Free «Strategic Planning» Essay Sample

Strategic planning is the process whereby an organization identifies the long term goals and objectives and then moves forward to determine the best approach to achieving these goals and objectives (Olsen 2006). A manager is an individual bestowed with the responsibility of allocating and monitoring the use of organizational resources in the form of information, materials, money and people. There are three basic skills that a manager should possess in order to function efficiently and these are technical, conceptual and human skills (Steiner 1997). Conceptual skills involve the capacity to develop ideas, understand abstract relationships and solve the problems of the company amicably. The Human skills involve the display of ability to interact, communicate and associate with others to gain cooperation. The technical skill is basically the area of specialty of an individual like the Engineer, Lawyer and Doctor among other (Olsen 2006).

The technical skills are relevant at the lower levels of the organization’s work because the managers are dealing directly with the employees (Olsen 2006). Conceptual skills are important in monitoring the organization as a whole and therefore understand the relationship among various sub units. They then visualize the organization in the wider environment. The skill is of importance in the top management positions. Human skill is concerned with the ability to work well with other people in groups or as individuals. This skill is the most crucial because managers deal directly with people. Managers with good human skills know how to communicate, lead, motivate and inspire enthusiasm and trust. These skills are important at all the levels of management due to their nature of being out going (Olsen 2006).

Health Care providers should at least try and develop all the three managerial skills. This is because all the skills are equally important. The technical skill is required for proper diagnosis and treatment of the patients (Pozgar 2007). The conceptual skill is of importance in the development of new strategies to offer affordable treatment to the patients. The Human skill is of much weight as compared to the rest because it helps in understanding the patients’ needs through dialogues. It also ensures the building of good relationships with the post hospital patients and their health status can still be tracked (Harris 2009).