The eminent management expert, Fayol lists the following characteristics of a manager. These characteristics help her in doing her job effectively. These characteristics are more apparent and help a person to easily recognise and distinguish herself as a good manager. They form important guidelines for efficient and effective managers.
Physical Health: A manager has to a have a good physical health and vigour to perform the duties properly. In the absence of a good physical health, the manager is not i a position to carry out the work successfully. A healthy mind lives in a healthy body.
Mental Health: Similar to good physical health, it is important to have good mental health too. It provides the manager the ability to learn, understand and judge in logical and unbiased manner. A good mental health also aids in adopting oneself in changing situations.
Moral Responsibility: This includes the characteristics such as being firm, willing, loyal, dignified and factual. The other moral values like teamwork, sincerity, honesty and justice are of equal importance as they help managers in securing the faith of their boss, subordinates or family members.
Educational Qualification: A manager needs to be knowledgeable and informative. An educated person can allocate resources better and can be a better negotiator than a one with lesser education.
Technical Knowledge: A good technical knowledge is an important aspect of management. A manager needs to know all about the functional and operational areas of her organisation. It is essential for a manager to be equipped with the latest technical knowledge as it gives her an extra edge in her' field. Also a manager with thorough technical knowledge can monitor and supervise better. She can also work out newer and better technical solution to problems by developing new alternatives. As management has become a specialised field, managers of each field must have knowledge of her field i.e. a finance manager must know about all technical aspect of finances and similarly, a sales and advertising manager should have knowledge of media, communication skills and a home manager should have full knowledge of managing family finances, child care, meal management, clothing etc.
Work Experience: Experience is richer than qualifications. While an educational qualification provides a theoretical knowledge, experience provides her the practical solutions, thus enabling her to face and tackle challenges and come out of it successfully. Experience to some extent can make up for the lack of education. It acts as self-educator.
Thus it can be seen that a manager need to be a master as well as a jack of all trades. The success of a manager depends entirely upon how well and quickly she develops these qualities. These qualities and characteristics are of great help to a manager in performing her function. Now let us have a look at various functions of a manager in any organisation may it be business or home.
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