The Organization Superman

The Organization Superman- with great power comes great responsibility

The article could very well also be called ‘superwoman skills’ for that matter. But to avoid confusion for readers who might, after reading super‘woman,’ think that I am going to talk about women empowerment (which I am not), I decided to stick to super’man’ unfortunately.

Along with every position comes a set of responsibilities; and to do justice to that position, one must possess specific skills in order to fulfill the responsibilities with perfection; and the position of a manager (who is the superman here by the way) is no exception to it. A manager must possess a unique set of skills to achieve effectiveness and efficiency in his work. A manager needs the skills to plan, control, organize, lead and finally take decisions. These are considered as the five primary managerial skills that each manager must possess. Let us know about them a little more.

As the phrase goes ‘failing to plan is planning to fail’, PLANNING is a very important process of management. An effective manager must be able to foresee the future, and accordingly, set the organizational objectives. He or she must be able to choose strategies to attain these objectives with respect to future trends keeping the organizational resources in mind, and create standards to monitor the implementation of these strategies.

Just as the superman takes charge of a situation and handles it with efficiency, the manager must possess the skill of CONTROLLING. This skill encompasses actions and decisions taken by the manager to ensure that everything goes according to the plan. It involves measuring performances, comparing them against standards or targets, and take corrective actions in case of deviation.

A manager must also possess ORGANISING skills, which is all about who will do what and how. He or she must be able to describe various jobs and their contents, and select, train and induct people in these jobs. The manager must define authority and the span of control amongst people/employees, and exert flexibility for change in these working links as and when required.

A manager is a leader as he has to get the work done by his people. LEADING skills require a manager to influence people to strive willingly for group objectives. He or she must recognize and understand the values, personality, perception and attitude of his or her team members/employees, and accordingly, motivate them towards achieving the organizational goals.

DECISION MAKING skills although considered a part of the planning process, pervade all functions and processes of management. A manager must be able to take decisions which are good in quality and satisfactory in producing desired results and solutions to problems. The manager should possess the creativity to solve novel and complex problems by taking decisions which are effective for the situation concerned.

Although these are the five basic skills, which define the various roles a manager has to play, there are some other specific skills that managers at various levels must possess in order to play their roles successfully. The requirement and use of these skills differs for various levels of managers.
Technical skill denotes the ability to work in a particular area of expertise. A financial manager must know the nitty-gritty of various financial statements, a production manager must have a good idea about the raw materials required, the production process, the machineries used etc. in the production, and so on. Vocational training and on-the job or hands-on-training can improve one’s technical skills.
Human skill is the manager’s ability to work effectively with his/her subordinates and superiors. The superman collaborates with his teammates of the Justice League because he has good human skills! These skills are required at all managerial levels too, as every manager has to interact with people, like the superman. This includes skills such as building interpersonal relations, communication, motivating, problem-solving etc.
Conceptual skill is the ability to see the ‘big picture’ of the organization, that is, seeing the organization as a whole. A manager must be able to visualize the relationship between various factors, both within and outside the organization, which may affect the organization. This enables him/her to analyze the effects of a particular activity, or change in policy of a particular component of the organization on other activities/components of the organization, and implement the activity/change effectively.

Thus we can see that there are a host of skills required of a manger, and to develop all these skills is definitely a herculean task. In view of this, isn’t the manager a superman after all?

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