• Technical skills are especially important for first-line managers who supervise the workers who produce products or serve customers. Team leaders and first-line managers need technical knowledge and skills to train new employees and help employees solve problems. An example would be an engineering manager who manages a department of engineers who design cars.
• Human skills are equally important to all management levels. However, upper-level managers tend to spend more time with human skills. On average, first-line managers spend 57% of their time with people, middle managers spend 63% of their time directly with people, and top managers spend as much as 78% of their time dealing with people. An example is a vice-president who must negotiate with other vice-presidents on scarce resources.
• Conceptual skills are especially important at the upper levels of management. These leaders must be able to create a vision of the company’s future, a task which requires great intelligence and conceptual ability. However, a lower-level manager with great conceptual skills may be viewed as having potential to rise in the organization.