How are the five basic management skills related to the four functions of management?

Five basic management skills are technical skills, human relations skills, conceptual skills, decision-making skills and time management skills. These five skills emphasize the skills that a manager should have in the workplace. The four management functions are planning, organizing, leading and controlling, and they focus on the process of work in an organization. Management skills help managers to establish a proper operation process for an organization, and new arising management functions in an organization also require managers to improve their management skills.

Managers use basic management skills to establish a proper operation process. Most of managers use five basic management skills to solve problems or to find out proper approach. In many organizations, managers have to achieve certain goals within certain period and with limited budget. It needs managers to use their basic management skills to deal with the complicated situation and find out the effective operation process. For example, Company B wants Company A to develop an ERP system for Company B in 6 months’ time, and the budget of Company B is $500,000. In this case, to develop a reliable and applied ERP system for Company B, Company A’s managers should not only have the strong IT technical skills but also need to have excellent conceptual skills. From the external side, they must also have the ability to find out and well understand in the shortest period how the operation process of Company B looks like. And from the internal side, Company A’s managers should decide which modules and functions should be applied on Company B‘s ERP system, and they also have to choose the appropriate person to take in charge of this specific task. It also need managers consider how to make a working plan to finish the task, including budgeting, timing, measuring, evaluating and controlling.

New arising management functions also require managers to improve their management skills. A proper designed work process ensures an organizations run smoothly. To achieving this, managers usually consider the functions of an organization. For example, what is a clear and objective goal? How to achieve? How to allocate the limited resources? How to find the right people? How to maximize the output while minimize the input? How to create an effective motivation system? And so on. Actually, after answering these questions, it becomes much easier for managers make a new work process for an organization.

Mangers’ management skills contribute a lot to organizations, including decreasing overall cost, increasing core competitive advantages and enhancing the value chain. And on the other hand, new management functions also demand and help mangers to improve their management skills.