Human Relations

The ability to understand, communicate with, motivate, and support other people, both individually and in groups, defines human skills. Many people are technically proficient but poor listeners, unable to understand the needs of others or weak at managing conflicts. Because managers get things done through other people, they must have good human skills. Managers must have the mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations. These tasks require conceptual skills. Decision making, for instance, requires managers to identify problems, develop alternative solutions to correct those problems, evaluate those alternative solutions, and select the best one. After they have selected a course of action, managers must be able to organize a plan of action and then execute it. The ability to integrate new ideas with existing processes and innovate on the job are also crucial conceptual skills for today's managers.