The CAD Manager at Work – Decisional Roles

In “the Nature of Managerial Work” (1980), Henry Mintzberg outline the Ten Roles of a manager.  He continues to write and released “Managing” in 2009.   I attempt here to apply these roles to the CAD Manager.

He grouped them into three sets – Interpersonal, Informational and Decisional.   Here is the third set.

Decisional

7) Entrepreneur – A CAD Manager designs and initiates change in an organization.   They bring modifications to processes that work in order to make them better.  They deploy new tools that keep the firm ahead of the curve.  They manage the transitions from one version to another.  They enhance workflow with refined procedures.

8 ) Distribution Handler – CAD Managers deal with problems that arise when organizational operations break down.  They find new providers.  They restore delivery systems that fail to perform.  They many times scramble around to find supplies for plotter at critical times.  They manage the number of available software licenses.  They cover for people who might be on vacation.  They deal with broken hardware and have to find workarounds.

9) Resource Allocator – CAD Managers control the allocation of support staff, money, licenses and time by scheduling their own time and others.  They create budgets and get approvals through negotiation with the CFO or others.  They apply limited time or money to critical needs and look farther down the road to plan for tomorrow.

10) Negotiator – A CAD Manager spends a lot of time in negotiations.  As mentioned above, it could be budgets, software, supplies or whatever.  They are constantly working with others to negotiate the best outcome given any circumstance.  If there are conflicting deadlines, they negotiate an agreed upon time-line.  If there are competing objectives they balance the people and resources to get both done.  If there is a critical need not being met, they discuss issues and reach agreement for progress.

The decision-making efforts of the CAD Manager are constant.  They are always looking for new ways of working and new tools.  They distribute the time and resources allocated to them and make sure that others are delivering.  And finally – they are always trying to find win-win results in every situation.