A GOOD manager of a professional services firm needs to behave like the coach of an athletic team, developing the finesse to bring on highly talented individuals. So says David Maister, a US based expert on the management of professional firms such as accountancy and law practices.

Mr Maister, who is giving a seminar in Dublin on October 7th, says managers must reject the two images which they tend to be given - the "boss" who gives orders or the "brain dead bean counter".

Instead they need to develop the "very difficult skill" of being able to coach their staff, many of whom will not want to be managed at all. The temptation of the manager is just to let them get on with it, he says, and as a result "many professional firms are not managed at all".

But the result is that the staff never realise their full potential and a source of potential competitive advantage to the business is lost.

"It takes finesse to have influence over very talented people," he says. He adds that maybe 10 per cent of people are "born with" such management talents, 10 per cent "will never learn it", while the remaining 80 per cent can be taught how to manage more effectively.

There have been "no new theories in management since 1922" says the former Harvard academic who is now a consultant. The trouble is that few managers pay enough attention to the basic essentials of looking after their clients, managing their staff and encouraging efficiency.

"Everybody knows what to do, but nobody does it," he says.

Being a good manager, he says, means " keeping your eye on the right thing rather than giving in to the daily temptations." Managers often spend time on the wrong things, he says, and need to lift themselves above the day to day activities and see the bigger picture.

Mr Maister has consulted internationally with firms in areas such as law, accountancy, engineering, architecture, broking, consulting and advertising.

Further information about the seminar can be obtained from Project Planning International at (01)661 3788.