Mintzberg's Management Roles
Identifying the Roles Managers Play
As a manager, you probably fulfill
many different roles every day.
For instance, as well as leading
your team, you might find
yourself resolving a conflict,
negotiating new contracts,
representing your department at a
board meeting, or approving a
request for a new computer
system.
Put simply, you're constantly switching roles as tasks,
situations, and expectations change. Management expert
and professor Henry Mintzberg recognized this, and
he argued that there are ten primary roles or behaviors
that can be used to categorize a manager's different
functions.
In this article, we'll examine these roles and see how you
can use your understanding of them to improve your
management skills.
The Roles
Mintzberg published his Ten Management Roles in his
book, "Mintzberg on Management: Inside our Strange
World of Organizations," in 1990.
The ten roles are:
1. Figurehead.
2. Leader.
3. Liaison.
4. Monitor.
5. Disseminator.
6. Spokesperson.
7. Entrepreneur.
8. Disturbance Handler.
9. Resource Allocator.
10. Negotiator.
From MINTZBERG ON MANAGEMENT by Henry
Mintzberg. Copyright © 1989 by Henry Mintzberg.
Reprinted by permission of Free Press, a division of
Simon & Schuster, Inc.
The 10 roles are then divided up into three categories, as
follows:
Category Roles
Interpersonal Figurehead
Leader
Liaison
Informational Monitor
Disseminator
Spokesperson
Decisional Entrepreneur
Disturbance Handler
Resource Allocator
Negotiator
Let's look at each of the ten managerial roles in greater
detail.
Interpersonal Category
The managerial roles in this category involve providing
information and ideas.
1. Figurehead – As a manager, you have social, ceremonial
and legal responsibilities. You're expected to be a source
of inspiration. People look up to you as a person with
authority, and as a figurehead.
2. Leader – This is where you provide leadership for your
team, your department or perhaps your entire
organization; and it's where you manage the
performance and responsibilities of everyone in the
group.
3. Liaison – Managers must communicate with internal and
external contacts. You need to be able to network
effectively on behalf of your organization.
Informational Category
The managerial roles in this category involve processing
information.
4. Monitor – In this role, you regularly seek out information
related to your organization and industry, looking for
relevant changes in the environment. You also monitor
your team, in terms of both their productivity, and their
well-being.
5. Disseminator – This is where you communicate
potentially useful information to your colleagues and
your team.
6. Spokesperson – Managers represent and speak for their
organization. In this role you're responsible for
transmitting information about your organization and its
goals to the people outside it.
Decisional Category
The managerial roles in this category involve using
information.
7. Entrepreneur – As a manager, you create and control
change within the organization. This means solving
problems, generating new ideas, and implementing them.
8. Disturbance Handler – When an organization or team
hits an unexpected roadblock, it's the manager who
must take charge. You also need to help mediate
disputes within it.
9. Resource Allocator – You'll also need to determine
where organizational resources are best applied. This
involves allocating funding, as well as assigning staff
and other organizational resources.
10. Negotiator – You may be needed to take part in, and
direct, important negotiations within your team,
department, or organization.
Applying the Model
You can use Mintzberg's 10 Management Roles model as
a frame of reference when you're thinking about
developing your own skills and knowledge. (This includes
developing yourself in areas that you consciously or
unconsciously shy away from.)
First, examine how much time you currently spend on
each managerial role. Do you spend most of your day
leading? Managing conflict? Disseminating information?
This will help you decide which areas to work on first.
Next, get a piece of paper and write out all ten roles.
Score yourself from 1-5 on each one, with 1 being "Very
skilled" to 5 being "Not skilled at all."
Once you've identified your weak areas, use the following
resources to start improving your abilities in each role.
Figurehead
Figureheads represent their teams. If you need to
improve or build confidence in this area, start with your
image, behavior, and reputation . Cultivate humility
and empathy , learn how to set a good example at work
, and think about how to be a good role model .
Leader
This is the role you probably spend most of your time
fulfilling. To improve here, start by taking our quiz, How
Good Are Your Leadership Skills? This will give you a
thorough understanding of your current abilities.
Next, learn how to be an authentic leader , so your
team will respect you. Also, focus on improving your
emotional intelligence – this is an important skill for
being an effective leader.
Liaison
To improve your liaison skills, work on your professional
networking techniques. You may also like to take our
Bite-Sized Training course on Networking Skills .
Monitor
To improve here, learn how to gather information
effectively and overcome information overload . Also,
use effective reading strategies , so that you can
process material quickly and thoroughly, and learn how
to keep up-to-date with industry news .
Disseminator
To be a good disseminator you need to know how to
share information and outside views effectively, which
means that good communication skills are vital.
Learn how to share organizational information with Team
Briefings . Next, focus on improving your writing skills
. You might also want to take our communication skills
quiz , to find out where else you can improve.
Spokesperson
To be effective in this role, make sure that you know
how to represent your organization at a conference .
You may also want to read our articles on delivering
great presentations and working with the media (if
applicable to your role).
Entrepreneur
To improve here, build on your change management
skills, and learn what not to do when implementing
change in your organization. You'll also need to work
on your problem solving and creativity skills , so
that you can come up with new ideas, and implement
them successfully.
Disturbance Handler
In this role, you need to excel at conflict resolution
and know how to handle team conflict . It's also
helpful to be able to manage emotion in your team .
Resource Allocator
To improve as a resource allocator, learn how to manage
a budget , cut costs , and prioritize , so that you
can make the best use of your resources. You can also
use VRIO Analysis to learn how to get the best results
from the resources available to you.
Negotiator
Improve your negotiation skills by learning about Win-
Win Negotiation and Distributive Bargaining .
You might also want to read our article on role-playing
– this technique can help you prepare for difficult
negotiations.
Key Points
Mintzberg's 10 Management Roles model sets out the
essential roles that managers play. These are:
1. Figurehead.
2. Leader.
3. Liaison.
4. Monitor.
5. Disseminator.
6. Spokesperson.
7. Entrepreneur.
8. Disturbance Handler.
9. Resource Allocator.
10. Negotiator.
You can apply Mintzberg's 10 Management Roles model
by using it as a frame of reference when you want to
develop your management skills. Work on the roles that
you fulfill most often as a priority, but remember that
you won't necessarily fulfill every role as part of your
job.
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