Which skills do managers use when they think about abstract and complex situations?

Conceptual competence is about the ability to work with ideas. Leaders with conceptual skills can take abstract ideas about hierarchy or a vision of the company orientation and translate them into practical principles. The importance of conceptual skills is greater for top management positions dealing with big-picture issues than for the lower ranks.

Tip

Supervisors deal with routine problems requiring practical solutions. Upper-level management deals with broad, abstract concepts and principles. Those take conceptual competency to tackle.

Importance of Conceptual Skills

Conceptual competency isn't a precisely defined skill set like neurosurgery or bookkeeping. According to Granite College, it's best defined as the ability to work with abstract ideas and concepts rather than specifics. Managers use conceptual skills to generate ideas and figure out how to use them in your company's context. Your company's industry, vision statement and competition all shape the context.

One of the lesser-known facts about top management is that the importance of conceptual skills is greater at that level than at the supervisor level. If a supervisor has to figure out why a sales clerk's work performance is apathetic and what can turn them around, that's a specific concrete problem. When top management outlines a motivational program for the entire organization, conceptual skills become necessary.

You can see the importance of conceptual skills in many business areas, explains Indeed. Good decision-making often requires imagining concepts and solutions that nobody else has come up with. Interpersonal skills help you convey concepts to your employees and align them with your vision. Conceptual skills help managers visualize how their work goals and projects fit into the overall corporate strategy.

Conceptual Examples

Examples of conceptual skills in management can be found at any level. The importance of conceptual skills is greatest at the top levels, where managers are removed from fighting fires and working out schedule problems. The importance of conceptual skills is that those in upper management use them to develop guidelines for supervisors on how to deal with problems.

A common use of conceptual competency is to draw up strategies and policies. Supervisors deal directly with employee issues – a nursing mother who has no place to pump her milk or a stressed-out worker who snaps at customers. Top managers draw up the big-picture guidelines for these issues, providing a clean space for moms to use their breast pumps, for example.

Glassdoor notes that other examples of conceptual skills in management come when you're tackling big, complex problems that don't have a simple, one-element solution. Solutions for employee motivation problems or controlling the company rumor mill may require juggling multiple ideas and considering several complex solutions. Does the rumor mill run wild because management is close-mouthed? If so, what's the best way to fix that?

Conceptual skills don't exist in isolation. To use them effectively, top-level managers need communication skills as well so that they can share and explain their concepts to members of their teams. They should be able to show a supervisor or a front-line employee how the requirements placed on them fit into the big picture. Employees who don't get the importance of managers' concepts are unlikely to care about them.

There are various types of conceptual skills, and each subset is important to professionals for different reasons. Here are the most common types of conceptual skills that employers look for in candidates:

Communication skills

Communicating is essential to being able to share solutions to problems with others. A person with strong conceptual skills can effectively express their views, explain problems, and provide viable solutions in a way that’s easy to understand. A few important communication skills include:

• Active listening
• Implementing thinking
• Verbal communication
• Nonverbal communication
• Written communication
• Presentation skills
• Interrelational skills
• Asking questions

Analytical skills

Good analytical skills are also necessary for a person to successfully conceptualize a problem and create a solution. Analysis allows someone to break down big issues into smaller pieces to determine how they’re related and develop solutions to the problem. Good analytical skills to possess include:

• Research skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Information analysis
• Creativity
• Data analysis
• Brainstorming
• Business analysis
• Deductive reasoning

Creative thinking skills

Being able to think creatively allows professionals to come up with solutions that would otherwise be considered outside of the box. Creative skills enable you to explore all angles of a problem and not limit yourself to simple or popular answers to an issue. Good creative thinking skills that boost conceptualization include:

• Collaboration
• Restructuring skills
• Strategic planning
• Optimization
• Predictive modeling
• Integration
• Abstractive thinking
• Innovation
• Open-mindedness
• Idea formulation

Problem-solving skills

Possessing conceptual skills means that you also have strong problem-solving skills, as the goal of conceptualization is to find solutions to problems that will provide quality results. In-demand problem-solving skills in the workplace include:

• Logical thinking
• Multitasking skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Decision-making skills
• Troubleshooting
• Solution execution
• Prioritization
• Dependability

Leadership skills

Leadership skills are important for someone with conceptual skills, as they need to inspire employees and convince them of their solutions to larger issues within the organization. Without strong leadership skills, a person’s ability to come up with innovative solutions won’t be as impactful. Good leadership skills that support conceptualization include:

• Management
• Delegation
• Stability
• Team-building skills
• Motivation
• Persuasion
• Negotiation
• Empathy
• Flexibility
• Integrity/honesty

What skills where the manager has knowledge or ability for more abstract thinking?

Which manager's skills refer to the ability to think in abstract terms and to see how parts fit together to form the whole?

Which of the following skills enables managers to think of possible solutions to complex problems?

What are the three types of manager skills?