The role of a manager is essential for an administrator and is probably the most important aspect of all leadership function. The authors divided management roles into three major areas.
The first is the technical role. It involves good planning, organizing, coordinating, supervising and controlling techniques. Specifically, technical roles assumed by an administrator deals with specialized knowledge, procedures, and techniques to accomplish the task. It involves the understanding of and proficiency in the performance of specific tasks. Generally, assuming a technical role includes mastery of the methods, techniques and facilities involved in specific functions such a finance, research and others. Furthermore, the role calls for specialized knowledge, analytical ability and the competent use of techniques to solve problems in a specific description.
The second type of managerial role assumed by the administrators is the interpersonal relations. This role normally deals with human relations and people management skills, good motivating and morale building activities. This role of an administrator focuses on his ability to understand feelings and attitudes of others and to establish cooperative work relationship. It is the administrator’s function to work with and through other people and to work effectively as a group member. This is normally demonstrated by the way an administrator relates to other people, including ability to motivate, facilitate, coordinate, lead and resolve conflicts. An administrator who assumes such role tends to allow subordinates to express themselves without fear of ridicule and improve participation.
The third managerial role assumed by the administrator is the conceptual role. This refers to the administrator’s responsibility which emphasizes on knowledge and technical skills. It involves developing and using ideas as well as concepts to solve complex problems. It is the cognitive role which sets the organization as a whole and the relationship among its parts. Conceptual role involves the educational leader’s thinking, information processing and planning activities. In short, it is the capacity of the leader to “think strategically” to take the broad long term view.***
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