Managers shape the culture of their teams and offices in countless ways. They must play an administrative and leadership role. They need a variety of skills to achieve success. But what exactly does a manager do? These are the basic requirements of the manager’s job and the reasons why these skills are critical for success in modern organizations. Management remains a viable career option.
The Role of the Manager Within the Organization
Organizations are structured hierarchical entities. An organizational chart can include the company’s structure and the relationships between roles and responsibilities, from top to bottom: CEO, Vice President, Manager, and then Supervisor. Each of these individuals performs separate and critical functions, enabling the organization to operate, meet its commitments, and achieve profitability.
As you rise through the organizational ranks, you become more distant from the day-to-day operations and the work of the company’s employees. While the CEO and their deputies focus more on issues of strategy, investment, and overall coordination, managers directly engage with the individuals who serve customers, produce and sell the company’s goods or services, and provide internal support to other groups.
Additionally, the manager acts as a bridge with upper management to translate high-level strategies and goals into operational plans that drive the business. In this position, the manager is responsible for performance to the executives and for providing support, guidance, and motivation to front-line employees. It is common for managers to feel pulled between the demands of upper leaders and the needs of the individuals performing the company’s work.
The Manager’s Work
Have you ever watched a “plate spinner” at the circus? This performer places a breakable dinner plate on a stick and starts to spin it. The performer repeats this task dozens of times and then runs around trying to keep all the plates spinning without letting any of them fall to the ground.
Often, a manager feels that their role is very much like that of a plate spinner. The manager’s functions vary widely and include:
- Recruiting and hiring employees
- Training new employees
- Coaching and developing current employees
- Addressing and resolving performance issues
- Supporting problem-solving and decision-making
- Conducting timely performance evaluations
- Translating company goals into functional and individual goals
- Monitoring performance and initiating actions to enhance results
- Overseeing and managing expenses and budgets
- Tracking and reporting results to upper management
- Planning and setting goals for future periods
The manager’s daily work is filled with individual or group interactions focused on operations. Many managers use the early mornings or evenings to complete their reports and catch up on email and task lists. There is no dull moment, and there is hardly any time for quiet reflection in the lives of most managers.
Types of Managers
Managers are often responsible for a specific function or department within the organization. From accounting to marketing, sales, customer support, engineering, quality, and all other groups, the manager leads either their team directly or oversees a group of supervisors who manage teams of employees.
In addition to the traditional role of departmental or functional manager, often known as line managers, there are also product and project managers who are responsible for a set of activities or initiatives, often without any direct reports. These informal managers work across functions and recruit team members from different groups for temporary and unique projects.
Span of Control
The term “span of control” relates to the number of individuals who report directly to any given manager. There have been various trends over the years, but the current approach to creating an appropriate span of control within an organization involves analyzing what the organization and its employees need.
When considering the span of control, having few direct reports creates a narrow span of control and a hierarchical structure that makes decisions mostly at the top of the organization. A narrow span of control can be more costly but gives managers more time to engage with direct reports. It also tends to encourage professional growth and employee advancement because the manager knows the employees well and spends time with them individually.
According to
To the Human Resources Management Association: “Conversely, a wide span of control refers to a larger number of direct reports overseen by one manager, creating a ‘flat’ organization. This approach increases the number of interactions between the manager and their direct reports, which can make managers feel pressured, but can also provide more autonomy.”
In summary, a manager typically has no more than six to eight direct reports, although many are responsible for daily oversight of ten or even twenty individuals. A smaller span of control allows for increased support for training, coaching, and development. A larger span reduces the manager’s ability to support their direct reports but also allows for increased employee autonomy.
Manager Authority
The manager may have the authority to hire, fire, discipline, or promote employees, especially in small organizations with the assistance of HR staff. In larger companies, the manager may have the right to recommend such actions to the next level of management. The manager has the authority to change work assignments for team members in both large and small organizations.
Core Skills of a Manager
Managers need to develop and enhance the following skills:
- Leadership: The manager should be able to prioritize and motivate team members. This involves self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. The manager should emanate energy, empathy, and confidence. Remember that effective leaders work daily to develop team members through positive, constructive feedback and guidance.
- Communication: The manager must become a student of effective communication in all its applications, including one-on-one, small groups, large groups, email, remote work, and social media. Good managers understand that the most important aspect of communication is listening.
- Collaboration: The manager serves as a model for working together. They support collaborative efforts across functions and adopt collaborative behaviors to set the example for team members.
- Critical Thinking: The manager seeks to understand where and how their projects fit into the big picture to enhance their effectiveness. The manager reviews priorities in light of the organization’s larger goals. This understanding is translated into meaningful objectives for team members who need to understand where their work fits into the big picture.
- Finance: The manager needs to learn the language of numbers. Managers should strive to understand how the company invests its money and ensure that these investments yield good returns for the firm. While it’s not necessary for a manager to be an accountant to be effective, it’s essential to learn and apply the fundamentals of sound financial understanding. For example, how many employees are needed to produce the quality product at the lowest cost?
- Project Management: Every initiative within the organization translates into a project. Projects can become complex and hard to control. Modern managers understand and leverage formal project management practices to ensure timely completion and proper oversight of initiatives.
Management Career
The work of management is divided into activities related to planning, leading, organizing, and controlling, and the manager’s function encompasses all these areas. Anyone aspiring to move into management as a career must develop and demonstrate strong technical and functional skills. Be an expert in your field and have a strong alignment with interacting, supporting, and guiding others.
Conclusion
The best managers understand that their role is about their team and its performance, not themselves. They work hard to develop the specific skills outlined above and find great satisfaction in the successes of their team members. If you do this effectively at a lower level, others will notice your value and seek to increase your responsibilities over time. Management as a career is both challenging and rewarding.
Source: https://www.thebalancemoney.com/what-is-a-manager-2276096
Leave a Reply