Business Studies
MANAGEMENT SKILLS
Hospira
Wednesday 22nd February
Management Skills
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A skill is the ability to do something expertly.
Rarely will all managers be experts at everything.
Therefore just like us, managers will attend
courses & lectures to improve their skills.
Leadership & motivation are two of the essential
skills of management
Leadership
a) Leadership means setting an example to staff
b) Knitting the staff into a team
c) Ensuring work is carried out effectively to achieve
objectives
Management Skills
o Motivation is linked closely to leadership, because
a good manager will motivate staff through respect
& trust, and a motivated staff will have a greater
chance of achieving their objectives
o Direction & delegation are also intertwined with
leadership.
o There are 4 main types of leader, but each must
have certain qualities like honesty fairness & the
ability to listen & motivate to be successful
Management Skills
Four types of Leader
1.
2.
3.
4.
Autocratic
Democratic
Free-rein
Charismatic
Authoritarian/autocratic
o This type of leader wants things done
immediately & in a particular way. This way might
well be successful in achieving objectives, but
result in low employee morale & motivation
Management Skills
Participative/Democratic Leader
o This leader will discuss all problems with staff &
obtain their views before making vital decisions.
Such leaders may well be popular with employees
who feel they have a say in the decision making
process & a genuine role in the org.
Free-Rein Leader
o This leader lets workers do their own thing.
He/she will give only general directions on how the
firm should try and achieve its objectives. This
approach may result in inefficiency & a sloppy org
Management Skills
Charismatic Leader
o Employees look up to this type of leader, who in
turn is able to generate high productivity & morale
in employees because of their respect for him/her.
The leader’s strength of character & charisma are
sufficient to achieve the org objectives.
o Direction – this involves guiding a group of people
towards achieving a common objective. E.g. the
director of a play establishes how the play should
be presented, thus ensure the lights, sound &
actors are knitted together to achieve the finished
result. Direction ensures that each individual’s
work contributes to the overall performance
Management Skills
Delegation
o This means passing on authority/power & the
responsibility for certain tasks to people lower
down in the org. A manager cannot do all jobs,
there needs to be some delegation of work &
authority
Dangers of not delegating work
o Work is not finished in time because all the tasks
are carried out by the same group of workers
o Good advice & info are not received from qualified
members of staff
o Overtime & stress can cause executive burn-out
o Workers feel they are not being trusted
Management Skills
Benefits of Delegating work
o Greater involvement of workers in running the org
o Work is completed faster due to all employees
using their skills & abilities
o Morale of workers improves as they become more
involved
o Tactical & strategic Objectives are achieved more
quickly
Management Skills
Motivation
o This refers to those factors which drive us to
undertake particular tasks, to work hard & achieve
goals. It is the willingness of people to work
without being pushed
o You might find it easy to motivate yourself to do
something you like (visits friends, go out, play
football) but its more difficult to be motivated when
we have to do exactly the same thing every day.
o In business the usual motivator is the pay packet,
but other factors like good working conditions,
promotion & recognition can also motivate
Management Skills
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Many theories have been developed over the
years to help management identify how best to
motivate people
1. Theories X and Y – McGregor
2. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Theories X and Y
o McGregor's theory X is the assumption that
workers have to be pushed into working: his
theory Y is the idea that workers can become
committed to their work & actively sees selffulfilment
Management Skills
o McGregor disagreed with the view that workers
were generally lazy & only motivated by threats or
offers of more money. He called this view of
workers Theory X & believed that it was the
philosophy (way of thinking) adopted by many
managers
o Theory Y had the opposite view, this theory stated
that workers were committed to their jobs & like
doing them. Their desire for self-development &
responsibility are what motivates them. Workers
are willing to try & solve problems within the
workplace.
Management Skills
o Many organisations have now come to see the
benefits of theory Y. Human resource managers
have been employed to discover ways of giving
workers extra responsibilities & encouraging them
in their work
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
“Maslow stated that we have a hierarchy of needs;
as one is satisfied, the higher need becomes the
motivator”
Management Skills
o Maslow believed that at any one time people are
driven by one or more of five needs.
o They range from basic physical needs such as the
need for food or shelter to more sophisticated ones
such as the need to be liked
o Maslow believed that as one need is satisfied, the
next one up becomes increasingly important.
o For example a man who is hungry does not care if
people like him or not! He only care where his next meal
is coming from. But if this man has just eaten & knows
where the next one is coming from is now more
concerned what people think for him
Management Skills
o Maslow stressed that as one need is satisfied, its
role as a motivator of behaviour decreases, & the
higher need takes over as the major motivating
factor.
Benefits of Motivation
o A well motivated workforce will enjoy the following:
o Everyday work will be a pleasure & not a chore
o The workplace will have a good atmosphere
o General health & well-being will improve
o Self-esteem & a feeling of achievement & success
will rise
Management Skills
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Organisations will also benefits from a well
motivated workforce, for example;
High productivity will result
Staff will contribute to a good image for the org
Disputes will be a a minimum & those that do
occur will be solve quickly
A spirit of intrapreneurship will be foster in
management & staff
Management – Not just for Business
Communications
Communication is the process whereby people
exchange information. Its purpose is to aid the
understanding of situations, data, people &
problems. Business communicate both internally &
externally
The Four Elements in a communication
o The sender – this is the person transmitting &
encoding the message. To encode means to
translate ideas or info into a message which can be
understood by others
Communications
o The recipient – decodes the message (Reads the
message in order to understand it) Whether a
message is understood depends on the experience
& intelligence of the recipient & how well the
message is presented
o The message – is the actual words, graphs &
symbols used to express meaning
o The medium – is the method used to present the
message to the recipient, e.g. e-mail, letter, fax
Communications
The importance of Communications in Management
1. It facilitates (helps) with good industrial relations
2. It helps the management make decisions & pass
them on to employees
3. It resolves conflict in the work-place
4. Communication skills are necessary for
negotiating wages & conditions with employees
5. Communication skills are used by managers
when exercising leadership. To be a leader
means to influence the behaviour of staff in a
certain way, & this requires strong
communication skills