Mintzberg Role Of Management

[Eberardo Topher]

Beinga manager means assuming various managerial roles at the same time. You would have to be an inspirational leader, take responsibility for people and processes, and handle multiple issues of different kinds. Each of the roles managers perform is important, and each presents its own challenges.

In this article, we will discuss managerial roles described in the theory of Henry Mintzberg, a Canadian academic and author specializing in business and management, a Professor of Management studies at McGill University. Mintzberg categorized managerial responsibilities, drawing a line between duties that require different skill sets. This way, he made it easier to analyze the nature of managerial work.

Managerial roles are behaviors adopted to perform various management functions, like leading and planning, organizing, strategizing, and solving problems. Within an organization, managers of different levels have different responsibilities that may overlap.

Henry Mintzberg classified managerial roles based on their purpose. He developed 10 managerial roles and divided them in 3 categories, grouping the roles that share similar features. Some of these features can be applied to two or more roles at the same time.

Informational roles. The informational category involves creating, receiving, or sharing information with coworkers. The manager collects information from sources both inside and outside the organization, processes it, and delivers it to those who need it.

Decisional roles. Interpersonal roles are about dealing with people, and informational ones are about dealing with knowledge. Decisional roles are about action. By communicating with people and using information, managers make decisions that lead the organization to its goals.

This role requires performing social, ceremonial, and legal responsibilities. The Figurehead represents the organization, as well as motivates the team to achieve goals. For people, this managerial role is a source of power and authority.

The responsibilities include hiring and training (direct leadership) and encouragement of employees (indirect leadership). Leaders influence and motivate people, giving them a sense of purpose to reach organizational goals.

Managers in the liaison role develop and maintain internal and external relationships. They are a connection link that bridges the gap between employees of different levels to ensure work is done smoothly. Liaisons transfer knowledge through different members of the organization, up and down the chain of command, and can also involve their business contacts from outside the company.

In the monitor role, managers are expected to look for information necessary for their organization, as well as for information that can concern potential industry changes. They gather internal and external sources, trying to identify problems and opportunities for growth. In other words, they scan the environment to assess the current state of things in a company and see if corrective action is needed.

A manager can pass on information directly to the appropriate person, or pass it on between subordinates if they lack contact. The information can concern the organization's direction or strategy, as well as specific technical issues.

Managers in a spokesperson role speak for their organization, defending the company's interests. Their responsibility is to make the organization look good in the eyes of potential or new clients and the general public.

In the entrepreneur role, a manager organizes and runs business processes. This role develops and implements new ideas or strategies, which often means coming up with innovative solutions. Entrepreneurs create conditions for change since innovation and change are needed for a company to stay competitive. Besides, they make sure a company adopts new products and processes pioneered by others or change the organizational structure.

The resource allocator role requires a manager to determine how and where to apply organizational resources. By resources we mean equipment, staff, funding, facilities, and time. Typically, the resources an organization has are limited, so it takes some effort to decide how to best allocate them.

Managers participate in negotiations, trying to reach their goals. This managerial role includes negotiating with external parties, where they represent the interests of their organizations, as well as negotiating with internal parties, such as other departments or team members.

First of all, think about your reputation. Do you set a good example? Are you empathetic and humble, or, on the contrary, cold and selfish? Answer these questions to see where you need to work on your personality.

There are different ways of how to make contact with the necessary people. You could meet them face-to-face at conferences. You could also use social media like LinkedIn or Twitter. In any case, your task is to let people know what your organization does and get them interested.

To share information with coworkers, you will need to have good communication skills. You can communicate verbally, using your body language or phone, or through writing. Traditional face-to-face meetings are very useful but time-consuming. Instant communication saves your time, but it may also create a lot of misunderstanding.

As a spokesperson, a manager is expected to represent the organization and speak for it. Managers will have to know how to deliver excellent presentations and probably work with the media. This means a manager will have to create an image of a confident person who can freely speak in public.

A good leader is supposed to have conflict resolution skills, because conflicts will inevitably take place. Sometimes employees cannot resolve conflicts by themselves, and will need leader's help. Sometimes a leader will be involved in a conflict himself.

The value of Henry Mintzberg's management theory is that he described the roles managers of different levels play every day - this is a holistic approach that reflects the whole complexity of the managerial work. At the same time, this typology gives managers a chance to clearly see where they lack skill, so they can work on self-improvement.

3- The last role requested from a manager in the interpersonal cluster is to be a liaison and to build contacts with all stakeholders. Managers should oversee networking even beyond their organization boundary.

B) Informational cluster includes also very critical roles. Based on these roles, the manager is supposed to communicate, monitor, manage, and distribute the information at all levels. Therefore, the detailed roles in this cluster are the following:

4- Monitor: managers should ask for information inside and outside the workplace. This will help them to evaluate their department from internal and external viewpoints, discover related problems, and address them in due time.

Managers are always comfortable in their organizational setting. However, they can always benefit themselves as well as their employees from adopting positive change, training, and development. The roles of managers as defined by Mintzberg are considered essential guidelines for good managers, though, adding new skills and competencies can always uplift a manager to a higher level. A level of exploration and people understanding that helps in improving the overall performance of the organization.If you are interested in learning more about leadership and management, check out our Certified Leadership and Management courses.

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Mintzberg recommends breaking down management roles and responsibilities and organizing the workplace to simplify complex concepts. This helps streamline companies for efficiency, improves employee engagement and allows each team member to develop their own skills.

An adhocracy has no formal structure. Instead, highly qualified employees form teams to complete tasks and adjust to industry changes. This is the opposite of a bureaucracy as organizations that follow this structure have a decentralized process.

In a machine organization, workers operate as parts of a standardized system. Each department is responsible for its own tasks and decision-making is centralized. These departments are incredibly formalized and specific parameters define employees and their work. In a larger company, these departments could be accounting, marketing, human resources or other standardized teams.

The professional organization is similarly bureaucratic as the machine organization but, here, each professional works independently without the centralization of tasks that match their specific skill set. This structure places the strengths of organizations on highly knowledgeable workers with particular expertise.

This structure is most commonly found in educational institutions, accounting firms and law firms, where there are a lot of specialists working for one entity. Because every worker has such unique proficiency, senior management can have difficulty maintaining control and managing them as these professionals have autonomy.

The entrepreneur organization consists of a singular structure with one person in power and a few subordinates working beneath them. Compared to other organization types, this simple structure is informal as the size of the company gives leaders flexibility.

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