New discovery of management skills
In order to perform the functions of management and to assume multiple roles, managers must be skilled. Robert Katz identified three managerial skills that are essential to successful management: technical, human, and conceptual.1 Technical skill involves process or technique knowledge and proficiency. Managers use the processes, techniques and tools of a specific area. Human skill involves the ability to interact effectively with people. Managers interact and cooperate with employees. Conceptual skill involves the formulation of ideas. Managers understand abstract relationships, develop ideas, and solve problems creatively. Thus, technical skill deals with things, human skill concerns people, and conceptual skill has to do with ideas.
A manager's level in the organization determines the relative importance of possessing technical, human, and conceptual skills. Top-level managers need conceptual sk1ills in order to view the organization as a whole. Conceptual skills are used in planning and dealing with ideas and abstractions.
Supervisors need technical skills to manage their area of specialty. All levels of management need human skills in order to interact and communicate with other people successfully.
Building team-base work environments
Organizations are two or more people working together in a structured, formal environment to achieve common goals. Managers provide guidance, implementation, and coordination so those organizational goals can be reached. The modern manager coaches employees of the organization to develop teamwork, which effectively fulfills their needs and achieves organizational objectives. The traditional autocratic organization with its hierarchical system of management and an overbearing "boss" that forces performance out of people is no longer needed. The modern manager provides an atmosphere of empowerment by letting workers make decisions and inspiring people to boost productivity.
Managing with information technology
As the pace of change accelerates and diverse technologies converge, new global industries are being created, for example, telecommunications. Technological...