Managerial Roles

A lot of studies have gone behind describing the behavior of a manager in an organization. Traditionally, most employees believed that a manager was certainly someone who sat comfortably in his office thinking and planning and giving instructions to employees.

However, over time a manager’s behavior was divided into functions and managerial roles. In this article, we will look at the various managerial roles that managers perform over the course of a single day.

Suggested Videos

 

Introduction

In 1973, Henry Mintzberg – a Canadian academic and author on business and management published a book called ‘The Nature of Managerial Work’. A classic now, Mintzberg based his book on data derived from the time diaries of male executives.

The data suggested that managers actually did not spend a lot of time on planning or strategizing. On the contrary, they spent most of their day answering telephone calls, solving problems, dealing with people, responding to crises, and had to deal with interruptions regularly.

He found that managers could not stick to one task since they were constantly being interrupted either by a phone call or a crisis. Over the years, managerial roles have become busier and more stressful.

So much so, that managers find their days never-ending. With an economy that runs 24x7x365, multiple chains of command, numerous projects, and frequently changing technology, etc., managers have a tough time on their jobs.

Browse more Topics Under Nature Of Management And Its Process

• Concept of Management
• Objectives and Importance of Management
• Management as Science
• Management as Art
• Management as Profession
• Management Functions
• Development of Management Theory
• Managerial Roles
• Skills of an Effective Manager
• Tasks and Responsibilities of Professional Managers

Managerial Roles

For better understanding, Mintzberg categorized all activities into ten managerial roles performed over the course of a day. These are as follows:

 

Interpersonal Roles

• Figurehead – includes symbolic duties which are legal or social in nature.
• Leader – includes all aspects of being a good leader. This involves building a team, coaching the members, motivating them, and developing strong relationships.
• Liaison – includes developing and maintaining a network outside the office for information and assistance.

Informational Roles

• Monitor – includes seeking information regarding the issues that are affecting the organization. Also, this includes internal as well as external information.
• Disseminator – On receiving any important information from internal or external sources, the same needs to be disseminated or transmitted within the organization.
• Spokesperson – includes representing the organization and providing information about the organization to outsiders.

Decisional Roles

• Entrepreneur – involves all aspects associated with acting as an initiator, designer, and also an encourager of innovation and change.
• Disturbance handler – taking corrective action when the organization faces unexpected difficulties which are important in nature.
• Resource Allocator – being responsible for the optimum allocation of resources like time, equipment, funds, and also human resources, etc.
• Negotiator – includes representing the organization in negotiations which affect the manager’s scope of responsibility.

Solved Question on Managerial Roles

Q1. What are the 10 managerial roles?

Answer:

According to Henry Mintzberg, there are ten managerial roles. Of these, there are three interpersonal roles. These include being a figurehead, leader, and also a liaison. Further, there are three informational roles. These include being a monitor, disseminator, and also a spokesperson. Finally, there are four decisional roles. These include being an entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, and also a negotiator.