Levels of management and managerial skills

Levels of management

Management is generally divided into three levels:

1. Top level (strategic): Board of Directors, Chairman, CEO, Managing Director. They set objectives, policies and long-term strategy, and are responsible for the overall organization. Example: the Managing Director of Nepal Telecom.
2. Middle level (tactical): Department or division heads such as production manager, marketing manager, branch manager. They convert top-level plans into departmental plans, coordinate and guide first-line managers.
3. Lower/first-line level (operational): Supervisors, foremen, section officers. They directly supervise workers, assign daily tasks, ensure quality and report to middle managers.

      /\   Top: policy, strategy
     /  \
    /----\ Middle: coordination
   /------\
  /--------\ Lower: supervision

Managerial skills

Robert Katz identified three basic skills (technical, human and conceptual); Koontz and Weihrich later added design skill.

1. Technical skill: Knowledge and ability to use methods, tools and techniques of a specific field (an engineer's design skill). Most needed at the lower level.
2. Human (interpersonal) skill: Ability to work with, understand and motivate people, communicate and lead teams. Needed at all levels.
3. Conceptual skill: Ability to see the organization as a whole, analyse complex situations and plan strategy. Most needed at the top level.
4. Design (problem-solving) skill: Ability to solve problems and design workable solutions.
5. Communication, decision-making and political skills are also often added.