Management researcher Robert Lee Katz identified three core skills: technical, human and conceptual abilities as vital ingredients in the management process. Yet there is something missing in this equation to make the management process seamless and successful. Read more…
Professor Gunapala Nanayakkara, a management guru, educator and researcher suggests that success in management processes requires managers and leaders to be task masters, people masters, context masters and finally masters of self. Combining these two theories let me present the following sets of managerial skills that are needed to transform men and women as effective leaders and managers in business and industry:
1. Technical Skills: Performing a given task requires that a manager must have technical skills in relation to his position. Skills do differ across the functions. Still, a manager is expected to demonstrate necessary and overall competence in areas under task management. Process, technique, technology, hands-on experience, knowledge and understanding governing the entire production or service centre are key capabilities in a typical manager’s portfolio. Task orientation is a result of the western civilization, especially American where relating to matter, materials and machinery take pride of place and where completing a mission to its exactitude is appreciated and perhaps rewarded
2. Human Skills: Unlike technical skills, managers see a different dimension in dealing with people. They breathe, and do have life, like other living creations. More than that, they have feelings, emotions, desires, aspirations and top it all every person is unique in terms of physique and mind set. Dealing with people inside organization is called “inter-personal relations” whereas relating to those outside is termed as public relation, customer relation and in such other expressions. Although handling people differ depending on their grades and positions, the least common denominator continues to be the display of human touch by an accomplished manager. From Shaolin temple to modern factories in sprawling industrial city of Shenzhen, Chinese showcase brilliant mastery in motivating people to deliver their goods exceptionally
3. Contextual Skills: Understanding the context in which you are placed is the key force that defines and derives you in arriving at a particular choice. Context can be a form like an organization, time like recession or situation like an emergency. The Arabs went on to explain it philosophically as space, time and being. Let us take the organization. If you are working for a business company your management inputs in terms of skills have to be combed for making profits and working for survival. In a public sector the context goes through a sea-change. Regularity, service orientation and the dictum “pro bono publico’ (for the public interest) demand that you fine-tune your managerial ability in the contextual perspective of public service. Quite a number of skills dominate the contextual area. Chiefly amongst these are, time management, communication, money management, leading, decision making, negotiation and trouble shooting
4. Conceptual Skills: Indians excelled in mastery of self from time immemorial. Vedas are about ten thousand years old. Hinduism as a religion must be older than that. Study of the self, led Indian society to harness the power of mind to do what was unthinkable. Rishis and Sadhus had the ability to fly from one point to another using “pushpak” (an abstract form of flying), recalling memories of past births and so on. Lord Buddha introduced the first conceptual framework in human history wherein he presented the philosophy of Buddhism. Conceptual skills need not be consigned to the realm of high stuff only. Generating ideas, developing concepts, conceptual thinking, problem solving, planning, forecasting, are some of the basic skills needed in everyday business life. Equally important is their use in family life resulting peace and harmony which finally motivates managers and leaders to do excellent jobs in their offices.
No comments:
Post a Comment