Mintzberg’s 10 Managerial Roles

Management expert Professor Henry Mintzberg has argued that a manager’s work can be boiled down to ten common roles. According to Mintzberg, these roles, or expectations for a manager’s behavior, fall into three categories: informational (managing by information), interpersonal (managing through people), and decisional (managing through action).

Mintzberg’s Managerial Roles

Informational-Monitor.Seek and acquire work-related information.

Ex: Scan/read trade press, periodicals, reports; attend seminars and
training; maintain personal contacts

-Disseminator.Communicate/ disseminate information to others within the organization.

Ex: Send memos and reports; inform staffers and subordinates of decisions

-Spokesperson.Communicate/transmit information to outsiders.

Ex: Pass on memos, reports and informational materials; participate in
conferences/meetings and report progress

Interpersonal-Figurehead.Perform social and legal duties, act as symbolic leader.

Ex: Greet visitors, sign legal documents, attend ribbon cutting ceremonies,
host receptions, etc.

-Leader.Direct and motivate subordinates, select and train employees.

Ex: Includes almost all interactions with subordinates

-Liaison.Establish and maintain contacts within and outside the organization.

Ex: Business correspondence, participation in meetings with representatives
of other divisions or organizations.

Decisional-Entrepreneur.Identify new ideas and initiate improvement projects.

Ex: Implement innovations; Plan for the future

-Disturbance Handler.Deals with disputes or problems and takes corrective action.

Ex: Settle conflicts between subordinates; Choose strategic alternatives;
Overcome crisis situations

-Resource Allocator.Decide where to apply resources.

Ex: Draft and approve of plans, schedules, budgets; Set priorities

In the real world, these roles overlap and a manager must learn to balance them in order to manage effectively. While a manager’s work can be analyzed by these individual roles, in practice they are intermixed and interdependent. According to Mintzberg: “The manager who only communicates or only conceives never gets anything done, while the manager who only ‘does’ ends up doing it all alone.”

http://management.atwork-network.com/2008/04/15/mintzberg%E2%80%99s-10-managerial-roles/