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Choosing a Manager

Do you think a team will be happy with a manager who shares a good rapport with the team members but is unable to help them during crunch situations? Or will a team be better off with a manager who does not mix well with people but is always able to help the team members? Consider a third situation in which the manager shares a good rapport with the team members and is also able to help solve their problems. Obviously, the third situation is a win-win situation.

To achieve a win-win situation, a manager must be able to fuse the business strategy with technology, the organizational structure, and available resources. To do so, the three basic required skill sets for a manager are interpersonal skills, technical skills, and conceptual skills. These three skill sets allow a manager to make spur-of-the-moment decisions, soothe disturbances among team members, and disseminate information, wherever required, to ease the workload.

Scenario:You have to hire a manager to supervise the call center in your organization. There are two candidates vying for the position. One has strong interpersonal skills; the other has strong technical and project management skills.

• Which of these skills is more important and for the selected candidate, what type of management development program would you use to strengthen the area of improvement? Justify your responses.