A manager in the duration of a workday fulfills ten different roles, according to management expert and professor, Henry Mintzberg. These ten primary roles or behaviours may be used to categorise a manager’s different functions.
You may be a manager at a multinational company, or at a university club, but as a manager, you are possibly in charge of leading your team, resolving conflict, negotiating new directions and representing your team all in the space of an hour.
A manager is constantly switching roles according to the changing circumstances around them. To be a good manager, you need to use an understanding of all these key roles to perform your day-to-day functions.
Mintzberg’s ten
Mintzberg published the ten different management roles in his 1990 book Mintzberg on Management: Inside our Strange World of Organizations, which are figurehead, leader, liaison, monitor, disseminator, spokesperson, entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator. The ten roles are then subdivided into three categories: interpersonal, informational and decisional.
Practical application
You can apply Mintzberg’s ten management roles model and better your skills as a manager by using it as a frame of reference. It pays to work on the roles that one fulfills most often as a priority, but you should also work to hone the roles you do not necessarily fulfill every day.
The most effective way to become a better manager using the ten roles is by listing them in order of priority according to your current job and future plans, and working on improving the abilities in each role one by one.
Figurehead: As a figurehead, you represent your team. The obvious areas to start working on in this role are your image and reputation at work. Practice becoming more modest and empathic to others, a role model everyone looks up to and setting an example for everyone by being the kind of worker you want others to be.
Leader: A leadership role is one that a manager plays for the greater part of the day. To be an effective leader, improve your emotional intelligence, be empathic and earn your team’s respect.
Liaison: To liaise effectively between internal and external stakeholders as all managers are wont to do, harness your professional networking skills.
Monitor: To be a good monitor, use fast and effective reading skills, keep up to date with not just industry news but current affairs, and learn to gather and organise information.
Disseminator: A good disseminator is one with good writing and communication skills, and one with the ability to tailor incoming information according to the need of the people it has to be disbursed among.
Spokesperson: Representing your team is challenging, be it in an internal meeting or in front of the media. Learn to represent your organisation effectively by honing your presentation and public speaking skills and learning better professional networking.
Entrepreneur: To improve your entrepreneurial skills, work on your techniques to manage changes in your team, perfect your ability to solve problems and sharpen your creativity skills.
Disturbance handler: As a disturbance handler, you are in an internal role where you must manage the emotions of your team, resolve any conflicts and make sure the team is functioning smoothly.
Resource allocator: This is a more technical role where you have to learn to manage a budget, always look for ways to cut costs and get used to constantly prioritising and trimming the fat. As a resource allocator, you have to stretch the resources available to you under trying circumstances.
Negotiator: Some people have bargaining skills regardless of the position they have at work, but a manager must learn to acquire, or polish their bargaining skills because it is mandatory to the role. Learn more about win-win negotiations, and practice role-playing to be on your edge.