Managers use a variety of technical,
human, and conceptual skills.
Th e discussion of roles, agendas, and networking is but a starting point for inquiry
into your personal portfolio of management skills. Another step forward is
found in the work of Harvard scholar Robert L. Katz. He classifi ed the essential
skills of managers into three categories—technical, human, and conceptual. As
shown in Figure 1.4, the relative importance of each skill varies by level of managerial
responsibility.21
Technical Skill
A technical skill is the ability to use a special profi ciency or expertise to perform
particular tasks. Accountants, engineers, market researchers, fi nancial
planners, and systems analysts, for example, possess obvious technical skills.
Other baseline technical skills for any college graduate today include such
things as written and oral communication, computer literacy, and math and
numeracy.
In Katz’s model, technical skills are very important at career entry levels. So
how do you get them? Formal education is an initial source for learning these
skills, but continued training and job experiences are important in further developing
them. Why not take a moment to inventory your technical skills, the
ones you have and the ones you still need to learn for your future career? Katz
tells us that the technical skills are especially important at job entry and early
career points. Surely, you want to be ready the next time a job interviewer asks
the bottom-line question: “What can you really do for us?”
Human Skill
Th e ability to work well with others is a human skill, and it is a foundation for
managerial success. How can we excel at networking, for example, without an
A human skill is the ability to
work well in cooperation with
other people.
A technical skill is the ability to
use expertise to perform a task
with profi ciency.
FIGURE 1.4 What Are Th ree Essential Managerial Skills and How Does Th eir
Importance Vary Across Levels?
All managers need essential technical, human, and conceptual skills. At lower levels of
management, the technical skills are more important than conceptual skills, but at higher
levels of management, the conceptual skills become more important than technical skills.
Because managerial work is so heavily interpersonal, human skills are equally important
across all management levels.
Conceptual skills—The ability to think analytically and achieve integrative problem solving
Human skills—The ability to work well in cooperation with other persons; emotional
intelligence the ability to manage ourselves and relationships effectively
Technical skills—