Choosing a Manager

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.

Post by Day 3 a substantive response of approximately 200–250 words that is an analysis of the hiring scenario. Your analysis should address the following:

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

Use the Week 6 Discussion 1 Template (located in this week’s Learning Resources) to develop a draft of your response. Then, post your finalized statement to the Discussion Thread.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.

Respond by Day 6 with at least 75 words each to two or more of your colleagues’ postings in one or more of the following ways:

  • Ask a probing question.
  • Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
  • Offer and support an opinion.
  • Make a suggestion.
  • Expand on your colleague’s posting.

Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting. Note what you learned and the insights you gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.

Be sure to support your work with specific citations from the Learning Resources and any additional sources.

Note: Refer to the Week 6 Discussion 1 Rubric for specific grading elements and criteria. Your Instructor will use this rubric to assess your work.