Mintzberg’s 10 Managerial Roles

This chart sums up a manager's ten functions:

||| Mintzberg's Managerial Functions|||||||Classification|Role|Activity|Examples|||||||Informational|Screen|Look for and get work-related|Scan/read trade press, periodicals,|||| info|reports; attend workshops and|||||training; preserve personal contacts|||||||| Disseminator|Interact/ distribute info|Send memos and reports; notify staffers and|||| to others within the company|subordinates of decisions|||||||| Representative|Communicate/transmit details to|Pass on memos, reports and informational||
||outsiders|materials; get involved in|||||conferences/meetings and report progress|||||||||||| Interpersonal|Figurehead|Perform social and legal duties, act|Welcome visitors, sign legal files, go to|||| as symbolic leader|ribbon cutting ceremonies,|||||host receptions, etc.

|||||||| Leader|Direct and motivate subordinates,|Includes almost all interactions with|||| choose and train employees|subordinates|||||||| Intermediary|Develop and preserve contacts within|Business correspondence, participation in|||| and outside the organization|meetings with representatives|||||of other divisions or companies.  | |  |  |  |  | | | | | | |Decisional |Entrepreneur |Identify new ideas and initiate |Implement innovations; Plan for the future | | | |improvement projects | | |  | | | | |
|Disturbance Handler |Deals with disputes or problems and |Settle conflicts between subordinates; | | | |takes corrective action |Choose strategic alternatives; | | | | | Overcome crisis situations | |  | | | | | |Resource Allocator |Decide where to apply resources |Draft and approve of plans, schedules, | | | | |budgets; Set priorities | |  | | | | | |Negotiator |Defends business interests |Participates in and directs negotiations | | | | |within team, department, and organization |

In the real world, these roles overlap and a manager must learn to balance them in order to manage effectively.

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While a manager’s work can be analyzed by these individual roles, in practice they are intermixed and interdependent. According to Mintzberg: “The manager who only communicates or only conceives never gets anything done, while the manager who only ‘does’ ends up doing it all alone.

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