
| Conceptual | Seeing the organization as a whole, understanding how parts fit, and thinking through complex situations | Top managers |
Mintzberg's ten managerial roles
| Group | Role | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Interpersonal | Figurehead | Opening a new branch; signing legal documents |
| Interpersonal | Leader | Hiring, training and motivating staff |
| Interpersonal | Liaison | Keeping contacts outside the chain of command, such as other firms and officials |
| Informational | Monitor | Gathering news on competitors, customers and policy |
| Informational | Disseminator | Passing information on to staff |
| Informational | Spokesperson | Speaking for the organization to the media or the public |
| Decisional | Entrepreneur | Starting new projects and improvements |
| Decisional | Disturbance handler | Dealing with a strike, a power failure or a supplier crisis |
| Decisional | Resource allocator | Deciding who gets money, people and equipment |
| Decisional | Negotiator | Bargaining with trade unions, suppliers and buyers |
Who is a manager today?
A manager is someone who coordinates and oversees the work of other people so that organizational goals are reached. Mintzberg built his roles from watching managers at work, and found their days were busy, varied and broken into short activities rather than calm planning. Today even first-line managers need some conceptual skill, because work and technology change fast. Writers also stress newer competencies: communication, managing change and using digital tools.
In a Dialog sales outlet, the outlet supervisor needs strong technical skill with systems and packages. The regional manager needs human skill to guide many outlets. The group CEO needs conceptual skill to see the whole telecom market and set direction.
Short answer: “Name Katz's three managerial skills.” Technical, human (interpersonal) and conceptual skills.
Structured question: “Explain the skills needed by managers at different levels.” Define the three skills, then show that technical skill matters most at first-line level, human skill at all levels, and conceptual skill most at the top.
Essay: “Explain Mintzberg's managerial roles with examples.” Introduce Mintzberg's observation study, then the three groups and ten roles, each with a Sri Lankan example, and note that the mix changes with level.
Groups: I-I-D (Interpersonal, Informational, Decisional). Roles in order: 'Father Loves Lunch; Mother Drinks Soup; Every Day Rice Needed' = Figurehead, Leader, Liaison; Monitor, Disseminator, Spokesperson; Entrepreneur, Disturbance handler, Resource allocator, Negotiator.