Of Goals and Managerial Skills....

“The only source of knowledge is experience.” - Albert Einstein

Prof. Mandi's lectures on Principles of Organization and Mangement truly follow this spirit of education.

In the previous post, I had mentioned a tower building activity being carried out in the class. Prof. Mandi derived further insights from that.

Some of the important concepts learnt were:

Goal Setting and SMART Goals:

Prof. Mandi explained the importance of Goal setting and Goal achievement.  We should set goals that are  SMART- Specific-Measurable-Achievable-Realistic-Time Bound. 

The SMART way of goal setting is a useful tool, but our thoughts should not be restricted to these five keywords only. The interpretation and relevance may vary from situation to situation. The following graphic explores a few more ways of defining smart goals.

Pygmalion in Management:

J. Sterling Livingston named a 1969 article after the mythical sculptor who carves a statue of a woman that is brought to life. His title also pays homage to George Bernard Shaw, whose play Pygmalion explores the notion that the way one person treats another can, for better or worse, be transforming. In his article, Livingston notes that creating positive expectations is remarkably difficult, and he offers guidelines for managers: Focus special attention on an employee’s first year because that’s when expectations are set, make sure new hires get matched with outstanding supervisors, and set high expectations for yourself. These cases and other evidence available from scientific research now reveal:

·         What managers expect of subordinates and the way they treat them largely determine their performance and career progress.

·         A unique characteristic of superior managers is the ability to create high performance expectations that subordinates fulfill.

·         Less effective managers fail to develop similar expectations, and as a consequence, the productivity of their subordinates suffers.

·         Subordinates, more often than not, appear to do what they believe they are expected to do.

 Skills of a Manager 

The above picture or diagram shows the managerial skills which are required by managers working at different levels of management. The top-level managers require more conceptual skills and less technical skills. The lower-level managers require more technical skills and fewer conceptual skills. Human relations skills are required equally by all three levels of management.

1. Conceptual Skills

Conceptual skill is the ability to visualise (see) the organisation as a whole. It includes Analytical, Creative and Initiative skills. It helps him to solve the problems for the benefit of the entire organisation.

2. Human Relations Skills

Human relations skills are also called Interpersonal skills. It is an ability to work with people. It helps the managers to understand, communicate and work with others.

3. Technical Skills

A technical skill is the ability to perform the given job. Technical skills help the managers to use different machines and tools. It also helps them to use various procedures and techniques.

The interplay of these skills and goal setting was perfectly exhibited in the tower building exercise, where there was a goal setting on the number of blocks used for the tower and then over-performing and exceeding the goals. Also, the conceptual, human and technical skill requirements were effectively demonstrated when the blindfolded person was supervised by a person and both of them were in turn, guided by a third (top) person.

Happy to Learn!  :)