Mintzberg's Management Roles Video

As a manager, you need to perform many different roles to meet your responsibilities. 

One minute you might be resolving a conflict between team members, and the next you could be representing your department at a meeting. You're expected to restore harmony and productivity in one area, and then show your technical and strategic expertise in another. Your challenge is to acquire the skills for each role so that you can deal with every situation successfully. 

And this is where Mintzberg's Management Roles can help. In his book, "Mintzberg on Management: Inside our Strange World of Organizations," Henry Mintzberg identified 10 essential roles that managers play. These are Figurehead, Leader, Liaison, Monitor, Disseminator, Spokesperson, Entrepreneur, Disturbance Handler, Resource Allocator, and Negotiator. He grouped these roles into three types: interpersonal, informational and decisional. 

For example, a Figurehead is an interpersonal type. If you're a manager, you have social, ceremonial and legal responsibilities. You'll be a source of inspiration and people will look up to you. 

If you're a Monitor, you're fulfilling an informational type. You regularly seek out news related to your organization and industry, and you're aware of your team's productivity and wellbeing. 

A Disturbance Handler is a decisional type. When a team hits an unexpected roadblock, it's the manager who must take charge and mediate any disputes. 

Mintzberg's model can help you to identify your leadership priorities and weaknesses. This will give you a starting point for developing your management skills in all the roles that you need to perform. 

To learn more about Mintzberg's 10 Management Roles, and the other tools that will support you in developing each role, read the article   that accompanies this video.