Photo by Jon Tyson
What do you plan to do today?
You may have an important meeting with a client, present a new process to your coworkers, justify your budget adjustments, delegate tasks to your team, or finish early to be home on time.
Think about your work. What skills do you need to manage your tasks successfully?
Learn the art of providing, processing, and using information.
Henry Mintzberg’s research helps you become a better manager of yourself and your team.
How? Henry defined three key areas you should aim to master - interpersonal, informational, and decisional.
Each area has a specific set of roles that are helpful for your professional life.
Interpersonal (providing information) roles are:
Figurehead: has authority, acts as the face of the company or team
Leader: source of inspiration, manages teams and responsibilities
Liaison: networks internally and externally
Informational (processing information):
Monitor: ensures quality, provides up-to-date information, business savvy
Disseminator: communicates important information, spreads knowledge
Spokesperson: represents the company and people, shares goals
Decisional (using information):
Entrepreneur: brings up new ideas, solves problems, implements innovations
Disturbance Handler: mediates disputes, helps with problems
Resource Allocator: allocates resources, assigns staff, manages expectations
Negotiator: is involved in negotiations inside and outside of the company
Which role(s) is difficult for you or your coworkers? Use this framework as a reference to develop new skills and knowledge.
Think about how much time you spend on each role (e.g., Figurehead 5%; Negotiator 20%, etc.). Not all roles are relevant to your work, you can skip some. Then evaluate how skilled you are in each by 1 (not skilled at all) - 5 (very skilled).
Voila! You have a quick snapshot of what role you or your team should focus on.
P.S. Any questions about the roles? Hit reply and ask me.