The manager is the heart of every company and project. Just as the project manager is at the center of the events in his project, so the manager in an organization must be aware of everything significant.
The manager is the one who determines the goals, manages, plans organizes, and controls human, financial, material, and information resources. He acquires an image that meets the requirements of working in a particular organizational environment in this capacity is the reason for achieving the desired results. Reference: “Different types of managers”, https://bvop.org/journal/types-of-managers/ (BVOP.org)
The implementation of these functions guarantees the effectiveness of management.
Leadership is related to the motivation of people in the organization, to the choice of methods and style of management, resolving various types of conflicts, etc.
Planning skills
Planning is a key function performed by the manager. He must be able to foresee the future. To achieve the set goals, it is necessary to make different decisions about what should be done, in what way, by whom, and in what timeframe.
By organizing, the individual elements of the organization are arranged in time and space and the organizational balance is preserved. The various changes that take place both within the organization and in the environment require an adequate organizational and coordination response on the part of the manager.
Monitoring and evaluation
The manager is the one who has to compare the actual situation with the previously desired one (predicted, planned). To this end, it is necessary to define objective criteria for measurement, evaluation, and comparison. It is extremely important in controlling and evaluating to exclude subjectivism, which can lead to conflicts and internal tensions in the organization.
According to John Adair (English leadership expert), the qualities that are most valued by senior management at successful companies and organizations are:
- Determination
- Leadership skills
- Good name
- Enthusiasm
- Imagination
- Desire for hard work
- Analytical abilities
- Understanding others
- Ability to reveal opportunities
- Ability to deal with unpleasant situations
- Ability to adapt quickly to change
- Willingness to take risks
All these qualities of the manager must be used very carefully, in different ways, and under different circumstances. For example, consistency is a positive quality if it means that people know their position, do not expect unpleasant surprises from your decisions, and think that you are doing the right thing. But if the principle of consistency is taken to extremes, there may be a lack of flexibility and too much predictability. Reference: “Fundamentals of management and classification of management functions”, https://www.libraryofmu.org/fundamentals-of-management/
Regardless of the management level at which he is located or the function he performs, the manager must have basic knowledge and skills. Some of the more important ones are:
The manager must have practical experience
They are necessary for the manager to successfully perform a certain profession, and help to carry out a specific activity. He must first of all be a good specialist in a given field and only then accept the performance of managerial functions.
Practical knowledge and skills are relatively more important for managers at the operational level of management, as well as for managers in different areas of management. To be able to successfully manage, the manager, in a given profession, industry, or field, must have experience.
Experience, in turn, is gained through theoretical training and especially through practice. From this, it should be concluded that to be a good manager, it would be best for him to rise in the hierarchy step by step. In this situation, he will have faced many problems, he will know how they were solved by his manager and following the current circumstances, he will be ready to synthesize a solution to a problem of any nature.
The better you know the job to your subordinates, the more effectively you can train, motivate and manage them.
Humanitarian knowledge and skills
Managers constantly communicate with representatives of the external and internal environment. Therefore, they must be able to communicate with people and understand the reasons that cause one or individual and group work behavior.
The ability to motivate people, to resolve various interpersonal and intergroup conflicts is of particular importance for establishing the authority of managers, which is why their subordinates trust them and follow them in achieving goals. The manager must be aware of why a problem occurs.
In a strike, for example, he is the person who must listen to the protesters, understand the nature of their problems, solve them in a way that benefits both parties, and ultimately consolidate his authority.
Conceptual knowledge and skills
This knowledge and skills enable the manager to anticipate the development of the organization in the future and make the right strategic decisions. Through them, the manager can reveal the causal relationships and interdependencies between different events, processes, and phenomena.
Conceptual knowledge and skills help to form opinions and take actions that are based on opinions and ideas expressed and proposed by competent professionals. This type of skill allows the manager to see the problems and their solutions before they happen. Experience, innovative thinking, knowledge of the legal framework are required.
All managers need analysis skills
Very often the manager is faced with the need to make decisions that lead to a favorable outcome of various problem situations. In these cases, he must be able to diagnose and analyze the causes that caused them.
This in turn leads to the development of correct management decisions. Often the manager has to solve complex cases and problems.
Very important, right at this moment, is the ability to diagnose and analyze. Only by analyzing the essence of the problem, a timely and adequate plan for action and dealing with the situation can be prepared.
Knowledge and skills for the implementation of managerial influence
The manager will not be able to influence the object of management if he does not know the functions, principles, and methods of management. In addition, he must be able to use the various management tools and techniques. Reference: “Manager vs leader: similarities and differences”, https://pm.mba/posts/manager-vs-leader/
Knowledge of the stages and methods for their development is extremely important for making timely and effective management decisions. Proper construction of the communication system and the use of management information makes the manager confident in the implementation of management influence.
Effective managers are built as such by acquiring basic knowledge and skills, subsequent managerial qualification, gaining practical experience
To be good professionals, people must have certain qualities. When it comes to those that are a condition for the success of the manager, we could say that they are extremely diverse.
The qualities that a manager must possess can be divided into two groups:
Innate qualities:
Logical and abstract thinking.
For the manager, the tendency to think logically is not unimportant. It finds expression in the search for causal relations, its ability to make generalizations, to reveal trends.
Abstract thinking finds expression in the combination of processes and phenomena and reaching certain conclusions. Logical thinking is one of the qualities that a good manager must possess. It helps to better analyze the problem, to better understand its essence, and hence to prevent future ones, following, logically, possible trends.
Observation and memory
A good manager must have observation and a good memory. Observation is about discovering something specific in the perception of reality, revealing some details that will go unnoticed by other people, as well as storing these impressions for a while. The very mechanism of memory is different – memorizing names, visual images, numbers. For example, for managers responsible for personnel management, it is important to remember names, financial managers – numbers and figures, etc.
Ability to concentrate
This is the ability of the manager to direct his mental activity to a concept, content, or object. The success of the manager is related to the concentration on certain content areas.
Fantasy and creativity
The ability to combine is a prerequisite for understanding and solving emerging problems. The existence of ideas and their transformation into reality is related to the creative activity of man.
Acquire qualities:
Determination is essential for the manager
The manager must be ready to act, to take risks. Determination is about perseverance and diligence. The development of this quality is associated with great tension and effort.
Every manager needs to determine the measure of stress. An inner conviction is also needed to make the decision a reality.
This requires systematic work, energy, and vigilance. An effective manager draws strength from the tireless pursuit of tasks. The action charges him with energy.
A good manager is resourceful
For the manager, the dynamics as a quality means a tendency to move, change, initiative, desire to work. This dynamic largely determines the entrepreneurship of the manager and the desire to achieve a certain positive result. Reference: “The profession of the manager: How to become one”, https://scrumtime.org/profession-of-the-manager/
A good manager is resourceful and extremely practical. But this does not mean that he is too careful and does not take risks. His risks are well exemplified. He aims at what seems impossible and is not afraid of failure. Therefore, he manages to achieve the impossible and unattainable. This makes the manager truly great. He is dynamic, prone to change, initiative, willingness to work. This dynamic largely determines his entrepreneurship and desire to achieve a certain positive result. Another important quality is the ability to react quickly in various situations and make important decisions at the moment.
Reliability
The manager should be a reliable partner in the activity. For this he must have:
- sense of responsibility ;
- psychological endurance;
- perseverance;
- discretion;
- honesty;
- to be ethical.
The trust placed in the manager by shareholders, members of the management board, the management team, clients, contractors, government agencies largely depends on these qualities. A good leader must be a disciplined and responsible person, be accessible, honest, and able to make fair decisions.
Self-confidence
The manager must believe in his strength, not allow the feeling of hopelessness in certain situations, to accept the challenges.
Persuasion
The manager should persuade the people he works with so that they trust him and follow him in taking various actions. This can be achieved if he develops certain qualities such as:
- inner conviction
- authority
- contact
- eloquence;
- optimism.
No less important quality for a good manager is the ability to clearly and reasonably present your ideas to your team, convincing them of their rights and importance and motivate them to give their best to achieve the company’s goals.
The manager, as a kind of leader, must have the ability to involve the subjects of management in their ideas. Through various motivational approaches and punishments, he is obliged to achieve the maximum potential of his subordinates.
To achieve this, however, it is necessary to precisely coordinate the actions between the individual individuals, taking into account their differences, characteristics, and potential. Another important quality is the ability to gain the respect of his team and to preserve the authority he has built. He must motivate his subordinates by taking into account the individual qualities of each of them and offers opportunities for career development by assessing their contribution.
The manager creates working relationships with subordinates
There is also a great need to build effective working relationships with subordinates, the ability of a person to be able to listen to them, to be tolerant, and to set achievable tasks for everyone by specifying in advance and the expected result and deadlines for achieving it. In addition, a good manager must be correct, responsible, and be able to admit his mistakes when he makes them.
Unfortunately, in practice, it is not possible to have an ideal manager who has the listed qualities. The manager is also human – he has both positive and negative traits. However, a good manager should constantly strive to develop his qualities in the right direction.
The manager must be convinced that in parallel with the activity he performs, it is necessary to create conditions and opportunities for improving his qualities, as well as the qualities of the people he works with. This is the only way that can lead to the growth of any manager and his approach to the ideal.
Personal qualities are no less important than professional skills and academic knowledge.
One of the things that distinguish a good manager is a natural curiosity and intelligence.
Looking at the management system as a whole, we can distinguish between managed and governed. The manager is a governing body that is in contact with various individuals, organizations, and institutions outside this system. For this reason, he is a representative of the organization and as such, he must take care of the good reputation, the proper presentation, advertising, and promotion to customers, competitors, and other stakeholders.
To achieve this, the manager must look, representative, to behave properly and for his actions to be focused, both in the present and in the future, with conviction, authority, contact, eloquence, optimism.
Bengt Johansson’s idea of the ideal manager is summarized so that everyone can make a comparison.
To know who
Network knowledge and actions, social and communicative competence. For Johansson, this competence is the most important in a modern, complex, and dynamic world. One does not know and cannot do everything, which is why it is necessary to know who has the relevant skills or information to use them.
Network competence means the ability to work with people to achieve or maintain a leading position. Networking allows for effective work that allows the manager to concentrate on their core competencies.
To know-how
Professional knowledge and experience.
Managers monitor the market to find and capture market potentials. They think in a network, they examine the state of affairs. Through this way of perceiving the world, the manager develops strategies for dealing with things and the connections between them. His perceptions have a specific entrepreneurial scale.
To know why
The motives of one’s thinking and action – self-belief, purposefulness, willingness to take risks, and perseverance.
In the manager, independence is equal to self-determination. He strives to build and strengthen his independence. He is characterized by high self-confidence, which results in his confidence to be able to “take matters into their own hands” and shape the situation. Managers are active and proactive. seek solutions to problems, perceive them as challenges.
To know when (decision-making)
Experience and intuition as a basis for decision-making.
Experience and proven knowledge are the results of making analogies. Along with intuition, spontaneity must be mentioned. Ingenuity is tested in a condition of interaction. This is how the new is created. Important decision-making skill is to stop in atypical situations.
To know what
Basic knowledge, knowledge of orientation. Knowledge of theopathic relationships is an important competence for proper judgment.
These functions, which are directions in the activities of the manager, make his work diverse, dynamic, intense, and full of challenges.
They work in a violent environment, under the pressure of many factors, such as stress, fatigue, lack of sleep. It is important at this point for the manager to be able to concentrate, to direct his thoughts in a certain direction, to solve the pressing issue.
Good managers tackle these challenges on behalf of the organizations they lead. To this end, they must perform certain roles and possess the relevant knowledge, skills, and qualities, not of the situations and the competent action. and refinement.
Project Management, Agile and Scrum 