Skip to content

Business Laws and Management · Introduction to Management

Managerial Skills and Mintzberg's Managerial Roles Explained

Updated 11 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Managerial skills are the abilities a manager needs: technical (job knowledge), human (working with people) and conceptual (seeing the big picture). Mintzberg described ten managerial roles in three groups: interpersonal, informational and decisional. In MCQs, match the situation to the skill or role.

Understand Managerial Skills and Roles

A manager gets work done through other people. To do this well, a manager needs certain skills and must play certain roles. Skills tell you what a manager can do. Roles tell you what a manager actually does day to day.

The three skills are technical, human and conceptual. This three-skill idea is usually linked to Robert Katz. Technical skill is knowledge of methods, tools and techniques of a specific job, such as an accountant preparing a balance sheet. Human skill is the ability to understand, motivate and work with people, such as resolving a conflict in a team. Conceptual skill is the ability to see the organisation as a whole and how its parts connect, such as planning a new product line.

The need for each skill changes with level. Top managers need the most conceptual skill. Supervisors and first-line managers need the most technical skill. Human skill is important at every level, because every manager deals with people.

Henry Mintzberg studied what managers really do and described ten roles in three groups. Interpersonal roles: figurehead, leader, liaison. Informational roles: monitor, disseminator, spokesperson. Decisional roles: entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, negotiator.

You will not be asked to write long essays in Paper 4. It is an MCQ paper. Expect short situations where you must name the skill or the role.

Key formulas to remember

Three managerial skills
Technical + Human + Conceptual
Technical = job know-how; Human = dealing with people; Conceptual = big-picture thinking.
Skill by level
Top: Conceptual ↑ | Middle: Human (balanced) | Lower: Technical ↑
Human skill is needed at all levels. Conceptual need rises as you go up; technical need falls.
Mintzberg's interpersonal roles (3)
Figurehead, Leader, Liaison
Arise from the manager's authority and position; they deal with people.
Mintzberg's informational roles (3)
Monitor, Disseminator, Spokesperson
Receiving, passing on and sharing information inside and outside.
Mintzberg's decisional roles (4)
Entrepreneur, Disturbance Handler, Resource Allocator, Negotiator
Making choices and decisions. Total roles = 3 + 3 + 4 = 10.

How to solve Managerial Skills and Roles questions

Use this method for any question on managerial skills or Mintzberg's roles.

  1. 1Read the situation and find the main action the manager is performing.
  2. 2Ask: is it about a job technique, about people, or about the whole organisation? That points to technical, human or conceptual skill.
  3. 3If the question names a role, first decide the group: dealing with people (interpersonal), handling information (informational) or making a choice (decisional).
  4. 4Within the group, pick the exact role using the key word: ceremony (figurehead), guiding staff (leader), outside contacts (liaison), scanning information (monitor), passing information inside (disseminator), speaking for the firm outside (spokesperson), new ideas (entrepreneur), crisis (disturbance handler), distributing funds or time (resource allocator), bargaining (negotiator).
  5. 5Check the other options and remove those that fit only a different group.
  6. 6For level-based questions, link top level to conceptual and lower level to technical.

Quickest way: Group first, then key word

When to use it: Use in the OMR paper when you have under a minute per question.

  1. Remember the groups as I-I-D: Interpersonal (3), Informational (3), Decisional (4).
  2. Spot the key word in the stem: ceremony, lead, contact, scan, inform, represent, innovate, crisis, allocate, bargain.
  3. Match it to the role in that order and mark the answer.
  4. For skills, remember T-H-C: Tools, Humans, Concepts (big picture).

Common mistakes in Managerial Skills and Roles

  • Confusing monitor with disseminator.

    Both deal with information, so they look alike.

    Fix: Monitor collects information; disseminator passes it on to subordinates inside the organisation.

  • Confusing disseminator with spokesperson.

    Both pass on information.

    Fix: Disseminator gives information inside the firm. Spokesperson speaks to outsiders such as media, government or investors.

  • Calling a crisis response 'resource allocator' or 'negotiator'.

    Students focus on the money or talks involved.

    Fix: If an unexpected problem forces action, the role is disturbance handler.

  • Saying liaison is the same as leader.

    Both are interpersonal roles.

    Fix: Leader guides and motivates own team. Liaison builds contacts outside the team or organisation.

  • Thinking top managers need no technical skill and lower managers need no conceptual skill.

    Over-reading the level rule.

    Fix: Every manager uses all three skills. Only the proportion changes with level.

  • Mixing up the number of roles in each group.

    Memorising a flat list of ten.

    Fix: Remember 3-3-4. Decisional has four roles.

Worked examples

Example 1

The production head at an Indian auto-parts company, Mr. Sharma, uses his knowledge of machine settings to fix a defect in a lathe. Which managerial skill is he mainly using? (A) Technical (B) Human (C) Conceptual (D) Diagnostic

Show the solution
  1. The action is fixing a machine using specific job knowledge.
  2. Job-specific methods and tools are the mark of technical skill.
  3. No people-handling or organisation-wide thinking is involved.
  4. Diagnostic is not one of the three managerial skills.

Answer: (A) Technical

Example 2

A sudden strike halts a plant, and the plant manager immediately meets the union and arranges a temporary solution to restart work. Which Mintzberg role is mainly shown? (A) Figurehead (B) Disturbance handler (C) Monitor (D) Spokesperson

Show the solution
  1. The strike is an unexpected problem that needs quick corrective action.
  2. Decisional roles deal with decisions; handling unexpected problems is the disturbance handler role.
  3. Figurehead is ceremonial, monitor scans information, spokesperson speaks to outsiders. None fits.

Answer: (B) Disturbance handler

Exam tips

  • Learn the 3-3-4 split of the ten roles and the three groups first; many MCQs only test the group.
  • Practise key-word matching with short real-life situations such as a chairman inaugurating a plant (figurehead).
  • For skills questions, link level to skill: top level to conceptual, lower level to technical, human at all levels.
  • Do not leave any MCQ blank. There is no negative marking in Paper 4, so attempt every question.
  • Use the 15 minutes of reading time to go through the questions and plan which ones to attempt first.

Practice questions from Introduction to Management

Managerial Skills and Roles: frequently asked questions

What are Mintzberg's ten managerial roles?

They are figurehead, leader and liaison (interpersonal); monitor, disseminator and spokesperson (informational); entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator (decisional).

How do I remember the 10 roles easily?

Remember the groups as I-I-D with counts 3-3-4. Then attach one key word to each role, such as ceremony for figurehead and crisis for disturbance handler.

Which skill matters most for top managers?

Conceptual skill matters most at the top because top managers must see the organisation as a whole. They still need human skill and some technical understanding.

Is this topic asked in the CSEET?

It falls under Business Management in Paper 4, which is an MCQ paper. Expect short situation-based questions on skills and roles.