Managerial Effectiveness: Importance of Self-Awareness and Different Management Theories

This essay discusses the importance of self-awareness and different management theories for managerial effectiveness. It covers the skills required for managerial effectiveness, different organizational structures, and interpersonal relationships. The essay also discusses different management theories such as Katz theory, scientific theory, and emotional intelligence. The importance of personal and professional development is also highlighted. The essay concludes by discussing the need for self-awareness and the use of different tools to increase it.

Self-awareness 0
Managerial effectiveness
Student’s Name
4/22/2019

Self-awareness 1
The modern workplaces face the challenges of changing technologies and competitive
environment which in turn develops the emerging need of an effective manager who will lead
the organization and sustain its competitive advantage. The success of an organization
depends upon the degree of managerial effectiveness. The capabilities of the manager decide
the performance of the organization. The manager must have the ability to lead the team and
encourage them to achieve common goals. Self-awareness and self-management play a major
role in becoming a successful manager because self-control will help in making better
decisions. The further paragraphs of the essay will highlight the skills required for managerial
effectiveness and will cover different theories of management. It will also cover the different
organizational structures and development of interpersonal relationships (Block, 2016).
According to Goleman 2019, emotional intelligence consists of four fundamental
capabilities which include self-awareness, self-management, social skills, and social
awareness. These capabilities help in manager in managing it and build strong relations with
its members. Self-awareness is the basic qualification required for becoming an effective
manager. If a manager is well aware of its strengths and weakness, the people with which it
will work. The manager must be aware of the objectives and a plan to achieve them.
The manager must be a good communicator and must have the ability to communicate
in large organizations and among different departments. The manager must have the passion
and enthusiasm to effectively manage the activities and achieve the objectives of the
organization. A manager with passion and enthusiasm helps to create a positive working
environment and encourages its employees to work towards a common goal (Sunindijo,
2015).
For becoming an effective manager it must have the ability to lead the team. The
manager must have the ability to inspire, lead, enable and encourage the employees in an

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integrated manner. The manager must be patient and must have the ability to influence the
decision of its members. The manager must focus on building trust among the employees so
as to effectively delegate the authorities and must have the capability to manage the team
(Lee, 2016).
An effective manager must provide innovative solutions to a problem and must be a
good listener for more employee engagement and arriving at the constructive suggestions
given by the employees. By engaging the employees they feel motivated and are more
committed towards the achievement of the goals. Further, the manager must be a good coach
to solve the problems of the employees and guides them in undertaking the activities. It must
focus on overcoming the shortcomings faced by employees and enhance their performance.
The manager must develop coordination among all the departments to avoid confusions and
delay and all the departments collectively focus on achieving the organization goals. The
manager must have the skills to timely manage the activities and develop a vision that
focuses on bringing efficiency in the organization (Alex, 2013).
For increasing the managerial effectiveness the manager must focus on personal and
professional development. Such development will help the manager to become self-aware
and develop the self-management capabilities to have a better understanding of the people in
the organization. Professional development includes the development of the skills and
expertise through efficient training to have an understanding of the job role and development
of the skills required to handle the complex changes in the business environment. The
manager must also focus on personal development because it will provide the training on
time management, communication skills, handling of difficult situations and conflict
management. It will also develop the leadership skills to encourage and inspire the employees
and leads to the development of a positive working environment (Ladyshewsky, 2010).

Self-awareness 3
According to Katz theory of management managerial skills are integral for the success
of the organization. The managerial skills will help in managing the people and technology to
ensure an efficient and effective realization of the working abilities. According to Katz, three
types of skills are essential for successful management process which includes technical
skills, conceptual skills, and human skills.
Technical skills consist of the ability of the manager to apply different techniques to
work and increase the sales of the organization. The technical skills not only include
machines, production tools, or other equipment but the different methods and techniques to
achieve the objectives efficiently. For example, if an individual has developed expertise
through professional experience and skills it can become a successful sales manager. The
technical skills are very important for the first line managers (Entrepreneurship in box, 2019).
The conceptual skills refer to the ability and the knowledge of the manager to have
more abstract thinking. These skills help the manager to look outside the department goals
and make the decisions that provide the overall benefit to the organization. A manager with
conceptual skills has the ability to predict the future and change the current actions
accordingly. The conceptual skills are required by the top level managers to predict the future
and take important decisions. It is not required by the lower or the middle-level managers
(Entrepreneurship in box, 2019).
Human or interpersonal skills define the ability of the manager to work with the
people in the organization. Interpersonal skills are required to motivate and encourage the
employees and integrate their efforts towards the common goal. Development of such skills
helps the manager to retain the best talent and achieve the organizational goals effectively
and efficiently. Possession of these three types of skills helps the manager to retain the talent

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and effective management of the conflicts to achieve the goals effectively and efficiently
(Fletcher, 2016).
According to Frederick Taylor, the scientific theory of management states that the
manager cannot force the workers and overburden them instead the manager must simplify
the task to increase productivity. Taylor believed that the employees get the motivation
through the financial incentives however it focused on providing fair wages to retain the
interest of the employees and motivate them for higher productivity. The application of the
scientific management theory helps the manager to develop collaboration between employee
and employer and focus on achieving the goals by the development of the team.
The application of the management theories will help the managers to increase
productivity by properly observing the actions of the employees and creating the policies.
The development of hierarchical systems helps the managers in simplifying the process of
decision making and implementing informed decisions. The theories help the manger in
developing interpersonal relationships and encourage a collaborative environment (Berry,
Broadbent, & Otley, 2016).
It is analyzed that Woolworths one of the most popular retail chain of Australian
market successfully applies the scientific theory of management under which the work is
reduced among the different individuals to reduce the burden and bring efficiency in
operations. The company provides equal pay and other non-monetary incentives to motivate
the employees and increase the productivity of the company (Methner, Hamann, & Nilsson,
2015).
The interpersonal skills are used in the organization to interact with each other and be
an effective listener. The development of such skills will help the manager to develop a
positive attitude and maintain relationships with the employees by effectively communicating

Self-awareness 5
with them and listening to the constructive solutions given by them. It consists of soft skills,
social skills which help the manager to connect socially and professionally. Development of
such skills helps in creating a collaborative mindset of the managers and becomes receptive
to the feedback (Anderson, Thier & Pitts, 2017).
The intrapersonal skills are used to make the self-reflection and have a better
understanding of one own self. It involves self-management and the ability to regulate own
behavior and emotions to reach goals. The development of intrapersonal skills helps the
manager to make the self-management and develop the capacity to control the emotions in
the changing situations (Anderson, Thier & Pitts, 2017).
Conflicts refer to the situation where the argument occurs between the two parties. It
occurs due to a difference in perceptions of the interest among people. It is inevitable among
humans. To resolve the conflicts the line managers focus on adopting different styles of
conflict management. The line managers can use the integrating style under which the two
parties exchange information, openness and are concerned for self and others. It is
considered as collaboration between the parties in which both the parties see the differences
and comes up with a solution that is beneficial for both. This style has two elements i.e.
confrontation and problem-solving. Another style which the managers can use in
compromising style in which both the parties take the immediate action and are concerned for
each other. Both the parties compromise and reach a mutual decision. In this, both the parties
enjoy a win-win situation or no lose-no win situation (Rahim, 2017).
Maintaining interpersonal relationships is very crucial for the success of the
organization. However, the managers must focus on building the team and motivating the
staff by implementing change in the structure of the organization. It must allow flexibility in
the working hours and must adopt transformational leadership to involve employees and

Self-awareness 6
collaborating work as a team. This change in the structure and flexibility motivates the staff
to be committed towards the organization and achieve the goals in an integrated manner. The
manager must involve the employees in the decision making to make them feel more valued
and committed towards the goals. It must design the policies that are favourable both for the
company and the employees (Noe et al, 2017).
The increasing complexities have developed the need to change the organization
structure into the team-based structure and network structure. In the team-based structure, the
experts collaborate and perform the task to achieve the organizational objectives. In this
structure specialist from the different departments forms the team and are generally self-
managed. The organization sometimes appoints a manager to lead the team. The team is
formed for completion of a certain project and known as adhocracy to provide quick response
to the changing environment (Young & Ghoshal, 2016).
The organization can also form a network organizational structure under which the
specialist from the inter-organizations forms a team and performs the activities in an efficient
manner. It helps in achieving quick results and maintains the trust among the organizations.
The different organizations specialize in different functions which help in forming a team that
applies its core competencies to achieve a better result. This organization structure helps in
building trust and coordination and achieves higher productivity (Baker & Faulkner, 2017).
To increase the self-awareness the manager must develop emotional intelligence
skills. The manager must analyze its strengths and weakness and must clearly admit the faults
and must be an active listener to get the feedback and develop accordingly. The manager can
use Johari’s window tool for self –awareness. This tool covers four areas which include open
areas that the manager is aware of and the other people also know about him. Secondly is the
blind area in which the person is not aware of himself but the others know. Third, a hidden

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area in which the person is aware of its traits but others are not aware and lastly is the
unknown area under which the person himself is not aware nor the other members are aware
of the qualities of the person (Serrat, 2017).
To increase self-awareness the manager must conduct the test, analyze its strengths
and weakness by observing and must undertake continuous feedback to analyze himself and
must listen to others. The person must listen to its inner voice and must try new experience to
analyze the behavior in particular situations (Serrat, 2017).
From the above discussions, it is crucial to note the managerial effectiveness plays a
major role in the success of the enterprise. The manager must be self-aware and must develop
abilities and skills to ensure the success of the organization. It is analyzed that organizations
follow different management theories to bring efficiency and establish a positive working
environment. It is scrutinized that adoption of different organization structures has become
crucial for the successful implementation of change.

Self-awareness 8
References
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Baker, W. E., & Faulkner, R. R. (2017). Interorganizational networks. The Blackwell
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Berry, A. J., Broadbent, J., & Otley, D. T. (2016). Management control: theories, issues and
practices. Macmillan International Higher Education
Block, P. (2016). The empowered manager: Positive political skills at work. United States:
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Entrepreneurship in box. (2019). Managerial skills – 3 types of skills each manager will need.
Retrieved from: https://www.entrepreneurshipinabox.com/202/managerial-skills/
Fletcher, L. (2016). How can personal development lead to increased engagement? The roles
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development. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 31(4), 292-306
Lee, M. R. (2016). Leading virtual project teams: Adapting leadership theories and
communications techniques to 21st century organizations. United States: Auerbach
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