What are Managerial Skills?

An executive is a top-level member of management who’s responsible for the performance of the total organization or of a major segment of its activities. As a decision maker, an executive must possess understanding and the ability to use these three basic management skills:

1. Technical skills – the ability to use the methods, equipment, and techniques involved in performing specific tasks within the organization.

2. Human skills – the ability to work effectively with others in a personalized manner. This requires a sense of feeling for others and an appreciation of their rights. This is demonstrated by the way the managers interact with their subordinates, equals, and superiors.

3. Conceptual skills – the ability to see the whole enterprise or organization as a single unit of operation. This is useful in decision making since one is able to clearly conceive the nature of a problem before attempting to solve it.

While all managers will use all three of these skills, different levels of management utilize them to different degrees.

For example, supervisors at the operating management level must possess more technical skills than middle or top management. In contrast, conceptual skills are more important to top management.