In this article of the “Principles of Management” series, we will discuss the roles of a senior manager.
According to Mintzberg, a manager should be regarded as playing the following ten different roles.
Roles of a Senior Manager
The roles of a Senior Manager are distributed among 3 categories: Interpersonal Roles, Informational Roles, and Decisional Roles.
Interpersonal Roles
Figurehead – In this role, every manager has to perform some duties of a ceremonial nature, such as greeting the touring dignitaries (VIPs), attending the wedding of an employee, taking an important customer to lunch, and so on.
Leader – As a leader, every manager must motivate and encourage his employees. He must also try to reconcile (resolve) their individual needs (being in line with the goals of the organization).
Liaison – In this role of liaison, every manager must cultivate contacts outside his vertical chain of command to collect information useful for his organization. (#collect contacts)
It’s building a Network of Personal Contacts.
Informational Roles
Monitor – As a monitor, the manager has to continuously scan his environment for information, interrogate his liaison contacts and his subordinates, and receive unsolicited (spontaneous/unwanted) information, much of it as a result of the network of personal contacts he has developed.
Disseminator – In the role of a disseminator, the manager passes some of his privileged information directly to his key subordinates who would otherwise have no access to it.
Spokesman – A manager is also required nowadays, to spend a part of his time in representing his organization (Branding) before various outside groups, which have some stake in the organisation.
These stakeholders can be government officials, labor unions, financial institutions, suppliers, customers, etc.
Decisional Roles
Entrepreneur – In this role, the manager does not merely adapt to his surrounding situation but proactively looks out for innovation to make things happen.
Innovation means creating new ideas.
Thus, when demand for his product falls off the manager does not cut back his production but seeks new outlets or new products to maintain production.
Disturbance Handler – In this role, the manager has to work reactively like a firefighter.
He must seek solutions of various unanticipated problems – a strike may loom large, a major customer may go bankrupt, a supplier may back out on his contract, and so on.
Resource Allocator – In this role, the manager must divide work and delegate authority among his subordinates. He must decide who will get what.
Negotiator – The manager at all levels has to spend considerable time in negotiations.
Thus, the president of a company may negotiate with the union leaders about a new strike issue, the foreman may negotiate with the workers about a grievance problem, and so on.
