In order for a manager to manage his subordinates, he must be better than them. A manager who is not better than his subordinates cannot manage his subordinates, he thinks he can. If the subordinate is better, the subordinate manages that unit, the senior manager simply signs. The subordinate actually makes all decisions about all the processes. In what ways do managers have to be better than their subordinates? We can consider the dimensions of being different and being better at three basic levels. These are technical skills, human relations skill, and conceptual skills. Furthermore, another way of measuring what managers do is to look at their abilities, or the abilities needed to act successfully in meeting the goals.
As it is known, we divide managers into three classes according to their levels. Lower level managers, i.e. units such as foremen, chefs, head workman or department head. Mid-level managers, director, dean and managers at the similar level and senior managers are the managers such as general manager, CEO or rector.
Technical knowledge includes the specific knowledge or expertise related to doing that work. When you think of professions such as an engineer or a dentist, it’s possible to focus on technical skills. It is a field that requires special knowledge and practice apart from the formal education you get at school. Of course, these professionals do not have a monopoly on the technical skills and not everything is taught at schools or training programs. All jobs require special knowledge and people develop these skills at work.
When we look at technical skills according to the managerial levels, the importance of technical skills in lower level managers is extremely high because lower level managers work most closely with regular employees who do not have any management qualifications. Therefore, the first person to be consulted in the control of business processes or in the elimination of problems is the lower-level manager. Consequently, the knowledge about doing a job has to be very high in the lower level manager. For example, an employee who does not know how to clean a suede dress sent for cleaning to a hotel laundry will first ask his supervisor. If the overseer doesn’t know, his authority over his subordinates is undermined. On the other hand, a top manager does not need to know such a business procedure.
Human relations skill is a skill that is important at all levels. All managers, whether they are at lower, middle or senior level, must have high human relations skill, that is, communication skill. As we know communication is both a bottom-up and top-down process. Someone who does a job very well and says “I’ll write the book on this job” may not be promoted to senior management positions. It is not enough to know a job very well, it is also required to have human relations skills to pass that information. It is the same in sports too. A football player with very high technical skills and bought with high transfer fees a may not perform after a certain period of time. He may not be beneficial to his team. As a reason for this situation, expressions such as “He could not adapt to the team; he could not communicate with his teammates; he became a problem” are used. In other words, knowing football very well does not mean that he will play very well in that team. His knowledge structure about human beings is about motivating people, understanding them, working with them, and knowing group life. While most people are technically at an excellent level, they lack knowledge about human relations. They may be a poor listener, someone who does not understand the needs of others, or may be someone ineffective in managerial conflicts. If managers want to do business through other people, they must have human relations skills to communicate, motivate and empower them.
The conceptual skill is the ability to see the “bigger picture”. It is the ability to look down on events, see the relationships, consider the relationships between business processes, and perceive the factors affecting the processes. Naturally, the importance of this skill increases as it rises towards the top level manager. Because, while the decision of a lower level manager affects 10, 20 or 100 people, the decisions of the mid-level manager affect 500, 600 or 1000 people. On the other hand, the decisions of a senior manager will affect 20,000, 30,000 or even 50,000 people. Therefore, it is imperative to have the ability to see the whole system in these decisions. The ability to act rationally and the ability to know scientific processes in solving the problems is extremely important.
The intelligence structure of managers refers to the classification, diagnosis and analytical skills of complex events. Conceptual skill includes the ability to make decisions, see the problems, generate ideas to solve them, develop alternatives and choose the best among the alternatives.
It is a very important skill for people who want to have a career. This ability cannot be developed by working within four walls. It is possible to know all the aspects of the business. And this is about meddling with the business as it is known as a popular saying. In fact, one question is sufficient to measure this. “Do you have every lunch with the same people?” If the answer is Yes and you are eating lunch with the same people, it means that you are already losing 1-0 to your opponents at work. Eating lunch with different people from different units at each lunch is a great opportunity to get to know the whole system. What units are there in the enterprise; how does each unit contribute to the system; who are the actors in its foreign relations… We can diversify all these questions. The most important thins is to know the internal and external stakeholders.