Management Skills and Roles
Figure 2-1 suggests the relationships of technical, conceptual, and human relations skills and shows their typical weighting at various levels. Specific situations require greater or lesser use of the skills at all levels of the organization.
Skills
• Technical skills are the abilities of managers to use the methods, processes, and techniques of managing (such as preparing a budget or a pro forma, planning a new process, or reorganizing a workgroup). Technical skills tend to decrease in importance as managers become more senior.
• Conceptual skills are the mental ability to see how var- ious factors in a given situation fit together and inter- act. Seeing second- and third-order consequences of decisions and nondecisions is especially important. The need to use conceptual skills increases significantly as managers become more senior.
• Human/interpersonal skills include cooperating with others, understanding them, and motivating and lead- ing them in the workplace. Human relations skills tend to become less important as managers become more senior.