Organizational behavior - interpersonal skills and managerial roles - Essay Example

The manager of a company is the person responsible over the performance of the firm and its employees. It is imperative for a manager to have good interpersonal skills. Some of the interpersonal roles that a manager performs include working directly with other people, hosting and attending official ceremonies, creating enthusiasm and serving people’s needs, and maintaining contacts with important people and groups (Schermernhorn, Hunt, Osborn, 2003). The manager must also monitor internal and external information.

If the manager is leading a public company he must comply with SEC regulation which includes submission of an annual report with the four financial statements. The four functions of management are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Planning implies setting objectives and identifies the actions that must be performed to achieve the objectives (Schermerhorn, et al. 2003). Organizing involves dividing work structures into individual tasks and arranging the organizational resources to accomplish those tasks.

Leading refers to the act of creating enthusiasm among the workers so that they work hard to accomplish tasks successfully (Schermerhorn, et al. 2003). Controlling is related to the act of monitoring the performance of the employees and taking corrective action whenever necessary. All the managerial functions are equally important. An important interpersonal skill that a manager must possess is good communication skills. The manager must be good at both written and verbal communication. He must use verbal communication to inspire and motivate the workers to achieve a higher level of performance.

Employees that are properly motivated by the manager are more productive. A manager can motivate an employee by using intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. An example of an intrinsic reward is telling an employee he did a good job on a task, while an example of an extrinsic reward is offering a financial incentive such as a bonus. Managers must be good active listeners. “To listen means we not only understand what you have to say, we can practically apply your thought process back to you” (Nelson, 1995).

They must have great writing skills because managers are required to write reports for the different stakeholders group of the company which includes lenders, suppliers, investors, employees, government, and the board of directors. Three essential skills that a manager must possess are technical skill, human skill, and emotional intelligence. Human skills refer to the ability to work well with others. Since the manager is in charge of the entire staff being able to relate with others is very important.

A person with good human skill is able to connect better with others. Technical skills refers to the ability to perform specialize tasks such as doing a ratio analysis of the financial performance of the company. To have good technical skills one must possess great analytical abilities. A manager must also be good at analyzing both qualitative and quantitative information. An example of qualitative information is a peer reviewed journal article, while a sales forecast is an example of quantitative information.

Emotional intelligence is being able to control emotions effectively to manage relationship in an optimum manner. In today’s work environment managers must handle diversity in the workplace effectively. Managing diversity well can increase creativity in a company. Greater creativity leads to innovation. A good manager treats his employees with respect and he is an ethical person. ReferencesNelson, M. (1995). Interpersonal team leadership skill. Hospital Material Management Quarterly, 16(4). 53. Retrieved April 21, 2014 from ProQuest database.

Schermerhorn, J., Hun t, J., Osborn, R. (2003). Organizational Behavior (8th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.