ORGANIZATIONAL LEVELS OR ORGANIZATIONAL PYRAMID - DUDAS - 2024

The organizational levels or organizational pyramid correspond to the three levels of management in most organizations, which are lower level management, middle level and upper level.

These managers are classified according to a hierarchy of authority and perform different tasks. In many companies, the number of managers at each level gives the organization a pyramid structure.

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When looking at the different levels of management from a vertical framework, the value of separating the organization in this way allows essentially different levels of scope.

The goal at the top of the hierarchy is to consider the organization's medium and long-term strategy.

Middle managers take a more specific aspect of this broad strategy and ensure a more detailed implementation.

Lower-level managers focus almost exclusively on effective execution, and are much more short-term oriented.

This allows each level of management to narrow their perspective enough that the job is truly manageable.

Higher or strategic level

Senior managers make decisions that affect the entire company. However, they do not direct the daily activities of it. Instead, they set goals for the company and direct the organization to achieve them.

Ultimately, this level of management is responsible for the performance of the organization, and these managers often have highly visible jobs. They require having very good conceptual and decision-making skills.

characteristics

Senior managers tend to have a great deal of experience, ideally in a wide variety of roles.

Many top-level managers become part of the executive team, mastering their functional disciplines in various roles, thus becoming COO, CMO, CTO, CFO, or CEO.

Top management teams are also often industry experts, and have a close relationship with the long-term trajectory of the companies in which they operate.

They often benefit from being charismatic and powerful communicators, with a strong sense of responsibility, trust, integrity, and an appreciation for risk.

Responsibilities

The main role of the executive team, or top-level managers, is to look at the organization as a whole and derive broad strategic plans.

They often take high-risk, high-return initiatives in decision making, such as company policies, substantial financial investments, strategic alliances, board discussions, and other high-level management tasks.

Therefore, high-level management roles are often high-stress and high-influence within the organization.

Medium or tactical level

This level is accountable to senior management and accountable to lower-level leaders. They can include general managers, branch managers, and department managers.

They spend more time on organizational and supervisory functions than upper management. The role of a middle manager emphasizes:

- Execute organizational plans in accordance with company policies and senior management objectives.

- Define and discuss information and policies from upper management to lower management.

- Inspire and provide guidance to lower-level managers to help them improve performance and also achieve business objectives.

Because middle managers are more involved in the day-to-day work of a company, they can provide valuable information to senior managers, which will help improve the organization's performance using a broader and more strategic view.

Features

Middle manager roles can include various tasks depending on their department. Some of its functions are the following:

- Design and implement effective information and group work systems.

- Define and monitor performance indicators at the group level

- Diagnose and solve problems within and between work groups.

- Design and implement reward systems.

- Support cooperative behavior.

- Performance report.

- Carry out statistics and, when appropriate, recommend strategic changes.

Because middle managers work with top-level managers and operational managers, they tend to have excellent interpersonal skills related to communication and motivation.

Lower or operational level

Operational management balances functional experience with strong interpersonal skills to optimize specific operational processes.

At the bottom line, managers are often highly skilled and even functional specialists. An operational manager is best positioned when he focuses on controlling and directing specific employees. For example, supervisors, team leaders, and project managers.

Skill set

A lower-level manager should have a distinctive skill set - interpersonal skills to manage people, plus technical expertise to be on operational lines actively executing functional tasks.

As a result, grassroots managers are very valuable team members, with the versatility to contribute in a variety of ways. On the interpersonal side they should be effective in:

- Communicate.

- Observe and listen actively.

- Give and receive comments.

- Prioritize.

- Align resources.

- Organize processes and tasks.

If you're talking about an accounting manager, you need to be able to balance the books and have a good understanding of everyone's specific role.

If he is an operating manager in an automobile factory, the manager must know how to operate most machines and how to evaluate the productivity of different positions.

Grassroots managers are often tasked with hiring, evaluating performance, providing feedback, delegating functional tasks, identifying gaps, maximizing efficiency, scheduling, and aligning teams.

Being the primary contact for most employees, these managers must be careful listeners capable of understanding employee needs, removing obstacles, and also optimizing performance.

Base level

Coordinators

They are one step above the staff members. They have been given some type of low-level project work or a position that requires simple, continuous tasks for managers to be performed.

A coordinator can handle tasks such as conducting a customer or employee survey, creating a database of contact information for active and potential customers, handling logistics for a meeting or event that a manager has planned, etc.

Base staff

They are workers who do not have managerial responsibilities or people who report to them.

They are characterized by having little or no autonomy in the way they carry out their work. They often work as hourly wage earners.

They are the lowest level in an organization, can be easily replaced, and are not used to coming into contact with senior executives or managers.

References

1. Lumen (2019). Management Levels and Types. Taken from: lumenlearning.com.
2. Sam Ashe-Edmunds (2019). The Levels in an Organizational Structure. Central Az. Taken from: yourbusiness.azcentral.com.
3. Iedu Note (2019). 3 Management Levels in Organizational Hierarchy. Taken from: iedunote.com.
4. Reference for Business (2019). Management Levels. Taken from: referenceforbusiness.com.
5. Management Study Guide (2019). Levels of Management. Taken from: managementstudyguide.com.